As elections heat up, so does the presence of social media in political advertising. Learn why you should consider stepping up your social media game for electoral needs.
The 2024 US Presidential elections are around the corner and parties are gearing up for what might be one of the tightest races we’ll ever see. That said, political parties are using every tool in their arsenal to gain favor from constituents and ensure their party’s names will be written on their ballots come election day.
Among those tools seeing a lot of traction in political advertising: social media.
Recent events of 2024 alone show how the growing presence and usage of social media for political purposes is becoming not just prevalent but also crucial to one’s campaign.
Today, we’ll look at how social media usage in political advertising in the modern age is consistently growing and what marketers can learn from this phenomenon.
Kamala Harris’ “Brat Summer”
The summer of 2024 saw one of the most remarkable moments regarding the 2024 US Presidential elections.
In a shocking turn of events, US President Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from seeking reelection for the US Presidency back on July 21. In turn, he endorsed VP Kamala Harris as the new candidate for the Democratic party.
What followed was a social media storm that led to users creating posts and memes all over Meta, Instagram, X, and TikTok. Most especially, those that include clips and pictures of Kamala Harris meshed with songs from singer Charli XCX’s album “Brat”, showing support for the Democratic presidential nominee.
For context, social media users (most especially, the Gen Z segment and today’s youth) raved over the “Brat” album ever since its June 2024 launch. Thanks to social media, the term “brat summer” was coined, referring to how the album’s release was gonna define the summer of 2024.
The term had evolved since then, most especially when Charli XCX stated what being a “brat” meant. She defined “brat” as the state of having fun, embracing one’s self and community, and unapologetically being their “messy” selves.
Couple that with the fact that Charli XCX tweeted her expression of support for Kamala Harris which immediately went viral on X.
Shortly after the British singer endorsed Harris, the Kamala HQ page embraced the brat aesthetic, rebranding the Biden-Harris HQ to Kamala HQ with a brat-themed header (mainly characterized by a neon green back with a black text silhouette, similar to the album cover) on X. This illustrated the Harris team’s commitment to social media advertising for political gain.
Part of this political advertising and marketing phenomenon includes a clip of a 2023 Kamala Harris’ speech where she uttered “You think you just fell out of a coconut tree?”. Several videos surfaced of users remixing the “coconut tree” clip along with songs from the “brat” album. It graduated from trend to cultural phenomenon.
The videos were meant to be associated with expressing confidence, resilience, and empowerment themes. The marketing teams from both the Harris campaign and the “brat” album capitalized on the virality. Combining the album’s bold and rebellious persona with Harris’ assertive tone resulted in enhancing the album’s image and appeal while complementing the Harris digital political campaign.
Trump and X
Meanwhile, former US President and Republican candidate Donald Trump is known to be outspoken in social media, specifically on X.
A study made by two Australian linguists showed Trump’s use of X before and six months after his election in 2016 played a pivotal role in his victory. His blunt approach and usage of emotive hashtags targeted toward his political opponents, along with the use of rhetorical questions, loaded words, capital letters and exclamation points proved devastatingly effective.
Specifically, the study showed Trump’s tweets resonated with his own base and motivated his supporters to vote for him,. It gained Trump more favor by speaking directly to people through his tweets – which made him appear more personable and approachable.
During his term as US president, he would tweet a couple of times everyday, pushing his policies, interacting with his admirers, and most notably, attacking and belittling his opponents. Fast forward to January 2021 when the former President was banned by X following the events of the US Capitol riots. He was later reinstated in November 2022 when multi-billionaire Elon Musk acquired the rights to X – though he had been silent with no posts, retweets, or replies.
In that period, Trump would consistently take to Truth Social (the alt-tech social media company he owns) to continue his tirade of controversial statements which continuously put him in the media spotlight.
It wasn’t until August 2024 where he would share posts taking shots at Kamala Harris and Hilary Clinton, implying that the Democratic candidate owed her political rise to sexual favors. This post was made in addition to other extreme posts that included QAnon conspiracy theories.
A study made by the University of Buffalo showed that during the 2022 midterm election cycle, Truth Social was more effective at drawing news attention to Donald Trump. In comparison, X had a different impact during the 2016 primary election season.
However, the study emphasized and revealed one important thing: Trump’s ability to attract news attention through social media was not predicated on a specific social media platform. It was through his ability to engage social media users.
Takeaways from modern social media trends in political advertising
Needless to say, using social media to connect and engage with voters is more widespread than ever before. There are a lot of things we can take away from this growing phenomenon.
First, it emphasizes the need and value of cross-channel marketing in political advertising. Gone are the days when candidates would just bank on making commercials for the traditional TV and print formats. With the digital age shaping how potential voters consume their information and media online, advertisers need to utilize every resource available in order to maximize constituency reach. That includes the usage of social media, connected television (CTV), and more.
Social media also allows for better voter engagement and storytelling. Feedback on campaign ads is immediate on social platforms. This lets candidates adjust their messaging and strategy quickly. Political advertisers can look into different ways to convey their intended messaging such as journey advertising.
Another thing to take away is that the platforms present a huge opportunity and potential to engage and connect with today’s voters. There are more than 121 million Americans on TikTok despite the threats against the app in the US, with a large majority of users being young voters and Gen Z.
Furthermore, a study by Pew Research Center conducted last March 2024 found that a majority of American X users (59%) use the platform to keep up with politics compared to 36% of users who are on TikTok for the same reason. eMarketer also shows that over 70% of Gen Z and almost half of millennials in the US use TikTok on a monthly basis. Some 77% of Gen Z hear about news from social media.
This all goes to show how relevant social media is to voters’ everyday lives. It can serve as the gateway to success for political candidates looking to connect and get their platforms and messaging across a wide range of audiences.
The recent success of politicians engaging voters through social media and political advertising shows that the method is here to stay. It’s just a matter of which candidates can use social media as part of a winning strategy.
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