LoopMe & Assembly research reveals TV remains key for political ads, but 59% of voters saw them digitally. Oversaturation also led to ad fatigue among voters.
LoopMe, a leading technology company that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to improve brand advertising performance, has released research today in partnership with Assembly, a leading global omnichannel media agency, revealing that TV was still the single biggest channel for receiving political ads during the 2024 presidential election, with 41% of Americans citing it as where they saw the most. However, digital was where the majority of voters (59%) said they saw this advertising, highlighting the importance of adopting a multi-channel strategy to account for age demographics when it comes to channel preference.
52% of adults aged 55-64 saw the most political ads on TV, but this figure plummeted to 25% for those in the 18-24 bracket. And while 21% of 18-24-year-olds were receptive to political advertising on YouTube and online video, just 6% of those aged 55-64 were so on mobile apps.
The research highlights the multi-channel nature of political campaigning today and the importance of targeting, and engaging audiences in the channels where they spend the most time. But it also demonstrates the risks of too much advertising.
Oversaturation of political messages led most voters to suffer audience fatigue, with 51% saying they had seen ‘too many’ political ads during last year’s presidential election campaign. This was even more pronounced for those living in key battlegrounds, with 64% of respondents in Philadelphia and 69% in the pivotal Omaha feeling overwhelmed by political ads.
This unprecedented level of advertising was detrimental to brands during that period. As a consequence of seeing too many political ads, consumers tuned out of advertising with 40% paying less attention to other ads at that time.
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“While brands have the luxury of longer windows for advertising, political campaigns must exercise restraint when it comes to frequency,” commented Robin Porter, Head of Political at LoopMe. “Getting the balance right between under and overexposure is critical to get your message across while avoiding the risk of alienating voters.”
“The findings from our research reinforces a critical point: in today’s fast-evolving media landscape, campaigns must leverage both traditional and digital channels to meet voters where they are,” said Tyler Goldberg, Director of Political Strategy at Assembly. “Our key takeaway is that regardless of whether they are political or commercial, all advertisers need to prepare for the continued disruption of record-breaking election cycles. Targeting these different demographics effectively requires more than just cross-channel advertising—it requires thoughtful, data-driven strategies that balance frequency, messaging, and channel preference. Assembly is the only global omnichannel media agency with a dedicated in-house political practice, which gives us a unique perspective on the intersection of political campaigns and media strategy–and we’ve seen the successes of this strategy application in real time.”
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As part of Assembly’s real-time research applications, the agency developed the Assembly Market Intensity Index (AMII), a tool to help clients gauge how crowded a given market will be during an election cycle. Measured in a scale from 1-10, the methodology analyzes multiple factors, including the size of the DMA, the number of races, how stiff the competition is among the races in that DMA, expected outside or issue group involvement, spillover into competitive districts/states, and geographic location of the market within an already competitive state.
The evolving landscape of US political advertising: TV’s dominance and digital’s rising influence research survey took place between October 25 and 28, 2024, and was based on 43,514 respondents across five markets—Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, Omaha, and Chicago. The data was normalized to reflect market populations. A copy of the research can be found here.
