political marketing in canada

social media in Canadian politics

Facebook Advertising in 2021 Canadian Federal Elections: 4 Facts You Must Know

Political Digital Strategy

Over the last few years, political digital marketing has become more and more prevalent in Canada. In terms of social media platforms where political advertising is permitted, Facebook and its platforms have a lopsided share. Ever since new political advertising legislation in Canada mandating digital archives and other reforms was enacted, many platforms such as Twitter and TikTok responded by opting out of participation. Due to additional public pressure, especially after the 2016 US Elections, these platforms went a step further and banned all paid political advertising altogether. Therefore, Facebook advertising, particularly when guided by a digital and social media marketing agency for political campaigns, presented an ideal opportunity for Canadian political parties and candidates aiming to woo the population online. Interested in seeing how this impacted the recently concluded Canadian federal elections? Here are four facts regarding Facebook advertising in the 2021 elections that you must know. Total spending by all parties combined In terms of digital marketing for political campaigns, parties and candidates did not hesitate to spend millions of dollars. As per data publicly available, the total budget for Facebook advertising for all parties combined was more than C$6.7 million between June 17th and September 14th, 2021. This doesn’t include the millions of dollars spent combined by all candidates and third-party advertisers. For comparison, the amount spent by the three parties on their entire digital campaign in 2019 totaled around C$9.7 million. As can be seen from these statistics, politicians are increasingly establishing an online presence on a continuous basis. Given the high engagement levels and measurable return-on-investment of digital platforms, we might reasonably assume that those numbers will increase in future elections.  Number of Ads placed on Facebook by all parties It is important to note that in 2021, the number of ads made on Facebook alone varied considerably among the three major parties. Based on information from Facebook’s Ad Library, the Liberals made over 12,000 Facebook advertisements during the last election. Comparatively, the Conservative Party ran only 1243 advertisements, while the New Democratic Party produced 1148 advertisements. As shown by the statistics, Liberals are the ones putting up more Facebook ads than any other party. In total, the Liberal Party placed five times as many advertisements as the New Democrats and the Conservatives combined. This speaks volumes (pun intended) about their sophisticated digital media strategy and resourceful social media team. The Liberal Party of Canada outspent its rivals Each of the three leading parties in Canada spent a proportionate amount on their advertising relative to the number of advertisements they ran. In the period between June 17, 2021 and September 14, 2021, the Liberal Party spent a staggering amount of $2.3 million. Comparatively, the Conservative Party had spent C$1.4 million during the same period while the New Democratic Party spent C$1.1 million. Taking these numbers into account, there are two important conclusions that can be drawn. First, the Liberal Party spent more on Facebook advertising than the Conservatives and NDP combined. Second, they spent twice as much as the Conservative Party which won the popular vote but still lost key ridings and their chance to govern. A/B testing and dynamic advertising: The winning formula In addition to a difference in the number of ads and money spent, there was also a key difference in the number of ad variations. While the Conservatives published over a thousand different ads on Facebook, the Liberals generated more than 5,000, and the NDP conducted approximately 750. This data demonstrates that the Liberals had a more sophisticated marketing strategy than their competitors. Having a variety of content layouts and messages indicates that the Liberal team was proactively responding to online engagement, voter preferences and demographic targeting. This dynamic digital advertising phenomenon clearly stands out as the winning formula employed by the Liberal Party of Canada, possibly enhanced through a digital and social media marketing agency for political campaigns, to retain power for the third time. There was also an indication of this trend during the previous federal elections in 2019, where the Liberals ran 7500 ad variations, while the Conservatives ran about a thousand ad variations between June and October. During the 2021 Federal Elections, it was the Liberals who clearly dominated Facebook advertising and digital marketing when compared with its national counterparts. The data does not only relate to the amount of money spent on Facebook, but also the number of advertisements and variations on the ads. Our recent blog post provides further details regarding the last federal election in Canada, which gives some unique insights into digital advertising and campaigning. To learn more about our digital campaigning services, contact us today! Check out our blog regularly for the latest information on digital marketing for political campaigns in Canada.

Political Digital Campaigning - Canada Federal Elections 2021

2021 Canadian Elections Were Truly Digital: Here’s What We Learned

Campaign Advertising Insights

Canada’s 2021 federal elections were ‘special’ (pun intended). Not only was it the first ‘pandemic election’ in Canadian history, but PM Trudeau called it midway through his second term. Digital technologies became the norm as Canadians hunkered down in their homes to protect themselves and their loved ones. This transformation extended to the world of politics as well. Canadian political parties have embraced digital media wholeheartedly to make sense of a 36-day campaign period, the shortest possible election under federal law, and woo voters. A digital and social media marketing agency for political campaigns can be instrumental in navigating this fast-paced environment, helping political organizations build effective strategies to reach voters through multiple digital channels. Here are our top takeaways from the 2021 Canadian Federal Elections and the world of digital political campaigning. 1. Digital campaigning was already gaining traction. The pandemic accelerated the growth to unprecedented levels With more than 85% of the Canadian population on social media, online political campaigning was already gaining traction. However, in the wake of Covid-19 stay-at-home orders, internet and social media use skyrocketed. Inevitably, parties naturally turned to social media and online advertising to tap into their base and first-time voters. Political organizations and politicians had to adapt to the changing environment. After all, they preferred the reach and high engagement of digital tools over the traditional methods of political campaigning. 2. Digital Political Campaigning: Record amounts of advertising dollars Spent Given all the interest social media and online platforms have attracted, political parties invested a record amount of advertising dollars. Just in the first half of the campaign, all the federal parties combined spent over $2.7 million, only on Facebook and Instagram! The Liberals consistently outspent their Conservative and NDP counterparts, especially when some initial polls found them lacking behind the Conservatives. Furthermore, analysts saw an increase in online political advertising even with parties who usually don’t spend millions on such campaigns. Namely, the Bloc Quebecois – 700+ ads during the 2021 elections compared to the 16 Facebook ads they ran in the 2019 elections. In the context of other online platforms (news outlets; media conglomerates), the online political advertising estimates for Canada’s 2021 election range from $10-15 million. 3. Facebook and Instagram took the lion’s share of political advertising online With the introduction of Bill C-76 in 2019 and the mandate for online advertisers to maintain a digital archive of all political ads, the options for political campaigning were limited. Importantly, Google banned all political advertising citing the new rules, while TikTok and Twitter had already made global ban announcements after the 2016 US elections. On offer for Canadian politicians and campaigns managers in 2021 were Facebook and its subsidiary Instagram and a host of news conglomerates like Postmedia group. As a result, the majority of digital advertising budgets went to Facebook and Instagram, with estimates pegged at 90%. 4. TikTok helped raise awareness and youth engagement but is not necessarily a vote-getter As TikTok gained popularity worldwide and in Canada, politicians scrambled to appeal to its younger demographic segment by setting up new profiles and ‘experimenting’ with viral content creation. For instance, a prime example is NDP’s leader, Jagmeet Singh, the only federal leader with a TikTok profile and over half a million followers. His unique style and catchy videos generated a lot of media interest at the start of the 2021 campaign and had his campaign strategists believe that “millions watched the NDP leader’s content and got involved”. Even so, Jagmeet’s popularity did not necessarily translate into the electoral success the NDP wanted. Singh and his team had to contend with one more seat and about 2% more vote share in 2021 compared with the 2019 federal election. To sum up, the hotly contested election in 2021 resulted in Justin Trudeau’s Liberals retaining power, albeit in a minority. The party spent nearly twice as much on social media and digital campaigning as the NDP and Conservatives combined. Electoral ideologies, strategies, and campaigns may change as we approach new elections (Ontario and Quebec in 2022; Alberta in 2023). However, one thing is clear – digital political campaigning is here to stay. A digital and social media marketing agency for political campaigns will continue to play a critical role as parties adapt to the new realities, accelerated by pandemic and societal changes. Continue to read our blog to learn more about digital marketing for politics in Canada. Lastly, do not forget to contact us to learn how digital media can add an x-factor to your political campaign!

How to Choose the Best Political Digital Marketing Agency? Canada

How to Choose the Best Political Digital Marketing Agency?

Political Digital Strategy

It’s 2021 (almost) and online advertising and digital marketing have emerged as critical pieces of any modern political campaign puzzle. In Canada and around the world, online advertising is now considered a strategic advantage and something no campaign can take lightly. Many successful campaigns boast of professional communication teams well-versed in storytelling, platform building and media management. However, only few campaigns can claim to have the technical skills and expertise when it comes to digital marketing. Consequently, this is where hiring a Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency for Political Campaigns can come into play. Most importantly, strategic political marketing isn’t about just posting regular content and looking at the likes and shares. A well-defined and executed online advertising and digital marketing strategy can mean the difference between winning and losing an election. Choosing the best political digital marketing agency isn’t very straightforward. Firstly, this phenomenon is relatively new to Canada. Secondly, digital marketing evolves all the time. For instance, new algorithm rules, techniques, and platforms emerge almost every day. Above all, keeping on top of all these changes and mastering the various platforms isn’t something a political campaign can always afford to do in-house. Additionally, choosing the best political digital marketing agency for your campaign or political organization isn’t like finding an agency for a business. Political marketing has various nuances and differences from traditional digital marketing. To clarify, some of the key differences include the following –  Shorter campaign periods vs the long-term approach in business marketing Budgetary concerns and legal reporting requirements Personality-driven platforms vs a business ‘entity’ or brand Confused? Worry not! We’re here to help you choose the best political digital marketing agency for your next campaign or political office. Most importantly, we have tabulated this process in 5 easy steps for every campaign manager or political organizer to follow. 5 Steps to Choose the Best Political Digital Marketing Agency 1. Identify Your Key Requirements Political candidates and organizations are unique. Likewise, the requirements when it comes to online advertising and digital marketing are unique to each campaign. Many campaigns just need some help to manage their online ads. On the other hand, there are others that need a complete ‘full-service’ approach to build strategy, setup online presence, engage with the audience, run ads, report, optimize and more. You can call it the ‘project’ vs the ‘full-service’ idea. Further, a good starting point for any candidate or organization should be to list down the key requirements unique to your situation. You may answer the following questions and create some helpful background text on your requirements before you look for the best political digital marketing agency. Do you already have a website? Or is this something you need done? What about your social media handles? Can your team create and post content for you or is this something you need help with? How much digital marketing expertise do you have within yourself or your team? How much time can you invest on your own? Do you prefer a hands-off approach? 2. Define Marketing Objectives Moreover, it’s important that you define the key results you expect out of your political digital marketing agency. Without a clear list of goals, measuring a proposal or outcomes isn’t possible. While the ultimate goal for any political campaign is electoral victory, translating that into measurable marketing goals is the key. Most importantly, focus should be on the goals that matter – not vanity metrics like post likes and comments.  For example, building online profile, growing website traffic, identifying supporters or right audience could be the objectives for first-time candidates. On the other hand, incumbent candidates or political office holders may care more about engagement and conversion metrics with their constituents. 3. Set Your Evaluation Criteria Firstly, set the parameters you’ll use to compare one agency vs the other before you begin reaching out. For instance, some of the key questions that you may include in your criteria are –   Budget – How much will the project or full service cost you? Is there any flexibility on the price? Is advertising spend included or extra? In short, cheap isn’t always good so do factor in overall value an agency brings Credentials – How much past experience with political campaigns the agency has? Who are the team members? Who exactly is going to work on your account? What’s their professional accomplishments? Recommendations – Are there any references the agency can provide? Other politicians, candidates or organizations who used their services and achieved desired results? Culture and Working Style – Certainly, a political digital marketing agency will be part of your overall campaign team. How well do you think they will work with you and other members of your team? Do they believe in your platform/party/ideas? What’s their working style and does it match yours? Are their words merely jargon or you can understand what they aim to accomplish easily? Go with your hunch and focus on the ‘fit’. 4. Ask for Ideas and a Proposal After that, reach out to a few agencies and get them to submit ideas and an outline proposal to work on your political campaign or project. Consider the time and ease of first-time communication as additional factors for your evaluation. In addition, bring on your campaign manager and or other team members to form a small committee for a fair analysis. 5. Evaluate and Select Lastly, compare the proposals you received with the evaluation criteria you set in step 3 and discover the best political digital marketing agency for your campaign!  To sum up, online advertising and digital marketing are critical aspects for you to include in your political campaign strategy. In the same vein, choosing the right agency and team to work for you can make all the difference.  If you’re looking for a Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency for Political Campaigns, learn more about EOK Consults here. You can also explore our services or contact us here.

Political Marketing Canada

Political Marketing: Here’s Why Online Advertising Works

Political Digital Strategy

It’s November 04, 2008 and Barack Obama, a little-known senator created history as the first African American to win the Presidential in the United States. As TV pundits and political analysts debated how Obama managed this historic feat, there seemed to be a consensus when it came to one of the key factors in his surprising win. Barack Obama, they said, ignited hope and a desire for change in how politics was done. And he used social media, online advertising and technology to do just that. Above all, in that process, he changed political marketing forever. In the US and beyond (Canada included). Obama’s campaign went big with over $16 million on online advertising in 2008. Compared to a measly $3.6 million spent by John McCain’s camp tells half the story. In about 12 years since then, online advertising’s share in US political advertising has just exploded. Together, the Trump and Biden Campaign spent over $175 million on online advertising platforms – a lion’s share going to Facebook. This represents a staggering 792% increase in online political advertising! In Canada, while our numbers are significantly smaller, the growth has been equally significant and dramatic. For instance, the three major political parties spent at least over $10 million on online advertising in the 2019 Federal election. The overall spend increases manifold when you include third-party advertising and online media used in political and local campaigns. There’s one key reason behind this rise of online advertising in political campaigns in Canada – it simply works! As a Digital and Social Media Marketing Agency for Political Campaigns, we can attest to the effectiveness of these strategies. Here are some key reasons why online advertising works in political marketing 1. Unparalleled reach Canada is known to be one of the world’s most connected populations. With over 25 million social networking users, we have a social network penetration rate of 67 percent! That is 25 million and more potential viewers for political messages available at a few clicks. Platforms like Facebook and Google further allow advertisers to select and curate custom audiences as per their needs. Compare this with traditional political marketing channels. These include canvassing, tele-calling, lawn signs, flyers, banners or radio advertising. While definitely important for any campaign, such approaches suffer from key limitations. Limitations including limited scalability, inaccurate data, need for human resources and lack of measurable results and accountability. Using TV and mass media channels involves significant overheads and budgets. Similarly, such platforms often reach out to a generic or homogenous audience and offer limited data on engagement and response. 2. Microtargeting Online advertising channels like Facebook and Google encourage advertisers to find and target the kind of audience they desire for a paid communication. The kind of audience to be used can include various demographic characteristics like age, location as well as interests or online behaviours.  For political campaigns, this is golden. It allows campaigns to find the right kind of people that will engage with their key policy issues or causes. In addition, campaigns can showcase different messages to different audiences and evaluate response and future action. This is a flexibility which no other mass media tool can offer.  A key aspect for any political campaign is to make sure that their advertising budget is spent within their riding or constituency. That is another feature where online advertising shines. Campaigns have the ability to geo-fence their target location carefully and only show their ads to people who live or reside there.  3. Return on Investment Political campaigns spend a lot of their effort in fundraising and are required to keep a close watch on every dollar going out. This is another area where online advertising really shines. All popular platforms like Facebook and Google ads offer granular metrics on the results ad campaigns achieve. Whether that’s website views, number of times a video was watched or how many people were reached, there’s all kinds of data available. For every $1 a political campaign spends on online advertising, they can be sure of the impact it makes.  In the 2015 Federal Election, Tom Pitfield, the Liberals’ chief digital strategist for the campaign commented how “digital had the greatest ROI (amongst all their advertising platforms)” and how they “focused on it as a strategic advantage”. We have managed numerous digital campaigns for political candidates and parties. Naturally, we have seen some interesting trends (with certain assumptions). Here are some major ones that highlight the ROI aspect of online advertising in political marketing – Very few mass-media platforms can compare with those kinds of metrics. This explains the fondness modern campaign managers have for social media and online advertising. 4. The Perfect Testing Ground The rise of digital media and online advertising in political campaigns doesn’t mean that traditional tools aren’t required anymore. In fact, online advertising can serve as the perfect testing ground for campaigns.  A key characteristic of a Facebook or Google campaign is the ability to A/B test different messages, images or videos as well as custom audiences. All within a small testing budget. Furthermore, campaigns can track performance of each ad set on a daily basis and turn off any non-performing ones with a couple of clicks. For instance, testing which issues or messaging connects better with the voters online before committing to these through mainstream channels. Certainly, Online advertising and traditional political marketing can complement each other to be part of a holistic winning strategy. Above all, this strategy can be one that connects with all kinds of voters across demographics. 5. Building Momentum and Fundraising Online advertising allows political campaigns to amplify the work they do on ground – knocking doors and meeting voters. With the power, reach and affordability of digital tools, campaigns can build momentum and get people ‘talking about’ the issues that matter. There’s a reason why the mainstream media covers ‘what’s trending on Facebook or Twitter’.  Moreover, online advertising often contributes to creation and expansion of ‘viral moments’ and that extends to

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