The Calm Before the Election Storm

Brands and marketers hit pause as ad costs spike amid the U.S. political ad rush.

Listen to this issue • Subscribe free to podcast

Today's News

Ad Campaigns Pause as Election Day Looms

With the U.S. presidential election days away, some agencies are recommending brands pause campaigns until after the election, while others are scaling back on major ad pushes and preparing post-election strategies depending on the outcome.

What’s a brand to do?

Not all brands plan to go completely silent. According to Sprout Social, 3 out of 4 U.S. consumers now rely on social media as their main source for election news.

With more Americans turning to social media for political updates, brands risk missing valuable engagement if they go dark around elections.

Marketers also have to be conscious of ad costs on major platforms, as political ad spend has driven up costs on platforms like Meta and YouTube. Political ads on YouTube alone exceeded $2.5 million daily in October

To navigate this, the digital agency Kepler suggests brands reduce ad spend until after the election, when costs are expected to ease, and the holiday shopping season picks up.

Preparing for outcomes

Marketers are also preparing for different election outcomes. Social agency Monks advises that brands could capitalize on “optimism” if Harris wins, while a Trump win may require more cautious engagement.

10x Your Referral Revenue in One Chat

I’m a referral marketing nerd obsessed with building programs that unlock real value.

  • I’ve worked with 300+ Shopify plus brands, partnering with thousands of creators

  • Helped companies build “referral armies” driving 10% of revenue (most only get 2%)

  • This year alone, I’ve generated over $5M in referral transactions.

Give me 15 minutes to show you how our rewards platform can 10x your referral sales, and I’ll give you a $20 Uber Eats voucher!

Perplexity Comes for E-Commerce

Perplexity, the search engine startup backed by Jeff Bezos, is gearing up to challenge his former empire, Amazon, by entering the e-commerce space.

Bezos strikes again

The company is beta-testing its latest feature, “Pro Shop,” which lets shoppers research and buy products from various merchants directly on Perplexity, according to an internal email obtained by media.

How it works

  • While browsing, users will notice a “Buy with Pro” option for eligible items.

  • Shoppers will enter their billing and shipping information to complete their order.

  • The Pro Shop promises free shipping on all purchases.

Where did Jeff Bezos post the first job ad for Amazon?

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

🎁 Everyone who guesses will be entered in our monthly draw for a full year of our Premium Newsletter free!

Subscribe to keep reading (it's free!)

This content is free, but you must be subscribed to Today in Digital Marketing to continue reading.

Already a subscriber?Sign In.Not now

Reply

or to participate.