How to stand out from election noise

As we move toward the US presidential election, media communications get more and more intense.

Candidates up and down the ballot, fundraisers, and news outlets compete hard for everyone's attention, making marketing trickier than usual.

So, how do you stand out in an already-crowded inbox leading up to Black Friday Cyber Monday?

We sat down with some email marketing experts to gather tried-and-true tips for keeping your brand relevant-and your team sane-during election season.

1. Know that your subscribers are probably burnt out

Your audience is already bombarded with politicians trying to get their attention. Statista predicts that political ad spending this fall will exceed the $9.67 billion spent in 2020. While the biggest spending is on broadcast TV, ad spending on Meta and Google have been way up in recent years, too.

Even more importantly, the same outlet reports that voters are barely paying attention to the ads. 75% of eligible voters said they ignore political ads, and about 60% consider political advertising unethical.

This is not great news for marketers, though it's not all bad either. First, your customers may be so disenchanted with what they're hearing on the news that they spend less time digitally connected, giving you less of an opportunity to communicate with them.

But that same disenchantment may lead them away from the news and into their owned channels, where they've actively opted in to what they're reading.

"During election season, you might find that less is more when it comes to your sending frequency," says Ashley Ismailovski, director of email marketing at SmartSites.

"Especially as November draws near, try to limit your sending cadence to only the most relevant and personalized messages. Consider prioritizing automations (flows) over campaigns. That way, your marketing messages can be a personalized safe haven for subscribers who are trying to sort through all the noise in their inbox," Ismailovski says.

2. Be picky about your ad spend

Paid ads tend to be more expensive during election seasons, so it's crucial to narrow down that audience as much as possible to those most likely to convert.

Through integrations with Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Pinterest, Klaviyo helps you use current customer data to create more precise lookalike audiences to help you reach your most promising prospects. This will help you maximize return on ad spend (ROAS) during a time when ad prices are soaring.

"Sync 'best customers' or 'best subscribers' for lookalike audiences and make sure to exclude engaged subscribers," recommends Kendall Sebastian, senior customer success manager at Klaviyo.

3. Invest in your owned channels

"With the cost of advertising skyrocketing during election season, brands will be turning to owned marketing channels, like email and SMS, to keep costs down," says Ismailovski.

Your owned channels-email, SMS, and push notifications -give you a direct line to your customers.

Automated email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your people, and with the right marketing automation platform, comprehensive profiles show you each customer's past, present, and future. This sets you up to send better, more personalized recommendations, helping you cut through the noise of the election season.

SMS marketing can be a great way to reach your customers via a channel where they're getting less news and noise. While political candidates are famous for texting too much (and too desperately), if you're careful with your cadence and content, it's a channel worth paying attention to.

And if your brand has a mobile app, mobile push notifications allow you to:

• Use your real-time data to reach the right audience.
• Send dynamic images and content based on customer history.
• Use predictive analytics to further personalize your communications.

While your subscribers are probably getting push notifications from news outlets they subscribe to, it's still a less-trafficked channel than others, making it a good one to invest in during a national election.

"Maintaining your own customer database is something you should be doing year-round, not just when it's time to go out to the polls," says Ismailovski. "Leveraging first- and zero- party data to serve personalized content to subscribers is a reliable way to future-proof your marketing strategies."

4. Segment with the election in mind

Michael Pattison, lead digital strategist at Klaviyo, sees election season as a good time to invest in sending to your best customers-and to go light on reaching out to new audiences.

"While this might be a tough time to build relationships with new subscribers, those that love your brand probably won't be too distracted to engage with your content," Pattison says.

Make sure your segments are updated and you've got your BFCM messaging planned, created, and personalized.

Ben Zettler, founder of Zettler Digital, recommends sending to your best audience ahead of BFCM. "Frequent buyers and subscribers who are clicking are your best audience. Reward their trust and continue to build relationships with them throughout the holiday season by sending offers early."

Your segmentation (and paid ad spend) should also take location into account.

"Don't forget the old saying that 'all politics are local.' A lot of political spending happens in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin," Pattison says. "Those living in states where political competition is less fierce will see less ads."

Pattison recommends that brands consider cutting back on sending to subscribers in battleground states leading up to the election. Of course, a decision this big depends on what you sell, how engaged subscribers in those states are, and other factors, like what's actually happening in the news and what time of day you send.

5. Plan your send times carefully

Between presidential and vice-presidential debates, conventions, political rallies, and interviews, candidates hog the spotlight for months. They're also communicating exhaustively, speaking about every possible issue that's relevant to the electorate.

It's worth timing your sends around big political events to make sure you don't accidentally compete with, say, a presidential debate.

It's also worth examining what you're sending out and seeing how it relates to the main issues the candidates and pundits are talking about, to avoid any accidental political parallels.

Pattison points out that your sending schedule may need a closer look in that first week of November.

"Consumers will be thinking about the election and may be less likely to engage leading up to and after the election," Pattison says. "If you send daily, you may want to re-think that during this time period. Consider skipping election day or leaning into non-commerce topics, like your connection to the community or your values."

6. Avoid political content (for the most part)

"Overtly political material has a higher chance of landing you in the spam folder," says Jenn Brisebois, manager of customer content strategy and programs at Klaviyo. "It can damage your relationship with shoppers if you aren't incredibly strategic about it."

Remember: your subscribers are opening your emails and texts because they're interested in your products, not because they're looking to learn more about the election.

Of course, if a particular political issue is important to your brand, it makes sense to incorporate politics.

There are plenty of potential benefits to including political content in your marketing materials:

• It can grab attention and keep you relevant, driving opens and engagement.
• Transparency-and bravery by speaking out-can earn respect, trust, and loyalty for your brand.
• It may make it easier to build relationships with influencers.

But the risks can be steep:

• Even if you know your audience well, there are bound to be people who disagree with whichever position you take. This may drive them away from your brand.
• Even if a subscriber agrees with your position, they may be irked to see you taking up their time (and space in their inbox) with your opinions.
• You may change your mind about a particular issue in the future, making your brand look flaky or inconsistent down the line.

"Subscribers have enough politically-charged content in their inboxes these days-they don't need to hear it from your brand, too," says Ismailovski. "As a general best practice, most brands should remain as politically neutral as possible-unless your political alignment is part of your brand identity."

7. If you choose to politically engage, make it fun

Obviously, there are political issues that are incredibly serious. But if you're choosing to include lighter content that's timely, try to make it fun-it'll help you build community.

"In a tense environment, levity will stand out from the crowd," says Elcee Vargas, lead product marketing manager at Klaviyo. "Keep a pulse on the types of content, tone, and subject matter that are most important to your audience with extensive testing beforehand."

8. Test and analyze

This autumn is likely to be different for ecommerce brands reacting to the election and other political dynamics. Like Vargas, Pattison urges the importance of staying true to your brand but "testing where you can. Keep your pulse on your metrics, and don't take past performance for granted."

Klaviyo reporting lets you track metrics and benchmarks through fully customizable dashboards. You can schedule automated reports and see data from all your campaigns across channels in one report.

Ismailovski recommends testing the following to find a winning formula this autumn:

"Remember," Ismailovski says, "consumers are also going to be gearing up for BFCM following the results of the election. So it's important to prime your subscribers to buy in the months leading up to the holidays."

Marketing during intense political seasons will always require agility

With such an intense election just a few weeks before BFCM, brands can do a fair amount in advance. But you should also be prepared to change plans in October and November.

"Election seasons can be uncomfortable in that they remind us of how little we know," says Pattison. "They often bring surprises. Prepare your team by planning in detail and having contingency plans."

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