• by Tyler Loechner  @mp_tyler, September 16, 2014

With the midterm elections on the horizon, political marketers are preparing to make use of programmatic buying to reach their audiences. A new STRATA political survey says that 85% of political agencies plan to use programmatic for their political media-buying efforts this year. The company says the agencies polled represent roughly 75% of total political advertising billings.

Unsurprisingly, October will be the biggest month in terms of political ad spend, per the survey. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents said client budgets have either increased or stayed the same since the last congressional election, per a release. 

Spot TV/Cable will eat up most of the budgets, with 82% of agencies saying that’s where their clients willl focus. Internet/Digital and Spot Radio tied as the second most-used media, per a release. Spot TV (57%) and online video (43%) offer the greater return on investment.

"Our political shops are leveraging tools and social channels that are built for real-time marketing," stated Joy Baer, president of STRATA. "Because of its ability to react instantly to changing market dynamics, programmatic buying is a tremendous tool for political advertisers when trying to respond to an attack or get a message out right away."

Some ad tech companies are preparing for programmatic-driven political campaigns this fall. For example, Targeted Victory, an audience-driven tech company focused on Republican political candidates, last week revived 2012 Romney-Ryan Presidential campaign audiences, allowing 2014 marketers to reach those same audiences.