POLITICAL CONTENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA 2020: Rules of Audience Engagement for Commercial Advertisers During an Election Year

• This is a preview of the Political Content on Social Media market research report from our partners at eMarketer. Purchase this report here.
• eMarketer PRO analyzes the social media ecosystem and provides in-depth analyst reports, proprietary forecasts, customizable charts, and more. Check if your company subscribes to eMarketer PRO, or learn more about access here.

With just months to go until the 2020 US presidential election, political activity on social media is heating up. eMarketer's Political Content on Social Media 2020 report serves as a playbook for commercial brands on how to cut through the political noise and reach their audiences on social.

Consumers say they dislike political content on social media, particularly the ads, but they're mainly talking about political content they disagree with. We don't expect most US social media users to significantly change their behavior ahead of the 2020 US presidential election.

Political ad bans or restrictions will do little to rein in organic political content and misinformation on social platforms. Political advertising made up a sliver of Twitter's total ad revenues, and while it's bigger business for Facebook, it's still a small portion of all political content on the platform.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Increased political activity on social media could make it more difficult for brands to effectively reach their customers.
• Understanding consumer attitudes toward political content on social media and how political campaigns use these platforms can help commercial advertisers cut through the noise with paid and organic (unpaid) content.
• The influx of political content on social media platforms has heightened brand safety and suitability concerns.
• Companies should stick to their existing strategies and insert themselves in the conversation only if it's related to an issue that's authentic to their brand and longer-term goals.

In full, this report:

• Explains current political ad guidelines in this is rapidly evolving space
• Explores consumer attitudes and behaviors around political content on social media
• Outlines how commercial advertisers can navigate the space during the 2020 election cycle

Interested in getting the full report? Here's how to get access:

1. eMarketer analyzes the industry and provides in-depth analyst reports, proprietary forecasts, customizable charts, and more. >> Check if your company has eMarketer PRO membership access to the full report
2. Purchase & download the full report from our research store. >> Purchase & Download Now