Are my ads working? This is the $11.2B question for 2026 political campaigns.
Most political buyers answer this with impressions, CPM, and (maybe) reach. Those metrics describe delivery. They do not measure impact.
The goal is not to serve ads. The goal is to move voters.
If you are waiting until Election Day to find out if your campaign worked, you are too late.
Why is political attribution so hard?
In commercial advertising, attribution is pretty straightforward. Someone sees an ad for sneakers, clicks, and buys.
You can’t pixel a ballot box. Voting is an emotional decision shaped by message, timing, and context.
There is noise everywhere. Polling moves for reasons unrelated to advertising. Voters don’t remember where they saw an ad. Media is fragmented across linear, streaming, and digital.
Campaigns need to track the change or lift in voter opinion over time.
What aspect of your advertising actually moves voters?
Creative is most important, followed by reach.
Campaigns need to emotionally connect with voters on the issues they care about and deliver that message at a scale that matters.
How should political buyers act on this?
Spend more time understanding your voters and your message.
Build an audience that will impact the election
Test messages upfront
Segment the audience based on what messages resonate emotionally
Measure change in opinion over time.
Earlier this year, we rolled out a brand lift product that does this with no out-of-pocket costs.
In-network display surveys are not enough. Buyers need statistically significant surveys tied back to the voter file, and measurement should be built into the campaign, not treated as an add-on.
An agency wanted to increase opposition on a specific issue among a defined group of likely voters.
They started with the message. A pre-flight survey of 435 target voters established the baseline. Four distinct messages were tested. One message clearly won.
Hearing the messages increased opposition by 15 points, and the top message was projected to be more than 7x as effective as the next best option.
Most campaigns stop here. Pick the message and launch.
Over a 10-day flight:
63% of the target audience reached
14 frequency
Then we measured what actually happened.
A post-flight survey of 600 voters showed:
+4.1 point increase in opposition vs control
+6.7 point increase among voters who recalled seeing the ads
The message worked in testing and also made a real impact on voters who matter.
What does this mean for political advertisers?
Creative is the highest-leverage decision you make. The gap between messages is often multiples, not percentages.
Measure during the campaign. If you wait until Election Day, you cannot adjust.
Build lift measurement into the plan from day one. Test, deploy, and track lift over time.