Election Day is coming up quick, and late money is still landing. For teams managing multiple campaigns, every new dollar has to go live fast, reach the right voters, and skip anyone who’s already cast a ballot.
Deploy is purpose-built for moments like this. It brings Catalist’s national voter file, premium CTV, video, and display together in one self-service platform, backed by a support team of real people, so you can run all of them from one place.
Here’s what buyers ask us most this time of year, and how Deploy helps.
How fast can new budget go live?
Deploy’s Media Planner turns new budget into a plan in as little as 10 minutes. Voter file audiences are ready instantly, and uploaded lists of 5,000+ records match at 90%+ within 24 hours. Need a more specific audience? Our team can build one for your campaign from Catalist’s voter file using turnout, partisanship, streaming habits, and more.
Is CTV worth late-cycle prices?
Yes. Broadcast rates always climb in October, and right now a TV spot in the typical market costs nearly twice what it did earlier this year. CTV lets you put that money toward the specific voters you need instead of everyone in a media market.
Deploy gets you there fast and on target. DSPolitical was the first political firm to onboard its voter data through FreeWheel’s Identity Network, so voter audiences onboard over 30% faster than on other leading platforms and see 18x higher match performance on premium CTV than with other leading identity providers.
Once you’re live, Deploy buys inventory through the most direct, efficient routes to publishers, known as supply path optimization (SPO). For DSPolitical clients, that means reaching voters on CTV 127% more often for the same budget, an average of 8.3 messages per voter.
How do I get the most out of CTV impressions?
That extra frequency only pays off if it lands on the voters most likely to see your ads. Heavy viewers of free, ad-supported channels see a lot of ads, so CTV is an efficient way to build frequency with them, while paid subscribers see fewer ads and may be easier to reach through other channels. Our FAST and paid streaming models score each voter on those habits, so you can plan CTV frequency and channel mix to match.
CTV delivers most when your targeting moves with it. DSPolitical CEO Mark Jablonowski explains why campaigns need to stop buying CTV like broadcast in a recent AdExchanger op-ed.
Am I still paying to reach voters who already voted?
No. Deploy uses absentee and early vote (AV/EV) data powered by Catalist to remove voters from your audiences automatically as states report returned ballots. There’s nothing to set up, no extra fees, and no suppression files to refresh by hand. Your budget keeps going to the voters you still need to reach.
Can I chase voters who haven’t returned their mail ballots?
Yes. The same Catalist data that powers exclusion also tracks who has requested a mail ballot and hasn’t sent it back. These voters have already decided to vote by mail, so a well-timed reminder can get that ballot returned. Request a ballot chase audience, and our team will build it and have it ready to activate in Deploy.
Already running in Deploy?
Why are my audiences getting smaller?
That’s AV/EV exclusion at work. Every voter who returns a ballot drops out of your audience, which means less wasted spend. To keep pace, broaden your targeting to add more voters, for example by widening your turnout or partisanship range or adding geography.
How do I add budget to a live campaign?
Add it to your ad placements, not just the campaign shell. Budget that sits at the campaign level won’t spend until it’s assigned to a placement. [Link: How to add budget]
Is my creative ready to run?
Upload your ads to Creative Library now. It checks every file against Deploy’s specs automatically and flags anything that needs fixing in red, so you have time to make changes before Election Day.
Still producing video? Keep these specs handy:
- 6, 15, or 30 seconds long
- mp4 at 1920×1080, under 100 MB
- For CTV: h.264 encoding, 15,000 to 30,000 kbps, 48 kHz audio, and a frame rate of 23.98 or 29.97
Display, native, and full video requirements are in our creative specs guide.
Find more answers in the Deploy Help Center, or email [email protected] to reach a real person on our support team.
Managing late money across multiple campaigns? Send us your races and timelines, and we’ll show you the fastest way to reach the right voters in each one.