By
Leah Soffer
In this installment of Digital Jargon, Explained, we’ll be diving into the critical components of your digital ad creative design. We’re bringing you this blog series because we know the digital advertising world throws around a lot of jargon. The constant flow of acronyms, technical terms, and insider language can feel daunting to anyone trying to get into the space, and we want to help. We’re breaking down digital advertising terminology and explaining – in layman’s terms – what it means and why it matters for your campaign. If you missed any of our recent posts, be sure to check them out on the SpeakEasier blog.
The political advertising world uses the term ‘creative’ to mean the visual asset, image, video, or audio file you are using to speak to voters. In the image above, it is depicted as #1 – the entire asset for your ad. Creative is important because it communicates your message. Without it, you don’t have an ad.
Think of the creative as the execution of your strategy. For campaigns with budgets large enough to have multiple ads running, you can select creative that drives home specific messages for specific audiences. For example, you can have one creative design focused on the latest endorsement you received from your local school board member, and target voters in that district, or voters who care about education policy. You can have another creative design focused on getting out the vote, and target likely voters in your district. For campaigns that only have budgets for a single ad run, we recommend a more general ad creative, focusing on introducing yourself (or your candidate) to the community.
We know high-quality creative can be cost-prohibitive to many campaigns, which is why we have templates designed by campaign veterans and professional graphic designers. As always, access to SpeakEasy templates is free of charge. If you need help selecting your design or have an ad concept you’d like us to create, shoot us a note!
Every digital ad should have a call to action (CTA). Most of the time, this will look like a clickable button on the ad. While the entire creative is clickable, the button indicates to the voter that they can and should click the ad. The CTA also indicates to the voter how you want them to engage. In the image above, it is depicted as #2. In this example, the CTA is the button that says “Become a Voter,” meaning that the ad will likely click through to a page where one can register to vote.
If used properly, CTA buttons can be a strategic asset for your campaign. Changing the CTA on your creative can help your campaign achieve the goals of each ad. For example, if the goal of the ad is to collect email addresses or encourage volunteer sign-ups, the CTA might be something like “Join Us” or “Get Involved.” If the goal of the campaign is to share information about a candidate or cause, the CTA might say “Learn More.” If the goal of the ad is to solicit donations, the CTA might say “Donate Now” or “Pledge to Give.” Make sure that your landing page aligns with the CTA – and your campaign’s strategy!
A disclaimer is a statement – legally required – noting what organization or committee paid for the political advertisement. Disclaimer rules and regulations vary by state and municipality, so we recommend consulting your local or state election officials to ensure your disclaimer is correct. If your disclaimer is wrong, you may be in violation of campaign finance laws. In the image above, the disclaimer is depicted is as #3. All of our SpeakEasy templates include space for a disclaimer, so don’t forget to fill it in!
That’s all for this week. Thanks for joining us! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions for us. We’re here to help and love hearing from you.
Until next time, happy campaigning!
We are SpeakEasy Political, the leading tool for campaigns and organizations to easily create high-impact digital media and direct mail campaigns. By leveraging innovative media strategies and our brand building experience, our tech powers Democratic candidates and causes up and down the ballot. SpeakEasy’s Consultant Studio was also built to support consultant teams with leading data, strategic targeting, and comprehensive ad tech to serve as your backend media buying operation.
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