Poll pull: Why Meta has been big on political campaigns

November will see five states - Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram – go to polls for the State legislative assembly. Political parties are therefore going all out to campaign themselves across mediums, especially digital. A little further into the research we realised Meta has established itself as a platform for these parties to run numerous campaigns concurrently and reach millions of people.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Indian National Congress can be seen giving each other tough competition on Meta with the former having invested more as of now.

Sharing insights on Meta as a platform for political campaigns, Shradha Agarwal, Co-Founder and CEO, Grapes says: “The preference for Meta, or digital mediums in general, by political parties, is not a dismissal of traditional mediums, rather a strategic response to the evolving digital landscape and the growing significance of online engagement.”

Number games

The data tells us that Madhya Pradesh is the most targeted state with the highest investment at Rs 5,17,32,025, followed by Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Telangana. While the BJP has invested close to Rs 6 crore, Congress has so far shelled Rs 2 crore on the most-invested campaigns campaigns for Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

BJP’s campaigns include Chhattisgarhiya Chaupal, Corruptionath, MP Ke Mann Mei Modi and Nahi Sahega Rajasthan, each having an audience reach of up to 1 million per day. The party has also been investing much in Jansampark MP.

Campaigns for Congress that caught our eye include Kaka Abhi Zinda Hai and Bhupesh Hai Toh Bharosa Hai.

*Source: Facebook Ad Library

Why Meta?

We asked Manesh Swamy, CCO & Senior Vice President - Creative, Social Media & Design at LS Digital why Meta was a favourite among digital platforms for political campaigns. “Which is the most relevant platform at this time? It is the products by Meta ie. Instagram, followed by Facebook. Maximum audiences are still active on Facebook, and it is a ‘massy’ platform.”

“X if you see, it is more about conversations and debates, I don’t know how it is still relevant for any great branding communication. I haven’t seen any big branding communication coming out of there in recent times. The equity has gone down, and brands who are scaling up are not even considering it. Meta, on the other hand, has been constantly innovating, with their new tools and ad managers, it is a media-friendly platform.”

Further sharing insights on the reach, Swamy said: “With Meta, I can go hyperlocal, even the beta testing is smooth. So that is why leading political brands are preferring to go there. Digital platform's data transparency is also very interesting. I can target very specific audiences with demographics in place.”

On a similar note, Agarwal said, “With the significant rise in internet penetration and the proliferation of social media usage in both ‘India’ and ‘Bharat’, platforms like Meta have emerged as powerful tools for political parties to spread their messages and connect with their voter bases, especially the younger generation of voters. As more people turn to digital platforms for news, information and entertainment, political parties recognize the need to adapt their outreach strategies accordingly. Such shifts in consumer behaviour need to be addressed and prepared for in order to maximize their impact and influence during election campaigns."