09/09/2024 – 10:55
The traditional little leaflet with the ballot box number is still part of the electoral campaigns, but new forms of communication have gained prominence in the dispute. Boosting content on social media, for example, has become a central tool for many candidates. In São Paulo, the main candidates for mayor invested more than R$2 million in this service in the last 30 days, with 87% of the amount – around R$1.7 million – being spent in the last week alone.
Political marketing experts agree that the success of a campaign depends on a solid social media strategy, including content promotion. The main advantage of this tool is the ability to target personalized messages to specific groups of voters. In the capital of São Paulo, candidates have been using this service to target women and residents of the outskirts of the city.
Candidate for reelection, the mayor of São Paulo, Ricardo Nunes (MDB), was the one who spent the most on boosting content on social media, according to the advertising library of Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram. The MDB candidate allocated R$1 million to promote more than 670 publications on these platforms between August 6 and September 4, with almost all of this amount (98.9%) being invested in the last seven days.
Congressman Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) was the second highest spender on the service, spending R$675.8 thousand on more than 390 publications. Next comes economist Marina Helena (Novo), who paid R$195.4 thousand on more than 400 advertisements. Congresswoman Tabata Amaral (PSB) spent R$114.4 thousand on almost 70 publications, followed by presenter José Luiz Datena (PSDB), who spent R$26.1 thousand on almost 20 advertisements.
Influencer Pablo Marçal (PRTB), on the other hand, did not promote anything during the period analyzed. However, he is being investigated by the Electoral Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of having paid for internet users to publish short, decontextualized videos that were favorable to his candidacy. If proven, the practice could constitute abuse of economic and media power, as well as slush funds. Marçal denies the accusations.
Political marketing consultant Jader França says that the phenomenon of using social media boosting is not exclusive to the São Paulo dispute. “[Hoje] “It is not possible to run an effective electoral campaign without social media and promotion,” he says. He explains that campaigns typically invest 10% to 20% of the ceiling allowed for these actions. In São Paulo, the spending limit for mayoral candidates is R$67.2 million in the first round and R$26.9 million in the second.
Meta dominates the online political advertising market
According to Meta, Boulos, Nunes, Marina, Tabata and Datena spent R$2,011,700.00 on boosting between August 6 and September 4, with R$1,751,400.00 spent in the last week. The time intervals were defined on Friday, the 6th, based on the limitations of the ad library, which allows you to check spending only from the last day, the last week or the last 30 days.
Changes to electoral legislation this year required platforms to be held accountable for the content they publish. As a result, major companies such as Google and Kwai have stopped offering ads for electoral campaigns. Other platforms, such as X and TikTok, have never allowed this type of advertising. As a result, Meta has come to dominate the political advertising market on the internet.
Boulos and Nunes focus on peripheral neighborhoods
Boulos and Nunes’ strategies have shown similarities over the past month. Both were the only ones to target ads to specific neighborhoods, focusing on peripheral regions. They also invested in posts alongside their respective political sponsors. One of Boulos’s most widely-reaching posts is a photo with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), while Nunes’s is a video with Governor Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicanos).
At the end of August, an influencer released a video revealing that Boulos’ campaign had promoted content that compared him to American pop singer Taylor Swift. The artist is popular among young women and the LGBT+ community, segments that the PSOL candidate considers to be potential voters. Despite the criticism, the PSOL’s strategy goes beyond simply producing memes with celebrities.
Boulos has been targeting ads to peripheral neighborhoods, with the aim of reaching this segment of the electorate. Of the 394 boosted ads, 19% were targeted by location, with Cidade Tiradentes being the district that received the largest number of posts, with 73 ads. São Mateus and Sapopemba, in the east zone; Jardim Ângela and Cidade Ademar, in the south zone; and Brasilândia, in the north zone, were other regions that received content boosting.
For political communications strategist Marcelo Vitorino, boosting and mobilization are the most important elements of today’s campaigns. “Boosting is the only guarantee of delivering content outside ideological bubbles, and mobilization, when done well, can give campaigns the right tone for victory,” says Vitorino, who is also a professor of political marketing at the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM).
The political marketing professor explains that each campaign attributes relevance to promotion in different ways. According to him, campaigns with little television and radio time should focus their efforts on digital, dedicating up to 30% of the total budget to these strategies. “Another assessment should be made according to the profile of the competing candidates. If you have opponents with strength in digital, you need to level the playing field,” he says.
Nunes, in turn, targeted 23% of his 671 ads with a location filter. Although Vila Mariana, a middle-class neighborhood in the south zone, received the largest number of boosted posts, the candidate also targeted ads to peripheral neighborhoods such as Capão Redondo (south zone), Campo Limpo (south zone), Brasilândia (north zone), São Mateus (east zone) and Tremembé (north zone). Among the posts, videos about the inauguration of works in these regions stand out.
The report found that the MDB campaign invested in boosting negative content against opponents, despite the practice being prohibited by the Superior Electoral Court. According to resolution 23.732/2024, “the boosting of content on an internet application provider may only be used to promote or benefit a candidate, political party or federation that hires it, and the use of boosting for negative propaganda is prohibited.”
However, earlier this month, Nunes’ campaign promoted a video that called the PSOL candidate a “home invader.” The publication was suspended by court order after Boulos’ team filed a representation with the Electoral Court. The mayor’s campaign was contacted for comment on the case on Wednesday, the 4th, but had not responded by the time this report was last updated.
Tabata, Boulos and Marina Helena focus on female voters
Tabata Amaral is the candidate who, proportionally, invested the most in boosting content specifically aimed at female voters. According to data from Meta, 36% of the amount spent by the socialist on boosting was allocated to female social media users in São Paulo. In total, the candidate directed 21 publications to female voters.
Internal research by the PSB campaign indicates that Tabata has been gaining ground among the female public, driven by her advertising campaigns. Qualitative research to which the campaign had access reveals that the combative tone adopted by Tabata on social media
generates sympathy, especially among conservative women, who reject what they consider to be a “victim-oriented discourse”, often associated with the left.
Tabata’s candidacy has been relying on well-produced videos that tell her story of overcoming obstacles, from a girl from a peripheral neighborhood to a student at Harvard University (USA), as its main strategy for promoting her campaign. In addition, she has used the tool to promote a web series about her life and her proposals for the city of São Paulo.
Boulos has also invested in content aimed at female voters, with 11% of his spending directed at this audience (26 ads in total). The PSOL campaign produced a video featuring the candidate’s mother and grandmother, as well as a recorded statement by his wife, lawyer Natalia Szermeta, highlighting Boulos’ qualities and his good relationships with women. The video was promoted on the candidate’s social media, with a focus on female voters. Boulos’ interlocutors say that his following has grown especially among low-income women.
Candidate Marina Helena targeted 22 ads at women, representing 5.4% of her spending. Like Tabata Amaral, the Novo candidate has invested in videos that highlight her trajectory as a woman who built her career in the private sector.
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