Digital campaigning has changed dramatically in the last decade, and so has the amount campaigns are expected to invest online.

Back in 2018, political digital spending reached $1.9 billion — almost 20% of all political ad spending at the time, according to Borrell Associates. Local campaigns made up a significant share of that investment. Post-pandemic, the landscape has shifted even further. Today, most campaigns should expect to dedicate 20–30% of their total advertising budget to digital.

So how much should your campaign budget for digital advertising?

Let’s break the numbers down.

Start With Your Win Number

To understand how much your campaign will cost — and how much of it goes to digital — start with the most important number in any race: How many votes you need to win.

Your local board of elections can provide turnout history, past vote totals, and results from comparable races. From there, you can estimate:

• How many votes are needed to win
• How many voters you must persuade or turn out
• The approximate cost to reach them

Another useful metric is cost per vote.

Look at what winning candidates spent in previous races and divide their total spend by the votes they received. For federal races, historical data is available at Opensecrets.org. For local races, your county or state board of elections will often have campaign finance data.

Cost per vote isn’t perfect — the best-funded candidate doesn’t always win — but it gives you a baseline to understand what campaigns typically spend in your area.

How you allocate that digital budget will shift throughout the campaign. Early on, most campaigns put the bulk of spending toward visibility, list-building, and small-dollar fundraising. As the race progresses, digital spend usually shifts to persuasion and contrast messaging. In the final weeks, campaigns typically shift most of their spending to early voting reminders and GOTV ads. Think of your budget as something you’ll adjust throughout the race, not a fixed figure you decide once.

Estimating Your Digital Budget

Let’s run a simple example.

Suppose you need 5,000 votes to win your local election.
Past races show an average cost per vote of $5.

Your estimated total campaign cost would be:
5,000 votes × $5 per vote = $25,000

If you dedicate 20% of your budget to digital advertising, that gives you:
$25,000 × 20% = $5,000 for digital

Some candidates will spend more. Others will spend less. But having a baseline helps you plan.

A few years ago, a first-time school board candidate we worked with assumed she could “make do” with a campaign website and just a Facebook page with a couple boosted posts. Once her opponent started running steady Facebook ads, she saw her name ID numbers drop in polling. A $600 emergency ad push made up some ground, but not all of it. That race taught her — and honestly, all of us — that even small campaigns need a real digital plan.

Skipping digital isn’t really an option anymore, even for small local races.

Keep in mind that “digital budget” includes more than ad dollars. Creative production (graphics, short videos, photo shoots), your email platform, texting tools, landing page software, and basic analytics often fall under digital as well. Many small campaigns overlook these costs and end up underfunding the very tools that make online advertising effective.

Where Should Your Digital Budget Go?

Digital offers many tools, but each has its own strengths, limitations, and cost structure. Here’s a practical overview to help you decide where to allocate your resources.

Before diving into each tactic, it helps to see how digital spending typically breaks down by campaign size.

• Small local race ($2,500–$5,000 digital budget): Mostly Facebook/Instagram ads, small retargeting pool, limited Google search ads, and some early GOTV spending.
• Mid-size race ($10,000–$25,000): Mix of Facebook/Instagram, Google Search, IP targeting, retargeting, and a modest GOTV push with video or display ads.
• Competitive district ($25,000+): Layered programs including video, aggressive retargeting, IP targeting at multiple stages, and daily optimization.

These examples aren’t strict formulas, but they give you a sense of how digital spending usually grows as a race gets bigger and more competitive.

We’ve seen plenty of campaigns move from a $1,000 digital budget to $10,000 in their second cycle because they saw how well digital performed the first time. Once a candidate sees that donors respond to online ads and volunteers come in through digital sign-ups, it’s rare they ever go back to a purely traditional strategy.

1. Facebook & Instagram Advertising

Facebook is still one of the most cost-effective ways to reach local voters. You can:

• Boost posts
• Run targeted ads
• Promote events
• Reach supporters and their friends
• Retarget people who visited your website

Political advertisers must go through a verification process, so start early.

Typical costs:

• Boosted posts: $5–$20 per post for small audiences
• Local targeting campaigns: $200–$500+ depending on reach
• Larger GOTV pushes: varies by district size

You don’t need a huge budget here — even a small ad push can get you in front of voters fast.

2. Google Search & Display Advertising

Search ads appear when people look up a candidate’s name or a local issue.
Display ads help build awareness across broader audiences.

Most campaigns target:

• Candidate name
• Opponent name (for contrast messaging)
• Local issues
• Office sought

Limitations: Google restricts targeting for political advertisers. You can only target by:

• ZIP code
• Age
• Gender

Even with the limits, search ads tend to work because they catch voters right when they’re looking you up.

3. Retargeting

Retargeting shows ads to people who have already visited your website.
This is useful for:

• Reminder messaging
• Donation appeals
• Volunteer recruitment
• Early voting and GOTV pushes

Pros: Usually inexpensive and easy to run often.
Cons: You’re only reaching people who’ve already visited your site.

4. IP Targeting

IP targeting converts physical addresses into IP addresses so you can deliver ads directly to specific households. You can target:

• Party members
• Households by demographic
• Specific neighborhoods
• Donor lists
• High-value areas of your district

IP-backed ad campaigns are significantly more targeted than television and outperform many other online tools.

5. Text Messaging (SMS)

Text messaging has become a powerful tool because of its high deliverability and quick response rates. However, voters must opt-in, and compliance rules apply.

Use texting for:

• Event reminders
• Fundraising pushes
• GOTV
• Post-debate or post-rally calls to action

Texting works especially well when paired with volunteer phone banks.

Budget Variability

Some digital costs stay pretty steady, like texting or IP targeting. Others, especially PPC and Facebook ads, can swing up or down depending on demand.

A good rule of thumb:

• Start with a small test budget early
• Determine what your cost per click, cost per impression, and conversion rates look like
• Scale up during fundraising drives and final GOTV

And always reserve extra funds for the final two weeks of the campaign. Digital ad costs often rise during high-demand periods.

Timing: When to Spend

Ideally, you should begin advertising several weeks to a month before the general election. This is when voters finally start focusing on who they plan to vote for. Do this earlier if you expect:

• Mail-in voting
• Heavy early voting
• A competitive primary

Your race size and competitiveness also influence timing. Small local campaigns may not need a long runway, but competitive county or state legislative races often begin digital outreach months before Election Day. If you anticipate heavy spending from opponents or outside groups, your campaign may need to establish a digital presence much earlier to avoid being defined for you.

Measure and Optimize Your Results

Make sure your treasurer is prepared to track digital expenses carefully. Every ad buy — from Facebook to Google to texting platforms — must be reported. Digital spending often comes in small, frequent installments, which makes accurate reporting especially important. Keep your receipts and maintain clear records for compliance.

Tracking your digital efforts is important. At minimum:

• Add analytics to your campaign website
• Review traffic sources
• Monitor ad performance

Run A/B tests

• Try multiple PPC ads at once
• Test different fundraising landing pages
• Compare email subject lines and open rates
• Something that performs well in June might flop in October. Your data will tell you when it’s time to shift.

Digital ads aren’t really about racking up clicks — they’re about getting your name and message in front of voters often enough that they remember you when it counts.

Most voters need to see or hear from you more than once before it sticks, so steady and repeated contact wins out.

So How Much Should You Budget?

For small and mid-size campaigns, a practical approach is:

• Allocate 20–30% of your total advertising budget to digital
• Spend early on visibility and online fundraising
• Increase spending during early voting and GOTV
• Leave room for last-minute pushes
• Adjust based on performance metrics

Digital alone won’t carry you across the finish line, but ignoring it can put you at a real disadvantage.

Common digital budget mistakes we see:

• Underestimating how early voters begin paying attention
• Spending the entire budget in one burst instead of in phases
• Relying too heavily on boosted posts rather than structured ad campaigns
• Forgetting to reserve funds for early voting and GOTV
• Ignoring list-building until it’s too late

Sidestepping these mistakes can make a noticeable difference in how far your budget goes.

Even local candidates must plan on putting a meaningful portion of their budget toward digital outreach. Voters spend plenty of time online, so your campaign has to show up where they already are.

Online Candidate provides an affordable, powerful way to build your online campaign. Find out why we are the choice for hundreds of campaigns every election cycle.