Digital Campaign Strategies in 2024 Lok Sabha Polls

• Shift from traditional campaign methods to digital platforms in India’s 2024 Lok Sabha election.

• Political content accessed through short videos, targeted ads, meme pages, and influencers.

• Lokniti-CSDS’s report analyzes the role of digital platforms in mobilising voters.

• Analysis of eight political parties’ social media campaigns on Facebook and X during the elections.

• Congress recorded highest engagement on X, followed by BJP and AAP.

• Different campaign strategies revealed: AAP and Trinamool attacking opponents, BJP and Shiv Sena on vote appeals, JD(U) on policy issues.

• Religious content appeared primarily in BJP and Shiv Sena posts, while demographic targeting was visible in posts by JD(U) and RJD.

Digital Advertising in Indian Electoral Campaigns

• BJP ran 41,127 ads on Meta, contrasting with Congress’s 1,041.

• BJP’s digital strategy was more diversified, placing 53% of its ads on Instagram, 45% on Facebook, and 1% on both platforms.

• Congress concentrated 86% of its ads on both Instagram and Facebook simultaneously.

• Congress focused primarily on Hindi, using it for 92% of ads.