Liberal, Labor spend $100,000s post-budget on Facebook advertising

The government and the opposition are spending big to try to define Anthony Albanese’s reputation in the eyes of voters, a review of Liberal and Labor parties’ post-budget Facebook advertising has revealed.

Last week’s federal budget was the first major set piece for the federal election. Both the Coalition and the Labor Party’s announcements were accompanied by carefully coordinated media strategies to ensure the maximum splash for their cash splashes.

Social media, like Meta’s Facebook and Instagram products which count tens of millions of Australians as users, are an important part of that. Facebook and Instagram offer two ways to reach users: through organic content and paid content which allows advertisers to boost and target their messages. 

Political parties use organic posts to get messages to their existing audiences — typically their voting base — and paid advertising to reach users who aren’t already engaging their online presence, like swing voters. 

Meta’s Ad Library offers information about what Facebook advertisements are being run by pages, where they’re geographically targeted and at what demographics. An examination of both major parties’ advertisements since the federal budget on March 29 shows that Anthony Albanese is the major figure in post-budget Facebook advertisements from both parties’ Facebook pages.

Labor’s Facebook advertisements feature Albanese front-and-centre to promote its alternative budget policies. Slickly produced videos and photographs of the Labor leader speaking about its initiatives, with B-roll talking to parents in playgrounds, and tradies at work and farmers in their fields make up the majority of the ads. They all focus on its announcements and don’t mention the government. 

On the other end of the spectrum, the Liberal Party is running negative advertisements about Albanese. Its messages, which use a combination of graphics and clips from the media, frame him as a high-taxing leader and a risky choice without convictions. 

Other than a few advertisements featuring Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, the rest spruik the government’s economic achievements and new budget measures in simple graphics. Scott Morrison is nowhere to be seen.  

During this period, Labor is outspending the Liberals two-to-one with upwards of $100,000 spent on showing nearly 900 different advertisements to more than 3 million Facebook users through the Anthony Albanese and Australian Labor Party Facebook pages. The Liberal Party’s 128 advertisements, costing up to $46,000, have been seen by more than 3.7 million Australians.

With only a few weeks until polling day, the parties are racing to frame Albanese as either a future prime minister or a high-taxing politician who stands for nothing. Their post-budget social media advertising blitz marks the first shots in all-out election warfare.