The USA elections are coming: how to prepare for the coming storms and not be left behind

It seems like only yesterday that the entire market was complaining about the US presidential elections. Facebook was traditionally dying, buyers were pouring without any results. And when it was all over, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, because there is still plenty of time before the next election…

However, midterm elections to the US House of Representatives will take place in November 2026. And that means another storm, problems with bans and a crisis around the world.

As they say, it’s better to prepare your sleigh in the summer. So, while there is still time before the elections, AFFHUB has prepared a special project for you on how to prepare for the upcoming vote in the US. So that in times of crisis, you don’t lose, but rather multiply. 

Let’s dive into the past: Why US elections affect Facebook Ads

It would seem that Facebook has nothing to do with elections. In practice, however, it is no secret that “affiliate marketing is not outside politics.” All political events influence campaigns in one way or another. And the US elections are always the most significant political event for the whole world.

Globally, the US elections began to influence Facebook in 2016. That was when Donald Trump was elected president in the regular US elections. To put it mildly, many people did not like these results. Widespread public discontent led to Facebook being accused of manipulating public opinion and spreading fake information about the government and the electoral process. To fix everything, Mark Zuckerberg promised to prevent similar situations from happening in the future. 

And he kept his promise, because since then, Facebook has been unpleasantly surprising experts during every US election. Almost all ads are not moderated and are rejected. Everything is worn out, even the “white” ones. Accounts are banned en masse, payment problems are rampant, and the effectiveness of the work is, of course, zero. Storms can be protracted. Their duration can range from a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

And this is not the only reason for the storms. Another problem is that significant budgets are allocated to US elections. And they go to advertising, particularly on Facebook. As a result, the auction is inflated, and your leads become more expensive. 

In terms of numbers, the situation can be vividly illustrated by the example of the US presidential elections in 2016 and 2020

A 2016 study showed that each candidate invested heavily in their marketing campaign. Trump’s team spent approximately $44 million, while Clinton’s team spent $28 million. As you can see, the costs are high and the difference between the candidates is significant. So, on the one hand, Trump’s victory is not surprising.

Research for 2020 showed that presidents and vice presidents spent approximately $170.29 million on advertising campaigns on Facebook alone.

According to Facebook, $86.29 million and $84 million were spent on advertising for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump and Mike Pence, respectively.

As you can see, every year during the US election process, crazy amounts of money are spent on advertising. Politicians buy up traffic in the hope of winning. This all has a big impact on Facebook’s auction.

All these problems make it less profitable to buy traffic. And buyers don’t understand how to act so as not to waste everything. Will it be the same this year? Here’s what the experts say about it: 

“Will there be a repeat in 2024? As a rule, Facebook wobbles every fall, and 2026 is no exception, but it’s not a given that we’re in for tough times. 

Moderation will definitely increase, auction priorities will change, accounts will be cleaned up, and metrics will jump around. We will definitely see high CPMs, account deaths, and the disappearance of hooks in one form or another. But there are also advantages for white and branded approaches, as during storms, algorithms push them into a higher-quality auction,” says Oleg Kupets, Owner of KuPartners. 

 

“Fall 2026 is a midterm election year in the US. Analysts predict political spending of $11 billion, almost as much as in the presidential election.

This means two key problems for Meta: CPM in the US will skyrocket, especially in October-November. Politicians will buy traffic at any price, crowding out commerce. And let’s not forget about stricter moderation. Any hints at social issues or aggressive creatives will lead to bans,” notes Roman Korchak, owner of the Real Target project. 

We would add that this year’s elections may be abnormal in terms of the amount of investment. The fact is that, according to all preliminary polls, Republicans are losing not only in contested states, but also traditionally in their “home” states. And given that this party is actively supported not only by Elon Musk, but also by most of the other people on the Forbes list, we can expect crazy amounts of money to be spent on advertising. 

How to prepare in advance for storms from Facebook in 2026

So, as you can see, sometimes things go wrong. In such cases, it is scary to be unprepared and not have a plan B. Therefore, we advise you to prepare for this in advance so that during storms you can work more or less calmly and not feel this turbulence on your own skin.

Risk diversification is the first point and, in this case, probably the best. If you are used to good old Facebook and have been putting off learning about new traffic sources “until tomorrow,” then this is your sign to start right now. While there is still time, sit down and familiarize yourself with alternatives to Facebook Ads (more on this in the next section). 

Find the best options for yourself and try to get comfortable with them before the storm hits. This is exactly the kind of plan B that will save you in difficult times. Did you bet on Facebook? No problem — let’s move on to another source. In general, additional knowledge is never superfluous. Skill development is the foundation for an arbitrageur who wants to progress.

Here’s what Oleg Kupets has to say about it: 

“It is imperative to diversify everything, you always need to have at least a few geos in operation, this can greatly affect the envelope, as an option —  you can only swing a few geos. It is very important to focus on creatives, make them more native, change the delivery, and adapt to the storm. 

 

By fall, you must have a good supply of accounts, domains, various payment solutions, and accounts of varying quality. Also, don’t forget about working with campaigns. Often, a sharp increase in budget can have a negative impact on an account. It can either lose all of its accumulated leverage or simply fly off the policy. “

But if you are not going to give up and plan to stay on Facebook, here are some tips that can soften your relationship with moderation and help you promote your offers in some way:

• Be prepared to see a drop in ROI. It’s unpleasant and painful. But when it’s expected, it’s not so sad in the long run. During elections, advertising prices rise sharply, but unfortunately, this does not increase conversions at all. And it is significant to understand that the decline will occur not only in the US but also in other GEOs. Of course, somewhere in Latam or Europe, the impact will be much smaller, but it will still be there. 
• Prepare agency accounts. The ones with a clean history that does not raise any suspicion on Facebook. Now is the time to do this, so don’t delay. If Facebook starts to respect you, so to speak, your risks of being banned will decrease significantly.
• Clear targeting exclusively at the desired audience. Non-targeted clicks also lead to bans, so be especially careful during storms.
• Calm creatives. If Facebook bans even white ads, it’s scary to imagine how it will react to direct advertising, such as gambling. To avoid imagining this and, even more so, to avoid facing it head-on, you know what to do. Maximum caution and attentiveness are your everything. You can try a more native approach and calm images. Make sure that the content does not look like political advertising, a call to violence, or provocation.
• Reliable payment methods. In dark times, it is better to avoid schemes that try to circumvent moderation. Payment card details must be clean and not at all suspicious to Facebook.
• Working with different GEOs. Turbulence may not spread everywhere. So always keep a few reliable GEOs in your bag that you can switch to in case of a so-called disaster. Stock up on high-quality proxies and pumped-up accounts. 

Here’s how Roman Korchak advises preparing for the US elections: 

“I would break the problem down into several parts. If your main traffic is in the US, prepare backup connections in Latin America, Asia, and Europe. The auction will be more stable there because there are no local elections of this scale.

 

During this period, it is better to avoid gray approaches (aggressive nutra, crypto). Switch to the most white offers possible (ecom, lead generation, loans, insurance), where the risk of being banned is minimal.

 

Set a 30-50% increase in the lead price. If the economy does not converge, it is better to stop traffic two weeks before the elections. It is better to wait than to waste your budget in an overheated auction. “

What can replace Facebook Ads during storms

We have devoted an entire section to this issue. Many people advise switching to other advertising platforms, working with native advertising, conditionally free traffic, using push notifications, etc. 

These are indeed effective options, so now we will take a closer look at more stable sources that will allow you to survive during the elections and remain relevant after them. 

Google Ads

This platform for placing advertisements cannot be called simple due to its settings. Not all media buyers are willing to work with it, but they shouldn’t be. If you figure out this platform, you can get very high-quality traffic. With Google Ads, you can place ads for offers in Google search results, in mobile apps on Google partner sites, and more. 

The strictness of moderation depends on your vertical. For example, with the well-known internal affairs and gambling, you have to put in a little more effort here. Direct advertising of such offers is not very welcome on Google, so you need to use a more native approach and avoid “blunt advertising.”

There are really many opportunities here. So while there is still time, consider Google Ads as an option. The sometimes difficult learning process is worth it.

Telegram

A popular source of traffic among media buyers. Ads can be placed both on your own promoted channel and on other people’s channels. Flooding through large thematic Telegram chats also works great.

If you haven’t started working with Telegram channels yet and are used to Facebook, then go ahead. There’s still plenty of time before fall for you to get started here and prepare a cozy corner for the stormy period.

Of course, Telegram Ads is still around. The source, which recently raised questions due to its price, has now stabilized and begun to bring stable profits to media buyers. Most importantly, Telegram Ads is not an American story, but a European one. Therefore, the impact of the US elections will be much less here. 

TikTok Ads

TikTok is a great fit for conditionally free traffic, as the app promotes all content well. You don’t need to have several thousand followers for your ad to get user attention. You can read about working with conditionally free traffic via TikTok and current schemes as of 2026 here.  

However, TikTok Ads has only recently started working. In short, even more opportunities and even more traffic, but now for your money. The platform allows you to set up your target audience quite well. Currently, the prices are also quite reasonable, so for a while, this source is a great idea. 

As for approaches, it is also worth being careful with direct advertising here. In fact, this can be written under the description of each platform, because almost everywhere you have to look for softer approaches to creating ads. 

X (Twitter) Ads

About restrictions. This place is not for the faint of heart. Promotion on X is real and effective, but it can eat away at your nerves. It is difficult to promote gray offers here due to the work of ad blockers. The platform is powerful thanks to its active audience, its openness, and its toxicity, so be prepared to receive complaints in the comments under your ads right from the start.

There is high competition here, which determines the cost of advertising. But if Facebook goes down, you can agree to this.

Mostly, white offers are promoted through X Ads because, as we mentioned earlier, it is quite strict with gray topics. Among the popular verticals here are:

• Nutra
• Crypto
• E-commerce

We also should not forget about conditionally free traffic. Honestly, it could be made into a separate point, because it is really profitable. At the very least, there are no crazy expenses due to sky-high prices against the backdrop of the elections.

X (Twitter) is one of the most popular platforms for promoting adult offers (precisely because of the flood of conditionally free traffic). Yes, this is a niche that falls under the “questionable” list. But if you move away from the X Ads paid advertising format, which is much more heavily moderated, then flooding adult content ceases to be a fantasy.

In conclusion

Being a buyer means always being prepared. The US elections are just one of the threats that can hinder stable work. Autumn is traditionally a difficult period for media buying. Therefore, you should always prepare for it in advance. 

So be patient, prepare your database just in case, and while there is still time, grab new skills. It is always easier to work if you have more than one path of development in your arsenal of knowledge.