Clicks, content and confusion: Inside the social media arms race shaping the 2025 federal election

As Australia heads toward the polls on May 3, political campaigns are no longer fought just on television or at town halls - they’re unfolding algorithm by algorithm, platform by platform. This year, the 2025 federal election marks a step change in digital campaigning, with parties embracing hyper-targeted YouTube ads, influencer-led messaging and TikTok as a testing ground for real-time engagement.

Three new data sets from Adgile, Meltwater and Fabulate reveal how political parties are spending, targeting and messaging across platforms - and the results show both innovation and anxiety at play.

YouTube: seat-by-seat warfare

According to Adgile, the Coalition is leading a highly localised, data-driven push on YouTube, using more than 251 distinct creatives and 1,184 separate targeting lines in the first half of the campaign. In contrast, Labor has deployed 266 creatives with 958 targeting lines - fewer impressions overall, but still significant in scope.

“This is no longer just a TV campaign where you focus on mass reach – it’s a hyper-targeted video strategy the likes of which we haven’t seen before,” said Adgile managing director Shaun Lohman. “The Liberals in particular appear to have learnt lessons from the recent Queensland State Election… They appear to be now using this tactic on steroids in this campaign.”

The Liberals are leaning heavily on attack ads, with geo-located creative tailored to local issues. Labor has adopted a slower build, focusing on positive messaging in the early weeks but ramping up contrast ads from week two.

Clive Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots party, meanwhile, is spending more on YouTube than any other political party, but without precision. “Palmer’s Trumpet of Patriots party appears to be targeting every YouTube user in Australia,” said Lohman. “This would include a significant number of Australians aged under 18, estimated to be at least 10 per cent of YouTube’s total audience.”

TikTok: Albanese leads the engagement race

Fabulate’s analysis of TikTok performance paints a clear picture: Anthony Albanese is comfortably ahead of his rivals on the platform. His videos are viewed six times more often than Peter Dutton’s and nine times more than Adam Bandt’s. In raw numbers, Albanese’s top-performing TikTok — a values-driven video — was watched over 400,000 times, compared to Dutton’s 130,000 and Bandt’s 90,000.

“Clearly the Albanese team have learnt a lesson or two about TikTok and are following best practice on the platform,” said Nathan Powell, chief product and strategy officer at Fabulate. “The numbers they are getting are clearly resonating but it appears to be largely, if not wholly, organic reach.”

Despite relatively modest follower numbers (between 100,000 and 200,000 for all three leaders), the videos themselves are punching above their weight, particularly when focused on values, cost of living and Medicare.

Fabulate notes that meme-driven content - though often headline-grabbing - isn't necessarily what performs best. Videos with recognisable figures and grounded policy themes appear to be cutting through more effectively with the 18–24 male-leaning audience dominating the leaders’ accounts.

Sentiment, influencers and fatigue

Social media may be humming with content, but the mood isn’t bright. Meltwater tracked more than one million posts from 14 March to 14 April and found that overall sentiment has been “largely negative,” driven by concerns around cost of living, housing and energy.

“Australians are showing up in force online this election, but it’s clear from the data that emotional fatigue and scepticism are running high,” said Meltwater VP ANZ Ross Candido. “What we’re seeing is a real shift - not just in what voters care about, but in how and where they’re engaging.”

Meltwater’s Election Centre dashboard shows that Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party are generating higher overall social engagement (2.89 million engagements across 293,000 posts) than Albanese and Labor (2.14 million engagements across 163,000 posts). However, Albanese’s social footprint is larger, with a 229 million reach and an average of 15,100 engagements per post, boosted by a strong influencer strategy.

Notably, Abbie Chatfield has emerged as one of the most impactful digital voices in the campaign. A clip of Greens leader Adam Bandt DJing for youth voter engagement reached 79,000 views and 22,000 engagements on her platform. Both Bandt and Albanese have appeared on her podcast, It’s A Lot.

Meltwater’s data also confirms that social media conversations are now outpacing traditional news coverage in both volume and engagement. This shift further blurs the lines between editorial influence and algorithmic momentum.

A tale of two strategies

While both major parties are leaning into digital, their issue priorities differ. Labor’s digital chatter is being driven by healthcare (25% of all trending content related to Albanese), followed by tax and cost of living. For the Liberals, the top themes are cost of living (16.5%), energy (14.1%) and housing (12.3%).

The Greens, meanwhile, are taking a multi-platform approach: investing in linear TV in Adelaide and Perth, but prioritising digital and YouTube in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Their 350+ creatives on YouTube reflect an electorally precise and budget-conscious campaign.

The bottom line 

This is the most digitally targeted, platform-native, and influencer-aware election campaign Australia has seen. Whether it's hyper-targeted YouTube ads in marginal seats, podcast guest spots with social tastemakers, or TikTok engagement outpacing follower counts - the digital battleground is now the real battleground.

And voters, fatigued or not, are watching.