Marketing the next @POTUS. No matter where your political leanings lie, we’re watching the highest-stakes, online marketing battle in the history of the world, playing out before our very eyes. It may be painful to watch (yet we all are), but this election holds an absolute treasure trove of insights for everyone in the marketing world, and there are applicable strategies in abundance that you can apply to your brand and business alike.
President Obama’s 2008 campaign illustrated just how influential social media could be in driving votes and is widely viewed by the politico, as the first election to utilize social media as the primary mode of marketing – clearly helping him win the election, with John McCain opting not to use social media (inconceivable by today’s standards). Fast-forward to 2016 and the candidates have become very savvy in their use of social media and other channels to market themselves.
Love, hate or detest, The Donald is a brand and a powerful one at that.
“Donald Trump may not be utilizing every channel available to him, but he has a strong grasp on understanding his audience, effecting the right messaging and demonstrating how to mix “entertainment” in with his message to improve engagement and truly drive social shares,” says Entrepreneur. As an aside, in the last 24 hours the #trump hashtag has been used almost a million times, according to hashtags.org. So, who needs to pay for advertising?
And like Obama’s rallying 2008 battle cry of “Yes We Can”, Donald Trump has equally dominated over Hillary’s “Stronger Together” with his memorable “Make America Great Again” slogan – which marketing and election pundits unanimously concur is both “recognizable and emotionally charged.” Always remember… emotional connection resonates with us humans.
“Like Trump, Clinton has put a consistent persona into her personal brand, to connect with her target audience – something every brand should be doing when it comes to marketing,” says Entrepreneur.
And it’s clear that Hillary even more comprehensively understands mediums, platforms, and utilization. Clinton launched her campaign on YouTube and Twitter. She engages ubiquitously, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Snapchat and even Pinterest. She stands out by using trending hashtags, allows influencers to take over her social feeds, and demonstrates (albeit somewhat forced if you’ve caught any SNL sketches) regular levity and humour in her posts. She even took to Periscope, live-streaming events on the campaign trail, and set up a branded Spotify playlist for people to groove to. On top of all this, Hillary has smartly managed to raise $690 million (of $1.1 billion in total funds raised) via her online media efforts alone – wouldn’t we all like a 62%+ conversion rate!
So pay attention to more than the train wreck we are witnessing, and absorb some of the brilliant marketing that is taking place on mass. For key lessons you can take away from the campaign maelstrom, check out the Forbes link below…
Forbes – 5 Marketing Lessons You Can Learn From The Presidential Election
The presidential election is almost at an end, and most of the country couldn’t be happier at that fact. But businesses might be looking at the presidential election in a different way.
Michael Chase, CMO
St. Joseph Communications
#MondayMashup > http://stjoseph.com/monday-morning-mashup-oct-31st/
