The presidential election resulted millions of Americans dealing with complicated feelings, especially if their candidate lost. But businesses might be looking at the presidential election in a different way. There are successful marketing lessons that can be learned from the presidential election.
Social Media Beats Traditional Advertising
It goes without saying that technology, social media in particular, is a dominant force in politics. It is hardly surprising that political ad spending reached 1 billion for digital media.
President Obama was the first president to successfully leverage social media before it became as ubiquitous as it is today. Elected president, Donald Trump, used Twitter as major component of his marketing strategy, instead of leveraging traditional tactics like TV ads causing a reduced the cost of campaigning significantly. President of Infogroup Media Solutions, Gretchen Littlefield, stated, “candidates have leveraged social platforms, especially Twitter, to not only broadcast messages but to build excitement around their respective campaigns.”
Although both presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton, have had success in speaking to their supporters through social media, more than once Trump has put his foot in his mouth and damaged his own campaign due to what he posted on Twitter.
Businesses must budget to fulfill a position to a person devoted to social media, who can speak on behalf of the business and should be monitored. Information on posted on social communities should be limited since a spur of the moment bad decisions can completely destroy marketing efforts.
Simplicity is Key
Simplicity always works best for appealing to a mass market.
All originated in 2008, Barack Obama’s message “Yes We Can” resonated with the electorate, and it won him two terms as president. Similarly, Donald Trump was an advocate to the message of “Make America Great Again.” It’s a rallying cry that encourages people to crowd around him. Trump uses simplicity as a tool of persuasion. Throughout the presidential campaign, Trump used a general rule: simpler speech is more persuasive.
Simple words alone have not contributed to Trump’s success; it is more complicated than that. Undeniably, Trump’s simple and simplistic words are a key weapon when it comes to persuading people.
Business’s brand should have a simple message that instantly helps stand out from the crowd.
Know Your Audience
Whether people love or hate Donald Trump, he has played to a very select crowd of voters who believe in his message and who want to support him. Entrepreneur Magazine emphasized that Trump’s tough-talking “I don’t care what the experts think” attitude that appeals to Americans. Trump gave voice to feelings that are widely shared nationwide.
Similarly, the business brand doesn’t have to appeal to “everyone.” Know your target market and speak to their concerns in a relevant way
Donald Trump is a fascinating one-of-a-kind figure in American politics and business. Businesses do not have to become like Trump to learn from how he’s marketed himself and built his brand.
This blog post is a response to Social Media in Organization’s Week 12 Assignment: Political/Social Media Observations.