As someone who is in marketing, it is quite entertaining to watch various candidates enter in to the hotly contested race for the president in 2016. As a result, I want to throw my hat into the ring because I understand the secret sauce related to becoming a presidential candidate. That secret sauce is both offline and online marketing (including social media). I am not a rich like Donald Trump, so I will delay my candidacy for president and instead blog about others marketing efforts. Sorry voters. Giggle. In this blog post, I am going to outline marketing in politics, so you can run for president if you chose to do so. There are about 5 key aspects to being successful, which are the following: communication/PR= social media, data=marketing analytics, marketing=messaging, engaging your base=customer engagement, and social media marketing=24/7 news cycle.
Communication/PR=Digital/Social Media
If you notice, I describe things in terms of old and new media. Social Media has gained a place in politics per recent studies. Previously, candidates would have utilized expensive hard to get third party channels to communicate with the voting public. They had to hope that citizens saw or heard their message when it was sent out during a very small window of time. The campaign of President Barack Obama taught us that you can break that paradigm. His team at the time leveraged social media and digital technology to communicate their message directly to consumers. Social media allowed him to control the look, feel, and flow of that message to his potential voters. It created an easy way for it be shared, spread, and for voter participation. Additionally, mobile messaging technology allowed him to geo-locate and communicate with potential voters in a new real-time. This assisted him in being able to communicate a personalized message to voters gaining their attention outside of the normal news cycle.
Data=Marketing Analytics
Campaigns run on adrenaline and data. Political candidates similar to large healthcare companies have an intimate knowledge about you along with others in your community. Data assists political campaigns in their ability to develop a strategy and target the best voters aligned with their message. Data is used to drive strategy along with understanding what is looked upon favorably by the public on a real time a basis. For example, candidates can understand how their performance on a debate was received and adjust strategy immediately after the fact. Data when used thoughtful and strategically can be ensure a candidate’s success. Messaging=Marketing You hear the saying that candidates are “staying on message”. The message becomes about creating imagery that is tied to their campaign and embodies the candidate’s brand. Nike is a perfect example ie “Just Do It!”. The messages coming from candidates can be subtle or overt. In the case of the image below, Jeb Bush has made a decision to be very vague regarding his last name. In the upper left corner, he made sure to have in red letters just “JeB!”. Let’s unpack that, it is in the upper left where most users focus their gaze on a website. It is stands out because of its red coloring. Additionally, he is not using his surname, which means he is trying to separate himself from his family. As you see the messaging, its color, and placement are important to candidates when branding themselves to the public. 
Engaging your base=customer engagement
As it stands now at the time of writing this, Donald Trump is leading the way with engaging his base. There are a couple of metrics and reasons supporting his success. One key reason is that he is a polarizing and provocative personality that has tapped into some social & psycho-graphic issues of the Republican voting bloc. Many Americans are very frustrated about the economy, immigration, and the societal social change, which he hits upon in stump speeches thereby connecting with them. Currently, he has a tremendous lead on the other republican leaders vying for the Republican nomination for president. Additionally, voters are turning out to see Donald Trump make speeches and connect with him. Potential voters are connecting online, offline, and reflecting that in their tentative polling supporting him. He is a great marketer really tapping in the emotional and intellectual motivations of his voting bloc.
Social Media/Online Marketing=24/7 news cycle
Online as well as social media has become such an integral part of political campaigns. President Barack Obama’s success was partially do his integrated grassroot efforts both offline and online marketing circumventing the 24/7 media outlets. The republicans really ignored that aspect of marketing, which may have assisted in contributing to their lack of success in the last president election. This time around both parties seem to understand the importance of leveraging social media. One candidate in particular seems to be winning the social media vote via many experts and that is Senator Bernie Sanders. He proves that President Obama success can be replicated on social media. Honorable digital mention goes to Senator Lindsey Graham who made a phone upgrade and got a iPhone, sadly because of Donald Trump. Senator Lindsay Graham don’t be afraid to use your phone for email. J Senator Bernie Sanders is definitely successfully leveraging social tools to be connected 24/7 with those social savvy voters, while controlling his message.
Well, I think I have identified the top marketing tends in politics. Are you ready to announce your candidacy for presidency? I will vote for you and handle your marketing.
Have a great day.
Lisa
Digitally Savvy Vegetarian 