Marketing Secrets From Presidential Campaigns

Looking at political elections through the lens of a marketer today…

And of course, the most recent one last week was a huge and divisive election.

But today I just want to focus on real, true principles relevant to any business.

Think about it… we call them marketing campaigns…

They call them political campaigns…

They’re not so different.

A campaign is a campaign.

It has a goal and a target audience.

It has a core message with specific beliefs behind it.

We both ask the audience to take some sort of action.

We need to constantly look at if we’re reaching the right audience(s) with the right messages.

1. Keep It Simple & Direct

This is a reminder for us to be crystal clear in our messaging.

Don’t clear your throat.

Don’t muddle the message or make it too complicated.

Most of your audience will only skim your emails once in awhile.

My college screenwriting class said to make sure the audience would get the gist of what was happening in a movie…

Even if they zoned out for a few minutes and just suddenly paid attention out of nowhere.

What will they hear and understand in moments like those?

Movies have to keep audiences engaged for 2 hours or so.

You gotta build in some ways to reel them back in if they drift off.

Don’t assume anyone is reading every line, or most of the lines. Or any of it.

Write out your first-grade-level soundbites and repeat them over and over.

2. Speak To Self Interest

“If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason.” -Ben Franklin

You should expect your audience to think of themselves first.

If something doesn’t apply to them, especially in their every day life…

They’re unlikely to give it much thought.

Your promos and campaigns are about your audience, not about anybody else.

They’re certainly not about your agenda… 

Unless your agenda is all about your audience and based on real understanding of them.

3. Know Your Audience’s Pain Points

In the final days of the last campaign, we saw a lot of messaging around pain points.

Candidates know that people crave security and stability…

And we’re talking about right now.

It’s clear that voters, just like buyers of your products, are very short term minded.

They were not thinking about historical data. They weren’t doing research on whose policies might actually be better.

They were just picking up those soundbites I mentioned earlier.

And matching it up to their daily life. What has their life been like lately?

They just want it to improve. They don’t care about much else (self interest).

This is the typical buyer’s mindset as well…

Unless you’re dealing with advanced folks in a sophisticated market who are serious about their goals and actively working toward them everyday.

So of course, know your audience and where they’re at.

When trying to get 335 million people to vote, just assume that no one knows anything and they will only hear soundbites.

In our work, we can use the same idea.

Start with what’s uncomfortable for your audience, agitate it, and then show them the transformation your product provides.

4. More Touches At Crucial Times

There’s a reason why the presidential candidates were doing so much in Pennsylvania the last day.

It was supposed to be the state that could decide the whole election.

It’s why they spend so much time in swing states...

The more times a candidate shows up in an area, the more they get seen and heard…

The more people vote for them.

This was a big reason why Hillary Clinton lost, she assumed she would pick up more votes in certain states without visiting.

It’s similar to marketing impressions and touches.

If they see you everywhere, you’ll be top of mind.

I think a lot of buying choices come down to familiarity.

They’ve just seen you more and it makes sense in the moment to buy from you.

And you have to meet them where they’re at.

In this election, Kamala Harris only had about 100 days to roll out her campaign.

There just wasn’t enough time for her to get all the touches she needed.

Proof that this affected votes?

These Google searches trended on election night:

“Did Joe Biden drop out?” and “Where to vote for Biden?”

People didn’t even know that Kamala Harris was running instead of Joe Biden.

So familiarity and getting a head start with lots of touches helped Trump a lot here.

I think this point here is the most mind-boggling, and also the simplest lesson.

Because it’s one we know well in marketing, yet we still ignore it…

You think “Surely this can’t be? All I have to do is show up more? And longer?”

Well, you need all the other points we talked about here today too…

But yes, it really is that simple. Just start showing up more (in the right places).

It’s also the most time and resource intensive and least “scalable.”

Which is why it gets ignored a lot.

But this point alone can help you take market share or at the very least just get the income you want.

I’m going to chew on these points for the rest of the weekend while I plan out my week.

There’s plenty more marketing lessons we could pick up from politics…

But I think today’s brief breakdown shows us that simplicity, connection, and timing can make or break your message.

Hit reply and let’s talk through any of the points you want to work on in your business.

I’m here to help all Americans… and non-Americans!

-RCD