Politics and Marketing

[Freelancier]

This isn't a politics thread! I don't care who you want to vote for or why. Makes no difference to me whatsoever... and even less so if you live outside the US where I live. So that said, keep it away from candidates and more to marketing and you won't run afoul of the forum gods...

I came across this article last year and have been thinking about my own marketing methods ever since.

Clown Genius | Scott Adams Blog (http://blog.dilbert.com/post/126589300371/clown-genius)

If you listen to politicians for how they use marketing messages you can see what works and what won't and why it might work with some people and why it won't with others.

This came up because Mrs. Freelancier was putting together some branding for a client and I told her to "Trump-ize it", shorten the sentences to increase impact, think past the sale, that kind of thing.

So the question: have you looked at your own marketing and wondered how you could connect to your clients better by using what some politicians seem to instinctively already know what to say?

[Harold Mansfield]

I'm following you and yes, over the years I'm in a constant battle with myself on how to say it quicker, and simpler.
I often have to use analogies to explain things like Social Media, Analytics and SEO using cars and wild animals, rather than the direct explanation.

Trump is masterful at his own marketing, but it only works with a certain type of person. Basically his target market. And he doesn't' venture outside of that market and try to be everything to every one.

This is exactly what I do and what we all should be doing. I don't target just anyone. I target people who need exactly what I have to offer. That is what target marketing is, and Trump is awesome at this.

Go Daddy is also pretty good at that. Telling people who don't know any better, want they want to hear, and then toss an unbelievably cheap price on it. There's also that segment of the population that thinks all web designers are scam artists, and just thinking about the web and anything technical is overwhelming to them. Then they see Go Daddy on TV all of the time so assume they must be credible and capable or else why would so many people use them ( a leap that people make when they see something on TV).

And since most websites will never get any traffic, Go Daddy has a pretty good shot that most of the people they sign up will never need more than what they can offer. It's actually a brilliant strategy for a volume business in a field where people know absolutely nothing about how it works.

Trump is the Go Daddy of politics.

But the icing on the big, gold plated, Trump cake is that he isn't scared of the competition. He's not scared to fail. And for a lot of people that is intoxicating. People love being around confidence and money because most people don't have either. In business it's even more alluring because everyone dreams, but few dare and even fewer succeed. So when someone comes along that seems to have done it, people automatically associate that with credibility and assume they have ability in other areas.

You can look around this forum and most of the start up questions are people trying to build confidence. Confidence to take that leap. Take a chance. To not be scared.

He's not my cup of tea, but I completely understand why he appeals to a certain demographic and how that demographic has been cultivated over the last 7 years. It's actually an amazing study if you've been paying attention.

Bottom line, politics is ALL marketing, and marketing is telling your target market what they want to hear and how they want to hear it.

[KristineS]

I'm all about target marketing, and it's something I preach in my seminars and articles all the time. It amazes me how many people don't understand that it isn't just about the message it's also about getting the message in front of the right people. They follow people indiscriminately on social media and then wonder why no one wants their products or services. They waste time on things like putting fliers under car windshield wipers. The thinking seems to be that if they spray their message far enough, it's bound to hit some people who have what they need. The problem with this kind of technique is that the odds aren't in the marketers favor.

Most politicians understand knowing their market and they're very clear on who their target market is and what they want. I'm sure they invest a lot of time and money into figuring that out. Since they have that info, their messages are very targeted and play well with their base. Trump is very good at this.

[Harold Mansfield]

Most politicians understand knowing their market and they're very clear on who their target market is and what they want. I'm sure they invest a lot of time and money into figuring that out. Since they have that info, their messages are very targeted and play well with their base. Trump is very good at this.

Yep. And when your market is targeted, and loyal, you can make 10k people seem like millions. It's done ALL of the time.

People also have no realistic understanding of how much a million is (or 10 thousand, or a thousand). If you're surrounded by the same thing all of the time, you start believing the entire world is just like you.

[Freelancier]

He's not scared to failIt feels different to me as I watch this. What I see is an absolute confidence in being able to engage the "customer" and close the deal... and even if he can't he's going to act like he can. And if he can't close it with you, he'll close it with the next person and make you feel like you missed out. That's HUGE (not a pun) when you want part of your message to be "I am successful". Who wants their message to be "we're just ok"? We all want to convey that potential success to our customers and yet many times we fail because we're not confident enough (or act confident enough) to pull it off.

We can learn from this and apply it to our own businesses.