An interview with Jared Kushner, the President’s son-in-law appeared in Forbes Magazine just after Trump’s stunning win in the election. The article was entitled,

How Jared Kushner Won Trump the White House.
Now you may or may not like Trump for any number of reasons on either side, but everyone admits it was a shocking win. How did he do it and what can learn from his campaign strategy that can apply to your small business digital marketing and specifically your social media marketing strategy.

Here are 7 takeaways from the article in Forbes Magazine. These conclusions and others that are similar can be found other places as well across the web, but I’ll source my points using the one intriguing article in Forbes.

Here’s what can be applied to your small business digital marketing & social media marketing that’s been proven to work.

1. Social Media is the best way to communicate your message on the internet (A Great Website Alone is Not Enough.)
From Google AdWords to websites and retargeting efforts, there are a plethora of ways to communicate online.  Most small businesses and their leadership conclude that a great looking website with a fantastic home page or online video section is enough.  Many erroneously believe they can throw in a Facebook page with pictures from last month’s office party or some braggadocios claims of being better than the guy down the street and their small business is all set with online marketing.  If they happen to post some Hootsuite or Buffer generated content, then they think they are advanced.

Like Trump’s opponents and specifically Hillary who spent about twice as much as Trump on her campaign, these type methods on their own lead to a lack luster and losing strategy. The article mentions that Hillary followed the Obama digital marketing / social media playbook, which was advanced for 2012. However, according to the article, much has changed with social media and digital marketing since 2012.  Fantastic websites aren’t enough anymore. You must take full advantage of social media and specifically Facebook to succeed in today’s marketing and competitive atmosphere. What is your social media strategy and how can you learn from this winning strategy? How much traffic does your website have without social engagement?

2. If you must pick one social media channel, use Facebook.
According to the article, the decision that “won the presidency for Trump” happened on Trumps private 757 the previous November in 2015. Trump and Kushner were conversing about the campaign’s lack of use of social media over McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches.  Trump asked Kushner then and there to take over his Facebook initiatives.  

Kushner called some friends to help him learn how to set up some Facebook advertising. He experimented first with Trump merchandise. I assume specifically it was hats.  Within a very short time they want from selling $8000 worth of merchandise a day to $80,000 per day.  Kushner knew Facebook was the key way to communicate all the messages to the masses.  How are you reaching the masses in your target area using Facebook? How consistently strategic are you?  You can check out a social media usage comparison graphic here.  

3.  Slogans and Themes Work Great
I am sure you noticed like I did that simple slogans and themes worked great for this candidate.  Again, agree or disagree is not the point here, but from MAGA to Crooked Hillary to Drain the Swamp, it seemed during the election (and even since in his presidency) every few weeks brought a new slogan or theme which was repeated over and over on Facebook where it was then shared by millions of followers and went “viral.”  How are you using slogans and themes to captivate your target audience and shape their conversations and thinking?

4. You Probably Shouldn’t Attempt to Do It Yourself
Although Trump may or may not (depending on your perspective) seem very capable with his Twitter account, according to the article, Trump is a print kind of guy even to the point of handwriting notes which his assistants scan and attach to emails. He really isn’t a techie kind of person. He also was obviously extremely busy. Trump delegated his Facebook initiative to others to carry out for him. 
He and his team provided the ideas, the content and the themes, but others made it happen.

​What capable and strategic person can you delegate this extremely important task of online communication to and expect results? Is the return on investment worth allocating budget dollars toward for your small business? Many small business owners opt to delegate to an assistant or front office person who isn’t a marketer or one who is following online marketing trends and best practices. The dollars saved probably aren’t as much as the extra revenue to be gained from potential customers you’re missing out on.

5.  Dollar for Dollar there is no better way to reach people with your message
Trump spent about half of what Hillary spent on this election. Conventional wisdom and history itself said that the candidate that spends more always wins.   However, we know that in this case like so many others with this election, the status quo was upended.

Data-driven decision-making, the low cost of Facebook advertising compared with other traditional marketing costs and the power of social sharing kept the costs low in comparison.  Even with less spending, the campaign could reach more of the exact people they knew would be ideal Trump supporters with a message they knew would resonate with them. 

Through robust Facebook advertising features, they could stay in touch with them day after day for thousands less than traditional means of staying in touch with supporters such as direct mail campaigns, phone calls or tv ads. Are you spending way too much on conventional forms of advertising like direct mail, radio, billboards etc. when you could save money and reach more of the right people with your message? Have you compared the costs?

6. Make decisions about online and social media use based on data, not gut feelings
Eventually Kushner took over the campaign’s Facebook data management.  Through only about 100 workers analyzing data in an undescriptive looking building in San Antonio, Kushner could make decisions on marketing and spending with pin-point precision. What about your decisions for marketing? Are they based on data? Do you know your Facebook page usage trends? Do you know how many website hits you’ve had in the last six months? Do you know what pages are being visited and have you thought about how to improve those pages and add calls to action to capture more interaction and engagement?

7. Figure out who your target audience is and reach out to them with messages that resonate and engage.
As the data kept rolling in, Kushner and his team could continually hone their spending, their target audience, and reach them through Facebook.  He could tell which messages people responded to better, which issues mattered most and what was most relevant in their supporters’ thinking on any given day. He could spend money strategically to reach narrow segments of their audience with specifically crafted messages saving money by not spending on mass media to reach people who didn’t care about a theme or cause.
 
The article quotes the former CEO of Google, a Hillary supporter, “Jared understood the online world in a way the traditional media folk didn’t. He managed to assemble a presidential campaign on a shoestring using new technology and won. That’s a big deal. “How well do you know the people most likely to respond to your message? How are you crafting your messaging to captivate and engage them?
 
Summary Conclusions for your Small Business Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing Strategy

• Flashy websites with bells and whistles are not enough. In fact, some are probably over done especially if you are not connecting with your specific target audience on social media throughout the week.
• When it comes to social media, Facebook is the best option.  Utilize your time and energy by focusing on Facebook. Twitter can be important for some, but spend your money on Facebook.
•  Pick some slogans and themes monthly and speak to those themes to your target audience.  Spend some money to reach people outside of your current followers and compel them with good information to follow your page, visit your website and eventual connect with you personally as a customer or client. Those who don’t come to your particular small business will still be educated in your specialty area if you content is good. This will help credential you as the local expert and keep you “First in Space” in your marketplace. Your efforts online won’t be wasted.  They will pay off by raising awareness, appreciation, your authority and eventually helping you acquire leads. Watch the video on how this works here.
• Dollar for dollar, there really isn’t a better way to reach your current business customer community and the people outside your current clientele with a heightened awareness of your business. You can speak to the issues that your exact target market faces. You can help them solve the problems they face that you and your business have the answers to. Instead of trying to out-wow the competition with your advertising, you can speak directly to those who are looking for your expertise by reaching narrow segments of your market space for less money spent.
• You can see the results through data and make decisions on spending and messages that are accurate and not just feelings.
• What can you do better with your Facebook page and other web properties? Some are using them to reach millions and others neglect them.

At Purpose Launch, one of our biggest objectives is to help small businesses like yours utilize the full power of digital marketing at the best prices possible.  Don’t try to DIY unless you have professionals on your staff. If you do have some capable people, great, have them check out our Launch Library for helpful DIY information.

Also, subscribe to our weekly digest of digital marketing best practice articles from around the web. We call it The Fuel Tank. Click here to see this week’s edition and sign up to get a free copy in your inbox each week. 

 We encourage you though to dedicate some financial resources to your online marketing. This commitment will help insure you and your team are accountable to use the tool effectively and consistently.  You will reach your community in a whole new way like never before.

Get in touch with me and let’s have a conversation.  I would love to be of help to you and your business.

Watch our short videos to learn more about how this type of marketing can work for your business.  Click Here. 

​Read the article referenced above: 
​How Jared Kushner Won Trump the White House - Read the article in Forbes Magazine

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.. It is easy to fall into a trap like this especially if your business isn't really about charts, graphs and numbers.  Perhaps your business is about fixing things for customers or helping pets heal or physical therapy for those struggling to get back on their feet. So many of our local business owners don't want to have to deal with the business side of their business. To them it is a necessary nuisance. Yet in order to make a profit, in order to pay the bills and put some back for the future, it must be part of our life..  I came across this article from Duct Tape Marketing (a great resource by the way) about creating a marketing plan that is repeatable. Put it together once and then simply examine it and tweak it as you need to throughout the year.  You can read the article here.  



If you feel we can be of help to you at Purpose Launch, please let us know. We live in Niagara, Wi and know the area well. We have a digest of practical helpful marketing advice from around the web. You can read it and subscribe to it by clicking here. 

 Here are some tools that are free assessments you can download as you think through your marketing strategy.  Just click here for the tools. 


Feel free to contact me if you'd like a free one hour consultation about your business.