7 Lessons from Trump's Winning Social Media Campaign Your Small Business Should Learn From and Use4/10/2018
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
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 If the leaders of the Catholic church are advocating social media use for Catholic outreach, shouldn't we evangelical Christians who are passionate about spreading solid Gospel truth (Christ, grace and faith alone) be engaged in a social media strategy for our ministries? Several years ago, Pope Benedict XVI encouraged Catholics to use the web and social media to reach others. In a video released by the Vatican on YouTube, he says in part, “So that the Church and its message continue to be present in the great “Mars Hill” of social communications as defined by John Paul II and so that it is not a stranger to those spaces where … people search for answers and meaning in their lives, you must find new ways to spread voices and images of hope through the ever-evolving communications system that surrounds our planet.” Pope Francis has recently said much the same as recorded in this article from the National Journal. Due to this from the Pope, the Vatican added a YouTube account, a personal Facebook page for Pope Benedict then, and for Pope Francis now, an iPhone app, and a Facebook app. Outside of the Vatican, many of those in the Church have heard the "call" from the Pope and started blogging and creating other online resources like Open Source Catholic. If the Catholics have aggressively pursued the use of social media, smartphone apps, mobile internet access, and so on, shouldn't we be doing the same in order to reach people "where they are" with Biblical Gospel truth? Too many of us have continued to only use old outreach options such as “door to door”, newspaper ads, radio spots, phone calling, or postcards. Not that these are wrong, but if they are effective, they are also expensive, require a lot of effort and/or often annoy as many people or more than they reach. Why should we use social media and the internet to help people find our church, school, ministry, and the Truth itself? Well, because that is where people look for information – the information highway. People are on the internet and specifically on social media - throughout the day, everyday. We can reach them in their homes, waiting rooms, buses, airports, taxis, etc. with the true Gospel message of salvation through Christ faith and grace alone. Is your ministry involved in this outreach medium? Is your ministry part of the conversation in social media. Can those who are using social media to find answers, truth, and local help find you? If not, don’t miss the opportunity. Get involved today. Put a strategy together and use this mostly FREE and highly highly utilized communication channel to expand your reach. If you need help or advice, don’t hesitate to contact us at PurposeLaunch Marketing. Our purpose is launching yours. Click Here to use the Church website evaluation tool on our site. Click here to read today's edition of "The Fuel Tank." A regular dose of articles from across the web to help you with your social media and online promotion strategies. You can have it delivered to your inbox if you'd like. Check out a recent project for a Christian school at www.DiscoverTri-City.com . Looking to have your website make a great first impression? First impressions are one of THE most important assets that a website can have. People choose to leave or stay on a webpage in literally seconds. You don't want your website showing up to a meeting with a grape jelly stain on its pants. Here are 8 websites that know their market and are staying trendy. Perhaps these will give you some ideas on how to update your site and make it POP. What sites have you come across that you think really grab attention and draw you in? |
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