by Jean Fleming
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As I write this, I am monitoring the twitter.com election feed. It's like unadulterated crack goodness for a political junkie like myself, instantly addictive, a moment-by-moment zeitgeist loop.
In 140 characters or less, people from all across America are posting their thoughts and sharing links. While I read, I also have my marketer's hat on, and see some fascinating opportunities—and shifting paradigms—for B2B marketers.
Love 'em or hate 'em, politicians are some of the most effective marketers out there. Let's break down how they achieve their ends, and how we marketers can cop their best moves to win the vote—for our products and services.
Create a narrative—and let it go
This year we've heard repeatedly that people need to "get to know" the candidates. Apparently, this no longer simply means understanding where they stand on issues or what their policy proposals are. Rather, it's come to mean creating a narrative.
In this election, we have an experienced war hero "maverick" squaring off against an only-in-America, raised-by-a-single-mother character worthy of Horatio Alger. These narratives provide the emotional hook that candidates need to connect with voters in an age of sound bites and quick hits.
Dropping the narrative is equally important. It's a phase that ends. In this campaign, the financial crisis put the kibosh on the storytelling and refocused attention on the issues at hand. In the marketing realm, emotion and intrigue will get you noticed, but if there isn't steak with that sizzle... customers move on.
Cultivate, cultivate, cultivate
The lifeblood of any campaign isn't red, white or blue. It's green, as in financial contributions. And smart campaigns know that what triggers a donation from one person will be totally different for another. So they reach out. Constantly.
Every news release emailed out to the base is accompanied by a strong call to action. Donate now. Make a difference. While some politicians are more successful at this than others, what we can take away from this is that frequent communication coupled with a clear action path results in conversion.
Mix your media
It's a switched-on, 24x7, YouTube world. Embrace it. That's what the savviest campaigns are doing, and it's yielding benefits galore. Blogs are just a starting point. The most successful campaigns are also incorporating the following:
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Comments
by Kevin Horne Tue Oct 7, 2008
Nice commentary. I esp. liked the "call to action" advice. So many (bad) reasons marketers hesitate to ask for something at more, earlier touch points:
- it's inappropriate, too pushy
- we can't track it
- we don't know what to ask for other than the sale
- etc.
All these objections can be overcome.
Again, nicely done.
by Brandon Sutton Tue Oct 7, 2008
Great article Jean! We've been talking about this for a while - the politicians definitely provide excellent examples of marketing tactics and engagement opportunities. I was shocked when I saw the Obama app for the iPhone - talk about really being on the ball! Marketers far and wide can take a page out of this book and apply these principles with their own marketing. I think we are going to see a major shift in how campaigns are handled after this election, because there is no precedent for this kind of engagement in any other historical election. The game has changed, and once again it's time to lead, follow, or get out of the way!
by Jean Mon Oct 13, 2008
Thanks, Kevin, for the comments. Agree that we are sometimes too shy to cultivate--I think the key is having many different messages that line up with a key theme, something the pols are really good at.
Brand, totally agree that this election will be a watershed in terms of how technology affects the outcome.