October 13, 2008
Marketing yourself like a politician
by Mark J. Reeves
We’re right in the middle of a presidential race where one candidate has a clear advantage: His campaign is an efficient, optimized marketing machine. Candidates that win elections are typically, among other things, great at marketing themselves.
There are three key components to marketing a political campaign that can be applied to business. Winning campaigns:
- Build a brand that stands for something. Pretty self-explanatory, but you also need to stand behind your brand.
- Harness soundbytes. Winning campaigns create and own phrases that resonate with their target audience and are a unique value proposition. What differentiates your business? How can you distill that down to a short, succinct phrase that will stick in people’s minds? Winning campaigns are also flexible enough to improvise, but stick to script on their talking points. Practice answers to common questions so that your message is authoritative and consistent.
- Harness grassroots efforts, harness data. Winning campaigns mobilize enthusiastic volunteers to build buzz and get the word out. The web is rife with communities that are ready and willing to be fans of what you’re doing. Get those folks on board with your brand and they’ll be advertising for you. Winning campaigns also put to use demographic databases that know what you do, how much you make, where and how you spend your money. They use that data to communicate with you in a targeted manner that speaks directly to you, and increases your likelihood to respond. Start building that database today so that you can do the same. Incorporate tracking and analytics in your communications so you can assess how your campaign is performing, and better respond next time.
Succeeding in a competitive marketplace isn’t all that different from succeeding in politics. Your customers cast a vote with each purchase they make. As in politics, your success is based on your ability to distinguish yourself and build a strong customer base. A strong marketing campaign will keep you in the lead.