As I am sure most everyone knows, Hillary Clinton has thrown her name into the hat for the 2016 Presidential election. This wasn't a big surprise. In my opinion, the surprise was in her approach. I usually dread election time due to all of the clutter and political drama. Hillary's team impressed me.
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to endorse Hillary Clinton. It is only a review of her marketing tactics.
From my own experience, candidates announce their intentions at some rally held by a college where the majority of the audience are students required to go regardless of their political views. I don't believe this to be very effective. Hillary Clinton's team took a more modern approach and leaned to social media. They made the announcement public via Twitter with a link to her website. They also made a campaign Facebook page that, according to Bloomberg, "racked up nearly 500,000 likes in its first hour." The Clinton team knew where her audience really is and utilized it. Because she can't visit every city or state, she will be using social media to connect with her supporters everywhere. Her adviser and Democratic strategist, Tracy Sefl, stated that is important for Clinton "to remember the enormous value of engaging with their digital audiences, in addition to using digital tools primarily as a one-way communications vehicle.” This is modern marketing at it's finest. Rally's and appearances are a great tool for marketing, but the engagement and conversation that followers get on social media will make for a much more energetic and connected support group. Like Obama, she is planning to rely on technology and data to reach her people. Bloomberg states she has already hired "as many as 1,000 tech staffers."
Hillary's team also released a video about her candidacy. It starts out with everyday people talking about their plans for the year. There are people of different ages, genders, races, and even sexual orientation. She doesn't even show up in the video until about 90 seconds in! After that time she shows up and finishes the video strong with why these people and the viewer should vote for her. This was a great way to get her values across in a memorable and tasteful way. The majority of the video didn't even feel like a campaign ad. It was very refreshing. It sent the message the Hillary was going to put the people first. The video was a fantastic tactic to brand and market Hillary.
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to endorse Hillary Clinton. It is only a review of her marketing tactics.
From my own experience, candidates announce their intentions at some rally held by a college where the majority of the audience are students required to go regardless of their political views. I don't believe this to be very effective. Hillary Clinton's team took a more modern approach and leaned to social media. They made the announcement public via Twitter with a link to her website. They also made a campaign Facebook page that, according to Bloomberg, "racked up nearly 500,000 likes in its first hour." The Clinton team knew where her audience really is and utilized it. Because she can't visit every city or state, she will be using social media to connect with her supporters everywhere. Her adviser and Democratic strategist, Tracy Sefl, stated that is important for Clinton "to remember the enormous value of engaging with their digital audiences, in addition to using digital tools primarily as a one-way communications vehicle.” This is modern marketing at it's finest. Rally's and appearances are a great tool for marketing, but the engagement and conversation that followers get on social media will make for a much more energetic and connected support group. Like Obama, she is planning to rely on technology and data to reach her people. Bloomberg states she has already hired "as many as 1,000 tech staffers."
Hillary's team also released a video about her candidacy. It starts out with everyday people talking about their plans for the year. There are people of different ages, genders, races, and even sexual orientation. She doesn't even show up in the video until about 90 seconds in! After that time she shows up and finishes the video strong with why these people and the viewer should vote for her. This was a great way to get her values across in a memorable and tasteful way. The majority of the video didn't even feel like a campaign ad. It was very refreshing. It sent the message the Hillary was going to put the people first. The video was a fantastic tactic to brand and market Hillary.