Why Barack Obama should speak at a marketing event? Keys and tips of a successful social media campaign

A little over a year ago I was lucky to share the stage with Barack Obama in Colombia. Although I was disappointed because he did not talk about marketing, I will never take away the fact that his election campaign in 2012 (and 2008’s as well) was a clear case study on how to manage social networks and the digital environment with clear objectives, in a results-oriented fashion. Let's see what the main elements of this campaign were and why it was successful.

His fundamental pillar: Barack Obama, a great character, charismatic, with a clear, exciting, different message (instead of showing off as a better option, which is what all the candidates want to portray and that rarely works in marketing) and, above all, a very empathetic character. Empathy is the basis of influence, it moves people, it generates trust (something every brand aims at). Barack Obama did not seem to seek the attention of the people, he appeared as interesting for everyone and not only for his possible voters. His positive influence on the minds of the Americans was based on the solidity of his ideas (based on actionable intangibles) together with the confidence that his image generated.

But this starting point is not enough. Every campaign must be clear about where it wants to go and what results it wants to achieve. Without this milestone, any marketing initiative risks getting anywhere or nowhere. The Obama 2012 campaign had 2 clear general objectives: to win supporters of his political cause (voters) and to generate donations to economically sustain the campaign.

We know all the tools he used: mainly Facebook and Twitter in 2012 (he used 16 social networks in 2008), with a solid website, constant email marketing, and visual support from YouTube and Flickr. But these means were not its differential factor. What really generated the success (more than 20 million followers on Facebook and 8 million on Twitter in 2012 - today 53 million on Facebook and 106 million on Twitter) was excellence in execution and its persistent and convergent focus on tangible results. Excellence based on:

·        Rigor for relevant details, with images chosen for a purpose (remember the photo of Obama looking left and above, right where the registration form was?),

·        Segmentation by state (aligned with the voting system in the United States),

·        Responsive web design (RWD), no so common those days.

·        An orientation to results embodied with 2 convergent call-to-actions in absolutely all its media, including options to donate that removed any mental conflict about how much to contribute, constant a / b testing, etc., etc.

The campaign became a huge fan base and fundraising source that more than met its stated goals.

Success is already a historical fact. Barack Obama was reelected, and his personal campaign attracted more donors than any political party that same year. Of the $ 639 million raised in his campaign (about $ 500 million in 2008), almost half came from small donors of $ 300 or less.

Why should Barack Obama talk about marketing? For its excellence. We all know and do marketing. All the tools that he used are available to everyone. Excellence in execution and a results-oriented marketing campaign is reserved to a few, and Barack Obama is one of them. That is why he should be at a marketing event talking about his case and that is why we should all be there to hear, first hand, another true success story.