Hillary vs. Obama: It’s the Content Marketing, Stupid!
There is a fundamental reason that Barack Obama is beating Hillary Clinton’s brains out. It boils down to who is using content marketing most effectively.
Content marketing works only when you have a thorough understanding of your target customers. Once you have this understanding, you must learn to communicate appropriately in order to connect with them at the deepest level.
Content marketing is not about reciting a laundry list of features to your customers–or in Clinton’s case policy positions to voters. It’s about building a level of trust so that your customers or the voting public believe that you are best suited to take them to a better place.
Barack Obama, the hunger for change, and content marketing
What Barack Obama understood from the beginning was that there is a hunger for change among the electorate. This hunger is pervasive across all age groups, ethnicities, and economic levels. He also understood that, by nature, Americans are hopeful about the future. We always believe that the best is yet to come.
What ever your political persuasion, it’s pretty obvious that most Americans are deeply disappointed with the current administration and with our congresspeople. This doesn’t mean that they have given up on America or on the future. What they are looking for is a leader who can inspire them to help create that better future.
For those old enough to remember Jimmy Carter, you will recollect the sense of despondency that he conveyed about the state of America when he ran for reelection in 1980. As Carter brooded, along came Ronald Reagan, the ultimate optimist. Although far from a young man, Reagan inspired young people on behalf of his crusade to lead the country to a better place. Reagan’s positive approach and hope for the future persuaded Republicans and many many Democrats that he was the right guy to lead the country.
Against this optimism, Carter’s policy wonk approach and his obsessive attention to minutia, didn’t stand a chance. Hillary Clinton shares the same policy wonk approach. And, at this late date, she is still seeking her true voice.
Unfortunately for Hillary, Barack Obama, like John F. Kennedy before him, long ago found his true voice. Like Kennedy, he is inspiring voters–particularly young people–to believe that ‘we’ can build something great together.
Does he have lots of detailed policy positions? Of course, he does. But that is the less important element of content. Obama’s content marketing success comes from an innate understanding of the hopeful nature of Americans and their wish to work together to build a better country for themselves and for their children. Thus, his messaging begins with inspiration and only later integrates policy details.
I suspect that there are a lot of conservative politicians who wish that Barack Obama was a Republican.
The content marketing lesson
In order to connect with your customers so that you merit their trust, you must have a deep understanding of what is most important to them. Only then can you create a communications strategy that will achieve results. Relevant content derives from true understanding of your customers.
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Comments [4]
Newt:
Rock on. You’ve hit Hillary’s nail right on the head. Obama has certainly has the most effective, most persuasive, content-driven website and e-marketing campaign to ever come to presidential politics. For instance, the evening of his first win, at roughly 9 pm est, I received an email with this subject line: Turn on the Television. When you opened the email, it reported that Senator Obama had just won Iowa and that I (as a supporter, alright, I admit it) should go to the television to celebrate the historic event. With every turn, with every positive, with every attack, emails go out — as another one did today, outlining Clinton’s “100 select, bigwig contributor campaign” versus Obama’s 1,000,000 citizens and no special interest funding (subject line: “100 versus 1,000,000″). Now, while great branding and marketing, strategies and tactics, messaging and delivery can polish mirrors to create the illusion of content, ultimately, the consumer finds the truth. Obama’s success and his ultimate nomination as the Democratic candidate for president will occur because of the truth of his content — his intelligence, poise, persuasion, leadership, vision, integrity, honesty and ability to inspire.
PS Your paragraph that leads with “Unfortunately” should probably read: “Unfortunately for Hillary.” Unless your true political leaning is coming through.
Thanks, John. I made the correction. I was trying to show only my content marketing leaning.
One commentator offered an interesting insight about leadership skills, noting that,if we are to judge by the success of Obama’s campaign vs. Hillary’s, we can be pretty certain that he will be more effective as President–from day one!
The explanation makes so much sense, but never leave until the “fat lady sings”…Hil appears ruthless, and has even more ruthless “friends”. “Ruthless” sometimes trumps trust.
Larry,
You may be right about ruthless. But after the Feb 26 debate, I’m thinking toothless might be closer to the truth. We shall see.
Newt