Opinion: Donald Trump Was The Better Marketer In The 2024 Federal Election.
We’ve all seen the headlines. Trump won the greatest comeback in American political history. He swept the Electoral College, the popular vote, the senate, and congress. Passing over 76 million votes, he also achieved the most votes for a Republican candidate in the history of The United States.
Love him or hate him, President Trump’s campaign pulled off a masterclass in marketing. He executed flawlessly by demonstrating he heard, saw and understood the American people better than Vice President Harris.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not here to make you hate me. I’m Canadian after all. I’m not even allowed to vote as a permanent resident. I know politics is very divisive, and that’s exactly where I want to start my thoughts.
Be valuable to somebody
The biggest challenge car dealers face is that they want to attract everyone as their customer. They want all the leads, all of the time. The best marketing, however, either attracts an audience or repels them.
Let’s use shoes as an example. Not all shoes fit the same way. That’s why there are some people who gravitate certain brands over others. It can also go a step further within a brand. I can wear Nike Air Max sneakers all day every day. I can even pull of some Air Force One’s. Throw me into Jordan’s and I’ll be walking like a newborn giraffe by sundown. All are Nike brand shoes, but not all fit the same way.
Politics are divisive by design. You either align with the Democrat platform or the Republican. You don’t even have to align 100% with either platform to pick a side. Trump’s campaign position understood the mission here. They chose to pick a path that they knew the majority of American’s align with. They played it a little more center on most of their platform key issues.
That’s not to suggest that Kamala’s platform didn’t address those same issues, but Trump’s campaign did a better job at getting the message across. Which is where I want to go next.
choose the right message, Share It In The Right Way.
Here’s how I define the right message: the one that resonates with your target audience. If the message is too extreme, then you’ll have to focus more energy on indoctrinating the audience that they should care about it. If the message is more broadly accepted, then you’ll be able to focus your energy where it’s really needed.
Trump made himself accessible to his target demographic. The media will call sitting in a dump truck or working at McDonalds a “stunt,” but that’s just because of their dislike for him. Let’s pull back and consider the public’s broad perception about car dealers for a minute, shall we?
Gallop’s latest poll on profession trustworthiness has not changed the public’s perception of car dealers in over a decade. Second to last just over politicians. How do you think the public perceives our charitable work, donations, and animal shelter puppy visits? As a “stunt” perhaps?
It’s important that we continue to consider ways in which we can become more connected with our ideal audience to diminish the negative stigma associated with the retail car industry — similar to how I’d imagine Trump’s campaign advisors and marketing team suggested he get out into public more and visit with everyday people who do everyday jobs. This leads to my next point…
Do The Job
This day in age it seems as though we are constantly looking for the easy way out of doing the work. Dealers have no shortage of options when it comes to fancy tools, big promising vendors, and the speed of the internet making it seem like everything can be done without putting in the work.
The more prominent automated solutions become, the more value customers will place on dealership who are willing to go the extra mile to facilitate “good old fashioned” person to person contact. Too often we’re looking for ways to have the tools do the job for us, and while this may work to some extent, it’s important to evaluate what aspects of the job should never be replaced.
Actually doing the work authentically with an emphasis on the human touch will win the day in a cluttered A.I. diluted workplace. Donald Trump never devalued the power of a handshake, and knew that getting out there and doing the work would help advance him in the polls. It clearly worked.
Conclusion
Hopefully you’ve picked up on the fact that this article has nothing to do with Donald Trump. It’s not a political post. I’m simply leveraging (as a good marketer) what people are talking about to advance a message I believe is relevant to all car dealers and business owners.
The bottom line is this: Nothing we do will work better than getting to know and understand our audience, being valuable to them, and putting in the work to earn their business.
