In November 2016, against all expectations, Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected to be the 45th president of the United States in the presidential election, defeating Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Because no one had anticipated this, the world was astounded. At any rate, Donald Trump has become the world’s most influential person in the world as leader of the world’s largest economy and military power for the next four years.

Would we attribute Trump’s victory as a result of coincidence?

Truthfully, this past US presidential election just shows how Trump used online marketing in a clever and effective manner. Trump took to communicating with millions through Twitter, causing the media to cover him twice as much as they did Clinton. Interestingly, he kept spreading his message, despite the fact that he was looked down on or was highly disliked, which made people even more aware of him.

In fact, the media noted that Clinton spent more than $200 million for televised campaign advertisements in the last month before the election while Trump had not spent even half that amount. Trump primarily used Twitter and Facebook for the majority of his campaign, reducing costly TV and newspaper advertisements, and it even seemed as if he were abandoning his position in the presidential election. However, many saw it as one of the most crucial factors that would influence the outcome of the presidential election and possibly in future elections.

Although Trump is famous for worldwide rejection, he is also famous for utilizing money efficiently. He has already recognized the great influence of social media marketing and realized that the unconditional trust in traditional TV, newspaper, and radio advertisements has become outdated. Traditional media is still a powerful resource, but in some cases, it may be the least effective method. By reading the trend of the times, Trump sent his messages to voters via online marketing.

Trump’s message is always concise and intense. The messages that are mainly delivered through Facebook and Twitter are always consistently easy to understand and clear. It is also easy to remember since the sentences are short and without embellishment or hidden meanings. On the flip side, Clinton’s messages were quite ambiguous. None of her promises really stuck to memory. It brings into question whether Trump’s messages that were full of conviction were the biggest driving force that reached and appealed to many voters and eventually led to his winning the White House.

“People do not believe what they do not know. If they do not listen, they will not know. Furthermore, if it is not interesting, people will not listen.” Even though you may say something that is right, it does not necessarily mean they will listen. You must be able to deliver the message in a way people can feel it intuitively. If they do not feel it, then it has no effect. Clinton’s safe and fairly ordinary commitments were lost in people’s memories, but Trump’s blunt words through Twitter exercised tremendous power in social media both day and night. Due to its overwhelming and concise nature, the voter results were just natural. Trump broke through to the flow of time, and Clinton did not.

Why not try to use social marketing the way Trump did to spread your message online out of the conventional to clearly explain your products and services to your consumers? The results may surprise you.

Weekly Column: 2017-01-20