Is Trump the Ultimate Affiliate Marketer? (15)
First of all, I don't want to get into a discussion about politics.
Everyone is entitled to their own view, and quite frankly, 99% of the time, arguing about politics is like arguing about religions. It doesn't accomplish or change anything, except just get two side angry with one another.
Leaving politics aside, however, Trump's win seems to have applied a lot of the practices of affiliate marketers on his way to electroal victory.
For example:
2. Savvy use of exaggeration and outlandish claims: We all know that outlandish claims and exaggeration can get people to click on ads and convert, and allow you to get viral distribution. Trump seems to have used this tactic incredibly effectively.
3. "Authentic"-looking versus "Highly Produced": We also know that in many cases, real looking photos in ads and plan talk in ad copy messaging works much better than slick, highly produced by artificial looking images or stock photos or ad copy. In Trump's tweets, they really did sound like they were coming straight from the guy, whereas in Clinton's, most of the tweets seems to be highly managed by PR handlers.
Let me be clear, I am in no way endorsing Trump or his use of these practices, and this thread is not the place for a discussion on whether Trump's presidency will be good or bad for America or for the world.
In addition, there is no question that the election was VERY close, and in fact, Clinton actually received more overall votes than Trump.
But there is also no question that Trump pulled off an amazing upset, while spending a whole lot less money than any of his opponents.
And it seems like one major part of his win and "ROI" can definitely be attributed to him and his team approaching marketing from the affiliate mindset versus approaching marketing from the traditional, "Procter & Gamble" style branding mindset.
I would ad one more :
4. Using TRENDS and riding the wave - his team properly identified the general mood of the public. The masses are fed up with people who are politically correct too much for example. People fear what the future brings for America, we have strong anti migrant movements across the world etc ... they made all of these trends a part of Trumps campaign. I was honestly expecting them to start handing out "tactical military-grade flashlights and survival kits" during the campaign 
I think media who supported Hillary also did their lions share in supporting Trump actually, when media attack some candidates too much, people tend to start siding with them.
One way or another, Trumps team did one hell of a job and you are right, the connections with affiliate marketing are pretty clear. I also wonder when the "traditional" politicians finally realize what power Internet really has and how to utilize it properly.
Agreed.
Hillary's campaign was the affiliate who found a winning campaign very quickly, grew complacent and believed that nothing could stop the profits. Those affiliates always lose.
Trump's campaign was the affiliate who took a campaign from -300% ROI and tested relentlessly until he got it to +300%. Those affiliates always win.
Love or hate Trump, there's absolutely no denying that he played a smarter game:
-He utilised tools (social media in his case) effectively. All major US presidential upsets came from one candidate using the tools of the age better than the other.
-He didn't cut placements too quickly like Hillary did by focusing on the minorities and ignoring the states she took for granted.
-He played to his strengths by capitalising on his fame, fortune and super-villain persona to stay in the spotlight.
-He NEVER gave up. Even when every media outlet, every poll and every talkshow host was lambasting him with negativity and willing him to fail.
Like it or not, as successful affiliates, we make a living from blurring the lines of morality. We do what is necessary to connect with our market and make them do what we want them to do.
And that's exactly what Trump did to win this election.
His Director of Digital was brilliant in aligning with people on the Trump Subreddit. Hillary had 0 grass roots movement. Trump's team identified how powerful an online community, constantly engaging them.
Totally agree with all of the statements made above.
And just my personal notation as cmdeal mentioned with the Authentic vs. Highly Polished... I didn't care for either candidate very much but I respected and had more trust in Trumps authentic "be myself and just say what I and everyone else is thinking" mentality that was in his campaign. He broke the barrier on the typical political routine of being highly polished... that was one of his angles/tactics that really stood out to me.
Andrew
Leaving this here, it was published on january of this year. http://wallstreetplayboys.com/bold-p...onald-j-trump/
This thought crossed my mind many times. The power of online marketing in a somewhat hidden arena can be very scary. ( i.e. trump/brexit campaigns pushing certain views via dark sponsored posts to particular age groups/races). It's a lot easier to call out mainstream media than a fb post 90% of people can't find when they close the browser.
As marketers we don't sometimes realise the power of influence we possess. With great power, comes great responsibility.
Originally Posted by arjun
I remember during the first Obama election, Obama's social media strategy was just incredible.
Needless to say, it came as no surprise when it was later revealed that their head of social media was Chris Hughes, who was co-founder of a small company he helped start back in college with his roomates ...
... called the Facebook.
Just before the weekend we ran a CPL campaign for them targeting users in to transfer their votes to a state that wouldn't 'waste' their vote...
Yielding a cost per vote of sub $5!
Originally Posted by clickwork7
I assume so!! It was brought to us by an agency and hosted on FB!
Originally Posted by clickwork7
https://www.fvap.gov/vao/vag/appendix/faq
"Can I vote absentee?
A growing number of States now allow U.S. citizens who were born abroad but never resided in the U.S. to vote using the address where a parent or other relative is eligible to vote. Visit FVAP.gov to see a current list of States that allow these U.S. citizens to vote.
If I do not maintain a legal residence in the U.S., what is my "legal State of residence"?
This residence may remain valid even if:
You no longer own property or have other ties to that State.
Your intent to return to that State is uncertain.
Your previous address is no longer a recognized residential address."
Ok I'm going to quickly backtrack now until I check the facts!!
I didn't handle this campaign but it caught my eye as I walked past a teammates monitor who was cueing up the campaign, the creative caught my eye and I stopped and had a two minute conversation about the offer.
My understanding was as described in my original post, however, I can't believe the president elect had media buy campaigns that were not legal so perhaps there's a nuance of the offer that I have misunderstood or not communicated...
If I get a chance I'll get a copy of the campaign tomorrow in the meantime I'll say that there's no suggestion of wrongdoing, sorry, Mr Trump 
Originally Posted by clickwork7
I didn't handle this campaign but it caught my eye as I walked past a teammates monitor who was cueing up the campaign, the creative caught my eye and I stopped and had a two minute conversation about the offer.
My understanding was as described in my original post, however, I can't believe the president elect had media buy campaigns that were not legal so perhaps there's a nuance of the offer that I have misunderstood or not communicated...
If I get a chance I'll get a copy of the campaign tomorrow in the meantime I'll say that there's no suggestion of wrongdoing, sorry, Mr Trump
Maybe it was done in such a way as to limit legal liability on everyone accept the lead.
Plausible deniable could be maintained if the copy was worded, "Do you want your vote to actually count? If you're not registered in the proper state, it really won't! Maybe you need to update your voter records??"
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