Seven Incredible Marketing Tactics Trump Deployed To Win Back The Presidency

Since election night, I’ve stayed off social media and news apps; there’s just too much to process. To say I’m disappointed and sad is an understatement.

Unlike 2016 and 2020, when Trump lost the popular vote to Clinton by three million (but won the Electoral College) and to Biden by seven million, it appears he will win the popular vote this year.

While many of his supporters rejected the 2020 results, even storming the Capitol, I acknowledge his win, though it’s disheartening.

As a marketer and PR professional, I try to make sense of it to learn. Trump may not be a great businessman, but he is undeniably a marketing genius.

Here are SEVEN very "clever" things he has done over the last eight years to put him in this place to be President once again:

1. He undermined the credibility of all news media – particularly those that speak out against him – calling them “fake news”. It worked and it’s significant because one of the media’s core tenants in democracy is reporting on corruption and fallacies. If Trump can call any negative news report “fake” and his followers believe it, how else can anyone “check” Trump when it comes to “checks and balances” when he’s being untruthful??

2. He weakened celebrity influence by calling them out-of-touch. There’s a reason actors and singers overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates. Entertainers in these fields have an inordinate amount of empathy, affection, and sympathy – as it takes a substantial amount of these feelings to be able to act out roles that pull at our emotions or sing songs that relate to the human plight. As world travelers and the most active when it comes to charities and causes, they are threats in a selfish "America Only" narrative.

3. He spent years shoring up the “bro” vote – going to MMA and boxing fights, saddling up with Dana White and Joe Rogan – so that the “toughest” people in society would support him. It’s also a strategy that Putin has effectively used in Russia, cozying up with all champion athletes. When the physically strongest person in the room says he supports Trump, it’s quite possible any doubters will stay silent.

4. He got Elon Musk in his corner. Besides Facebook and X, there are no other major social media sites where people go to support or debate issues. Even when I unfollowed and muted Elon Musk on X, his posts would still come on my alerts! If he meant to win back “free” speech by buying the platform, I guess he also meant that he will force his views on people even when they choose specifically NOT to see his posts. His influence over X meant that every pro-Harris post was drowned out by a regular bevy of Trump-supporter comments.

5. He got his own party to vote against a secure border bill that was co-authored by them! By getting Republicans to vote against the plan and leave the border underfunded, he was able to campaign largely with the issue that the Biden/Harris administration was doing nothing at the border and “voluntarily” allowing millions of illegal immigrants into the country.

6. He tied all of Biden’s work as that of Harris’ – as if any Vice President, with the exception of Dick Cheney, has ever led policy strategy or choices. The rhetoric of “what has she done in the last four years?” would be like blaming Mike Pence for everything that happened under Trump’s presidency.

7. He mobilized disgruntled white males – much like the Jan 6 Capitol riots – to take his fight (and arguments) to the online forums. For every pro-Harris post by a celebrity, or anyone else, you could always count on a comment saying “Trump button here ——>” to get likes and dozens of other Trump talking points from commenters.

I believe in a democracy where the majority rules. However, I think the majority has been deceived by a remarkably talented con artist—perhaps one of the greatest in history (and that’s not an exaggeration)—who leveraged fear: fear of transvestites taking over schools, fear of illegal immigrants, fear of 'wokeness' to sway voters in his favor.

Fear is an amazing marketing tactic.

As much as I will hope for the best for the next four years, I will work to try and educate those on his tactics of misinformation and fear in hopes that we will see a different result with a candidate who governs for all in 2029. ???? ??