107: The ONE Winning Strategy I Found in the Chaos of the 2020 Election

It's been four rather long days since the election was called in Joe Biden's favor. And I don't know about you, but this past week, the coverage, the tweeting, the chatter online trying to keep up with the results, it was emotionally exhausting for everyone, Democrats and Republicans alike. This past week was even more exhausting for the fervent supporters of Donald Trump and those who did not support Donald Trump.

Well, we're seeing streams of people coming up right by the white house on.

15Th street decided to come out here. We've been up basically for the past 72 hours watching every single state making sure that our vote counted.

We are watching you.

We are watching you.

We are watching you. Fire foucing fire country. I back Trump because one thing, the difference between Trump and Biden is Trump tells you how great the country is, how he loves everyone in the country.

Because Trump tells everyone how great this country is. Ah, now there's the nugget. That sentiment from a Trump supporter perfectly illustrates a winning strategy from this election that can help any business or group successfully launch an idea, a product or movement. It doesn't matter if your candidate won or lost the election. I'm going to give you a nonpartisan strategy that is the key to winning anything you want that needs support to make it happen. It's not only for political campaigns. I just happened to spot the strategy in this campaign, the 2020 election, a hint. The pundits said the Democrats were expected to see it, but they do see.

In all the polling a possible blue tsunami on the horizon.

As we all know now, Joe Biden secured the presidency, but the tsunami was more of a trickle of results that were dripped out over a course several days. That blue tsunami did not materialize. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, you have.

A big red wave that has formed. As you probably noticed.

I, for one, noticed that there was a wave. I wouldn't call it a red Republican wave per se, but the energy behind it call it a wave, a wall or a tsunami. All the metaphors that the press and the mainstream media used to discuss what was going to happen in this election, I think it's fairly safe to say now the clear loser in this election was the polling. Continuing on with the ocean metaphor. Waves are expected. Tsunamis are not. The tsunami I spotted this election was this evangelical support for Donald Trump. Trump clearly outperformed the expectation of the pollsters who suggested he might lose in a landslide and proved his base of supporters was bigger than Biden's and they were more loyal than anyone realized he is the evangelical candidate. And I'm not talking about being an evangelical Christian, certainly that's part of it. But it's the idea of getting people riled up in support of your ideals, the ideals that make people move. How do you get people out of their seats, they to support you? Even if you abhor Donald Trump, his administration, his values, his beliefs, everything about Donald Trump, his strength is in his base, in his followers. Trump may be gone for now or not, but Trumpism, that will be around for a while. That Trumpism is another word for mobilization. If we take the politics out of this for a moment, we are left with this that mobilizing a massive group of people are going to be able to make things happen for any person, group or business. Bring the politics back in. President Trump mobilized a massive group of voters to stop the heavily predicted Blue Tsunami. And how did he do this? By creating a groundswell. If you want to get buy in on your next big idea, you need to reach your core audience, solidify it, and then get them to mobilize on your behalf. Then that's the winning strategy. Okay, it may not have won the election for President Trump, but it certainly got him where he was in 2016, and it got him a lot closer than anyone expected. Everyone wants to be a winner or have a winning idea for their company or their organization or their movement, whatever it is, because everyone loves a winner, right? Losing anything is brutal. But it's even worse when you have a product, an idea or a solution to make something better, to make a difference. It's incredibly frustrating when you can't get it off the ground. You can't get the people to listen through all the noise out there. Now that's a problem and that's a frustrating one. I see it all the time now in my work. I help people respond to situations and issues that need to be addressed, but more importantly need to be addressed and seen by their stakeholders. So you can survive a crisis, but you can't survive it if no one knows your response. And you can't survive a crisis if you don't have the support, if you don't have the base of support. So here are three tips for getting that buy in and winning support from your stakeholders. How to stop failure and find success 1. Identify your stakeholders. Find your fans. Learn who they are and what makes them tick. Yes, anyone wants growth and reach at the same time. But most failures, I believe, are attributed to fighting the battles you can't win or trying to reach the people you never will. Focus on your fans first and let them amplify your message through their support. So whether they're internal stakeholders, your peers, your colleagues, people who you work with, or your customers, your consumers, find out the people who already believe in you or who already believe in this idea. Now, how could Trump get hundreds of groups to create Trump trains around the U.S. the cars, the trucks with the flags and the signs driving through towns, that's mobilization. Side note, I have no idea how they coordinated these Trump train drive bys. My guess was that it was planned from a GPS tracker that was placed in my car because whenever I needed to be somewhere in a hurry, there was a Trump train pulling out right ahead of me. But that's just me. Donald Trump's base. Now, broadly speaking, who are they besides the people who want to make me late wherever I need to go? But I looked at census data analyzed by the Brookings Institution and NPR, and in 2016, Trump's win was helped by having a record margin among white voters without a college degree. This was the same demographic that helped Ronald Reagan secure his second term in 1984. Now, the number of that demographic has decreased since the last election. But some other demographics, whites with a college degree, Latinos and to a lesser extent, Asian Americans and other groups, have all gone up. Trump is also the anti political establishment candidate. He's business minded. His voters believe that he could strengthen the economy. They're conservative, they're rural, they're Christian groups. That may have been overlooked this time. Now, in my work, I interact with many people who fit this bill. They're Trump fans. I work with a number of rural cooperatives and utilities, telecommunications, credit and lending. I see their passion for President Trump and before that, Candidate Trump firsthand. And it never seemed to match the mainstream media's coverage of President Trump. I've lived in big media markets my whole life, and now I'm in New England. So it's safe to say I'm not co mingling with Southern conservatives every single day. But I never ruled out Trump in this campaign because I saw his base firsthand. Before the coronavirus, I spoke with them on topics like public opinion, the press, policies. I didn't see that same type of energy when I would speak to someone who was liberal leaning or if someone who I knew probably lean more Democrat, unless there was an issue that came up, perhaps discussing renewables, for instance, or clean energy, I could see all the energy behind it. But it was much, much different than speaking to someone who had energy for Trump. And a personal anecdote when I'm out driving with my dog Finbarr to find new hiking trails. I see Trump pence signs easily 10 to 1 to Biden Harris signs easy. So the more rule you get, the more you see the signs. Now, how does all of this apply to you and your idea? Before you roll out any plan, first identify the people who will support it. Who will buy in simply because it's from you or your organization. You want to target them first. If it's in your office, if it's with your colleagues, your peers, speak to them first. Get feedback. Get their support by letting them in early. Make people feel special for sharing that information with you. Give them a deal. Give them a reason to buy into you. Make a promise that you know will be received warmly. This is how you build a base. Get people to believe in you by believing in your idea. Two, Promise something using clear and concise messaging. Tie in your promise to an ideal. Now, I was once told that an ideal is an idea that you are 100% passionate about. You bleed that ideal and people will notice. They'll not only follow you, but you'll get the buy in, but you'll get these evangelists that will help spread your word. Now back to President Trump. How do you know if someone is a Trump supporter? There were many secret Trump followers out there, but many really weren't. They were very open about their support of President Trump. The red hat, the red signs, the boisterous rallies and the chants Sleepy Joe fire Fauci locker up. Donald Trump branded his candidacy with an easy to understand promise. And that promise was make America great again. Now, where was Joe Biden's merch? His movement, his chance, his quips, his promise? You didn't see Joe Biden out on the campaign stoop talking about all these things because Joe Biden wasn't the movement. The idea of getting rid of Trump was the movement. That was the undercurrent that was happening there. The move for change was the promise. If you voted for Joe Biden, vote Joe, you get change. That's one of the reasons why you didn't see Joe Biden on the campaign trail that much. Yes, the pandemic prevented him from campaigning, but also it's a lot easier for President Trump to campaign when you're the anti mass candidate. Now, Biden's campaign initially tamped down Joe and everything that Joe was standing for and what Joe was saying out on the trail and made it more about the ideal of re emerging. We're going to come out of this. So now that Biden is now the President Elect. You've seen his transition website come out. You've seen the new slogan, together we'll build back better. Joe Biden for President. Move beyond the alliteration and you hear the promise. Build back better. Make America great again. Funny, isn't it? Both slogans make the same promise. It's just the person who said it that's different. Remember, people love promises. Next, third, and finally, choose the right channel to communicate. Quick. Which communication channel was President Trump's channel of choice? Tweet, Tweet. You're right, it was Twitter. Now, President Trump, he is the master of that medium. On social media, the most unique takeaway of Donald Trump's time in office was he was considered the first Twitter based President of the United States. His intense and unprecedented use of Twitter as a political tool was something you'd never seen before with any president. President Obama had a Twitter page, but he did not use it as a first choice of messaging. It was purely supplemental. President Trump, that was his first person voice. Twitter. It's very similar to jfk, our first televised president, who effectively used the medium during his time in the white and he started it most notably during his campaign to occupy the White House when he was declared the victor of the televised debates against Richard Nixon. I'm sure you've heard that statistic. I've never seen it confirmed anywhere, but you certainly heard it. It was tried and true that Richard Nixon, if you heard him in the debates on the radio, he was considered the winner. Conversely, if you watch the telegenic JFK on the televised debate, well, then you thought that JFK won. Certainly not only did he win the presidency during that election, but he won the art of using television. Now, President Reagan, the great communicator, he deftly used the podium, the spoken word to deliver passionate speeches and zingers, most notably during his debates, as he did in the 1984 election when many voters voiced their concern when with Reagan's age.

I recall yet that President Kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuba missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances? Not at all, Mr. Truitt and I. And I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponents youth and inexperience.

Now, can you believe it? At 73, Reagan was already the oldest president in history. By comparison, Donald Trump is 74 and Joe Biden is 77. What does this mean to you, the listener? You want to capture your audience, where you can build your base on your channel of choice. Master a medium where you feel more in control, which is another way of saying where you feel most comfortable. Is it in a place with 280 characters? Is it in a safe place that's professional like LinkedIn? Is it broadcasting a meeting or a town hall that you are speaking at on Facebook? Is it on Facebook Live? So is it live streaming? Or are you better with recorded video with post production where you can edit what you say? Is it a blog, a newsletter or direct mail? Is it the written word or is it speaking in person? Whichever channel you choose, choose wisely. How do you know which channel is the best for you to use? It's usually the channel where you feel most in control, where you feel the safest, where there are boundaries, where there are guardrails in place to protect you. It's where you always know the rules of the road. If something does go wrong, if you say the wrong thing, or if something happens, you immediately know how to fix it, whether it's deleting it, taking it down, or being able to respond. But all roads lead to comfort. And also where you're most comfortable is usually where your audience is because they see you at your most comfortable and they're going to start flocking to that place. Trump knows it's Twitter. My guess is that President Trump likes it for the reach and for the short confines of the 280 characters. Now my, my mission and my work is I help demystify and take the fear out of using online and social media for business leaders, organizations and their communicators. I really believe it is the least expensive way to amplify your message quickly in good times and bad. Now, I've heard every challenge for why people don't want to use social media or online media for their professional life or for their company. I understand it, but no one, and I mean no one, has ever convinced me why anyone should not use it professionally. Simply put, in 2020, as we're heading into 2021, you cannot build a groundswell for anything on a company blog. You own a company blog. Anything that you own from a company, people aren't going to. You have to go to the places where you rent space and that's social media. Yes, it's a rental space, but that's where everyone is. Here's a quick question. What is the website URL for Donald Trump? Do you know it? Here's an admission I didn't know it. I had to look it up. I had no idea. But well, obviously it's donaldjtrump.com but I wasn't confident saying that I had to look it up. I've never been there before.

Why?

Because he's always on Twitter. What's even on that website? Like you know, President Trump is not on that website. Now I'm going to ask you this. What is Donald Trump's Twitter handle? You don't even have to have a Twitter account to know that it's ealdonaldtrump. Now, the Real was from a time before there was a verified blue check. Do you remember that time when everyone was at the Real? Well, Donald Trump never changed it. He kept it. But that's his Twitter handle and most people know that handle even if they never ever see it. It shows the power of the medium. And there you have it, the winning strategy people for reals. Here's the overall takeaway if you want to get buy in on your next big thing, your next big idea, your next big movement. So these are the top three takeaways for creating a groundswell strategy. Number one, identify your base. Who are the initial people who can help form that rock solid foundational base? Who are your evangelists? Who are your apostles out there who will speak about what you're doing because they believe in it just like you do. Find your fans and the like minded people and they will find more fans for you and all of those fans will become raving fans. 2. Make a promise and do it through clear, concise messaging. Make it easy to remember, the easier the better and make sure it ends with a promise. And three, choose the right channel to reach and mobilize your base. You don't have to be on all the channels. You don't have to be on social or just traditional. Just whatever channel you're on. Make sure that you can reach your base comfortably and stay in control. That's all for this week on the podcast. Speaking of building a base, you can follow me on Twitter. Find me at Molly McPherson. You can also subscribe to my weekly newsletter, MollyMcPherson.com subscribe and you can also subscribe to this podcast. I regularly post episodes that you can only hear if you subscribe to the podcast. These bonus episodes will help you run your business more effectively in this rapid age of technology and online and social media. So definitely subscribe to the podcast. Thanks so much for listening everyone. I'll see you back here next week. Bye for now.