After congratulatory speeches and a powerful acceptance speech by President-elect Trump where he was uncharacteristically soft-spoken and appealed to unite all opposing factions, members of the media spoke.

The media’s speech was more of a humbling explanation like a dog with its tail between its legs, knowing that it did something wrong. They admitted that the news media by and large missed what was happening all around it, and it was the story of a lifetime. The numbers weren’t just a poor guide for election night — they were out of touch with what was happening before them.

Their failure was:

  • In not understanding  the anger of  the American electorate that feels left behind by a selective recovery
  • Not tapping into the betrayal felt by trade deals that they see as threats to their jobs
  • A feeling of abandonment  by establishment Washington, Wall Street and the mainstream media.
  • Seeing Trump supporters who still believed he had a shot as being out of touch with reality
  • In not recognizing that a boistrous, contrarian had a real shot to the win

Election Day had been preceded by more than a month of declarations that the race was essentially over, even after the late-October news that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was reviewing a new batch of emails related to Mrs. Clinton’s private server.

Mrs. Clinton’s victory would be “substantial but not overwhelming,” The Huffington Post had reported, after assuring its readers that “she’s got this.” That more or less comported with The New York Times’s Upshot projection early Tuesday evening that Mrs. Clinton was an 84 percent favorite to win the presidency.

Does this sound familiar?  It brings back the news splashed across papers prepared before a past election that Dewey had won the Presidential race!

So, what does this have to do with health marketing?

 1: Be a better writer; tell better stories

People won’t remember your advice, they certainly won’t remember your statistics but most people will remember your stories- the ones that elicit emotions, whether it is fear, happiness, sadness. Donald Trump certainly did this.  He made people who were out of work have hope for the first time in a long time.  He made them feel that their jobs were coming back and life would be rosy, just as in their memories.

 2: Answer the questions your prospective patients ask

Let’s face it, people are only going to be receptive to information that is relevant to them. Trump saw what people needed and he promised it to them.

3: Tell a consistent narrative campaign to keep your audience moving through the marketing funnel

Present the problem, the history of the problem and the solution you present as well as the success of your solution.  Then present the action steps that you want your viewers to take.

4: Make an appointment with your audience

“Instead of inviting people to sign up for your email newsletter or blog posts, invite them to sign up for a specific piece of content delivered at a specific time”- Andrew Davis, author of Brandscaping: Unleashing the Power of Partnerships. Trump didn’t just show up at venues.  It was publicized well in advance and a limited amount of seats were available, giving it exclusivity. Couldn’t you give a talk at the local library or a webinar?

5: Think about content promotion first and Learn the skill of writing headlines

“Think of who would help amplify your content and why.  If you can’t answer this question first, don’t bother creating it.” Think of how Trump said things that were outrageous to many factions.  Didn’t it go viral and give him greater exposure?  What could you say that would create the same fervor? Trump was a contrarian.  Like it or not, this got him noticed and made whatever he said go viral. 85% of readers will make a decision as to whether to read your information based solely by your headline.  This is the sensational or relevant points that scream out at you by newspapers, magazines, media news and ropes you in.  Having a boring headline will surely get your article deleted as quickly as the finger can hit the key.

6: Invest in Participation Marketing

“Look beyond our own subject matter expertise to the wisdom of your community for content ideas, content co-creation and promotion.”  Go into forums and chat rooms dealing with conversations that are in sync with what you do, your specialty or niche.  What are their problems?  What is trending?  What are the questions that they want answers to?  You could be that guru that supplies it.

7: Collect and create “content chunks”

“We are becoming more systematic with the way we collect and create ‘content chunks’.”  Your information can be repurposed in several ways from your published articles to your podcasts, videos, teleseminars, blogs.

“Not only do we have examples at our fingertips for our Facebook content example of week, but because of the way we are collecting the data, we can now look at examples by segment (e.g. by tactic type, industry, etc.) The information is all ready for any future formats or projects as well.”- Michele Linn, Vice President, Content Marketing Institute

Sayings or sound bytes by Trump were used and repeated by not only him but also the media in many different ways- but the sound bytes were always attributed to him. What could you say that would represent you, your practice and your brand?

 Like him or not, analyze and learn from “The Donald”.  He has much to offer!

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