What I Learned Tonight From President Barack Obama: Messaging Is Everything
Since the beginning of his campaign, Barack Obama has understood one simple, yet essential principle that seemed to elude all other candidates. He was a master at crafting the exact right message for exactly the right audience, and he was always able to do so without ever being manipulative. Right before his acceptance speech, he sent the following email to his supporter list:
Nathan –Â
I’m about to head to Grant Park to talk to everyone gathered there, but I wanted to write to you first.Â
We just made history.Â
And I don’t want you to forget how we did it.Â
You made history every single day during this campaign — every day you knocked on doors, made a donation, or talked to your family, friends, and neighbors about why you believe it’s time for change.Â
I want to thank all of you who gave your time, talent, and passion to this campaign.Â
We have a lot of work to do to get our country back on track, and I’ll be in touch soon about what comes next.Â
But I want to be very clear about one thing…ÂAll of this happened because of you.Â
The guy just won the election, and was about to give his acceptance speech, but he made sure to send a quick note to those that were responsible for his win. (And yes, I realize the note was likely ready to go well in advance, and could have been written by anyone) The lesson here is this: the little things mean everything. Treat your members, users, customers like they’re insiders, and always let them know how important they are to you.Â
The last line of his email says it all.Â
Filed under: Uncategorized
Subject: Or, More Realistically …
I’m not being cynical here. But “about to give his acceptance speech, but he made sure to send a quick note to those that were responsible for his win”, to my mind, misses the real expertise being shown here.
I’m quite sure there was a 2nd version of this on the hook and ready to go if, Gods forbid, the result had been different.
My point is that the whole campaign was very, very able … just watch their transition team kick in … and something this effective wasn’t a last moment thought.
I don’t doubt Obama took the time to at least tweak and personalize the note … he does that.
But this is yet.another example of how skillful his team is / was. They thought through their communication strategy to that level … and that’s impressive.
He’s shown how, as a very capable guy, he enables capable people. And that’s just gotta be great news for all of us. (Yes, even those of us outside the US.)
cheers
–bentrem
Ben, you got me. The moment I hit “publish” on this post, I knew people would see this post in a different way than I intended.
Here’s what I meant:
The messaging (from team Obama) was incredibly on point. The way they kept their audience aware of the up-to-the-minute breaking news was incredibly effective, as it made readers feel part of the campaign. And that was the real expertise. If you look at any really successful message, you’ll see that it feels effortless. It feels like something that Obama whipped up on his cell phone on his walk over to Grant Park.
That kind of messaging- the kind that looks effortless- is the most difficult to create. And Obama’s campaign mastered it.
You’re right. I’m sure there was a version ready in case the opposite happened. And another version if the race was too close to call. I’m positive that they covered every possible scenario, and had something ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. And I’d be willing to bet that each of those emails had undergone close editorial scrutiny, but would have felt just as natural as the email sent last night.
[...] done one of those posts, yet, but I really enjoyed Nathan Burke’s (@nathanwburke) take on Obama’s messaging strategy last [...]