By B.L. Ochman @whatsnext
Ethics? We don’t need no stinking ethics!
If ethics, morals and laws are not your organization’s cup of tea, there is much to learn from president-elect Trump’s basic Twitter marketing tenets.
Apparently waking in a rage every day around dawn, Trump posts to Twitter. I call these missives “Treets”.
Trump may appear angry, even furious. But that’s just his game face. He’s timing the Tweets to the broadcast morning news, print and online editorial meetings. He wants to get MSM in a tizzy so his Tweets will dominate their coverage.
He’s repeatedly used his explosive Treets to distract from more complex and potentially damaging reports in mainstream media. Over and over, he diverts conversation from what where it might otherwise be more productively focused.
Many in media and the public think he’s Trumping them with his manic and often maniacal pronouncements. I think he’s just practicing his form of marketing.
Here are Trump’s basic tenets of Tweeting for fun and profit.Ignore them at your peril.
Bypass mainstream media and make your announcements and pronouncements on Twitter. Assuming your outrageousness has earned you a huuuge following, you can reach millions in moments, without any pesky fact checking.
Always Tweet before morning or evening news broadcasts. The press will learn to check your Twitter feed religiously. After all, they don’t want anyone else to scoop them on your morning dump.
Pay no attention to protocol, history or convention. Go out of your way to make the most controversial possible statements.
Do not answer questions about your behavior. Instead, accuse the questioners of being unfair, mean, “not nice!”
Do not concern yourself with facts. Facts are for losers. Do not even consider laws of libel or slander. Ethics? We don’t need no stinking ethics.
Concentrate on creating reality show levels entertainment. Be creative! It’s time for a new reality. The old one is, umm, old.
Be simultaneously provocative and vague. Remember: your goal is to confound anyone who’s watching. That way, they can debate amongst themselves over what your really mean. This leaves you free to do whatever evil you really were going to do today while members of the media chase their tails.
Make up words, statistics and quotes. Make them as totally post-truth as possible.
Go ahead and trash specific people. If anyone calls you on it, say you were just saying out loud what “many people” think.
If journalists ignore you, get even more outrageous. Do not allow yourself to be ignored. It will be bad for your ego – and your bottom line.
B.L. Ochman is a uniquely experienced digital pioneer who has been helping blue chip brands incorporate social media into their marketing strategy since 1996. She publishes What’s Next Blog, co-hosts and produces the award-winning Beyond Social Media Show podcast and contributes to AdAge DigitalNext.
