Trump on Twitter, why it works

Outlandish, obnoxious and rude are three words that come to mind when I think about the tweets that Trump puts out on Twitter. On any given day he will call out an opponent through a mention or denounce an organization using a hashtag. Twitter has become the perfect media outlet for random Trump thoughts and campaign conversation.

Don’t blame Trump, he’s basically following a new standard when it comes to Twitter. Gone are the days when you could brand your message on Twitter through interesting content and repeated messages. The here and now to branding on Twitter is:

push the envelope types of content

direct mentions of fans, rivals or organizations

zero and I mean zero repetition

The game on Twitter has changed just like social media has changed in the past 6 years. I would call is ‘In your face social media’ basically be heard or go home.

When and why did things change?

The when, was about 2 years ago and it started with two media outlets pushing this change on a daily basis mostly through Twitter. TMZ and BuzzFeed both sucked up a new wave of followers by going away from the drab and usual content that other news channels, celebrities and brands put out. It wasn’t that the other content was bad it just was the same type of things Twitter users were use to seeing. BuzzFeed changed things by tweeting stories like: 7 things not to do at 7pm; Why flowers for your mistress is a good thing; Don’t just pick your nose do this instead. These types of tweets caught the eye of everyone and before long the brash brand of BuzzFeed was born and everything else ordinary plotted along.

The why, is because social media is different then TV, newspapers and other forms of bought and owned media. Social media at it’s core is about sharing. Looking back now it amazes me that as social media experts we ever went down the path of selling a slow, repetitious brand on social media channels. I think the reason why we did it was because to our core most social media experts are marketing experts and the best way to build a brand is quality content mixed with repetition. Social media came back and stung all of us because the amount of social media users kept going up, up and up and the amount of brands on social media went up, up and up. The answer to this equation is that the ability to be heard on these channels went down.

I honestly don’t believe that anyone other than Trump himself is controlling the Donald’s Twitter account. This is where you have to give Trump credit for understanding how the game is played and playing right back into it. Being outlandish is working it’s building his brand and translating his message.

Do you agree with me? Does content have to be outlandish to be heard on Twitter and social media these day?