Persuasion secrets from America’s most loved & hated presidents
Published: Sun, 03/14/21
If you are in the US, and are taken to blaming "Republicans!" or "Democrats!" (or "Trump!" or now “Biden!”) for your problems, I recommend you shut off your feels for the next few minutes and rationally take in the lessons you can learn from the following presidents who, I believe, are amongst the most persuasive in American history.
Obviously, this ain't an exhaustive list.
But there is a reason why many of them were loved & despised in equal parts...
GEORGE WASHINGTON — The General showed zero neediness. And it’s because he had a Mission he pursued relentlessly, against all odds, and even at great personal risk to his fortune and life. I doubt 1 in 1,000,000 (and that’s being generous) understands just how impossible the odds were for him to have lived to see the Revolutionary War, much less pulling off what he did to win it, much less how he kept the Republic from falling apart before it even began. I love studying U.S. history and even I didn’t really “get” it until read his biography recently. The guy was far from perfect obviously. And lived in a constant state of cognitive dissonance.
But he had a Mission.
And a marketer who has a Mission, and passionately pursues it, is automatically more persuasive and inspires people to take action. i.e., buy...
ABRAHAM LINCOLN — The late, great Jim Camp was especially fascinated by Lincoln's ability to influence and persuade. Including how he was able to pithily create vision to motivate people, as well as his purposely making himself "un-okay" (more on this below) to make people he wished to persuade comfortable around him.
TEDDY ROOSEVELT — His sheer brass yarbles simply inspire loyalty, making him far more persuasive than the average man. His Bruce Wayne-like story is a doozy too — how he was a weak, skinny, sickly man, went to live in the forest, and came back a superhero. It’s the essence of any good sales letter story and worthy of study.
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT — Not a big fan of FDR, but he is a perfect example of someone who understood how, if you don’t have what you need to make the sale, you go out and get it. i.e., packing the courts to get his agenda across.
Marketers can do the same thing.
Product weak?
Make it better. (Or tell the client how to make it better.)
Offer lacking?
Find (or create) bonuses and incentives to make your offer appealing and so legitimately valuable people buy just for those alone.
Pack your offers like FDR packed the court and you'll win.
JOHN F. KENNEDY — Not only was this Democrat amusingly farther to the Right than most Republicans are today, but I can’t help but think he’d have made a great social media guy. Not only did he have the looks and charisma (many political scientists agree had his debate with Nixon not have been televised, he would have lost)… but he oozed inspiration with his big ideas and goals. Attributes that will make any marketer more persuasive.
RONALD REAGAN — Despite his gaffes, bumbling, and misspeaking, he was known as the Great Communicator. Why? Because he could relate to the people (his market) better than depressing sweater-wearing “we'll cry together" Jimmy Carter or stuffy Walter Mondale.
But, his greatest persuasion tool?
Being un-okay.
Being un-okay is an extremely powerful tool of persuasion.
And if you aren’t using it in your emails and sales copy (and other marketing) I suspect you are leaving a lot of sales and response on the table.
BILL CLINTON — I have no trouble believing what his biographers (and even enemies) say about him always being the most empathetic (real or manufactured) guy in the room. And empathy can do more for your persuasive abilities than almost anything else can. He was also great at rebranding (i.e. “New Democrat.”) And, he was an underdog story, too, if you study how he won the first election, Ross Perot siphoning off votes away from Bush notwithstanding. And, nothing sells better than an underdog story in sales copy and emails. Plus, the fact he got away from being roped into the #metoo shtick a few years ago means he has quite the Narrative backing him up.
And Narrative-building is a powerful marketing tool in and of itself.
BARACK OBAMA — Due to timing & national fatigue with Bush(es) he had near perfect message-to-market match game - the most important thing you can have going for you in marketing - in 2008 without even needing to say anything substantive, which made him extremely persuasive to his market. His fundraising ability was especially incredible. All of which allowed him to compete and win the 2008 Presidential race when probably most people would have told him he’d be nuts to try. Especially against the Clinton Machine.
DONALD TRUMP — Which brings us to the Donald. He ran tight message-to-market match game, and had the same kind of timing Obama did, too. Plus, he's also the master of polarization and at making sure nobody is indifferent to him. He’s hated, loved, mocked, and revered… but never ignored. People literally get kicked off of Facebook now just because they support him. (Troy Broussard’s 82-year old mother got suspended just for posting something positive about him, and another of his clients almost lost her entire business tied to her Facebook group just for telling a Trump-hating friend of hers to please put their friendship over politics — didn’t even mention Trump — which resulted in dozens of creepy lurkers flagging her for “abuse.” Now THAT is polarization!)
Bottom line?
You can learn a lot about persuasion from popular presidents.
Yes, especially the ones you despise most…
To learn how to create this kind of polarization check out my Villains books here:
https://www.EmailPlayers.com/villains
Ben Settle