On Tuesday, Rand Paul kicked off his campaign for President in Kentucky. There is a lot of talk about the “outsider” themes of his campaign and the fact that it is tough to be an outsider because he is in Washington as a Senator.
This misses the fundamental idea of marketing…which is that your marketing and messaging has very little to do with you and everything to do with your audience.
As a refresher…you answer 3 questions:
1. What tangible value to I add?
2. Who’s my audience?
3. Where do I reach my audience?
For Rand Paul, his value to his potential buyers is that he has “libertarian” leanings. The audience for that are going to be people that think there is too much government involvement in your life. And, you reach them in a lot of places…including the technology sector, college campuses, and New Hampshire.
The key point being that Rand Paul doesn’t have to be everything to everyone right now…that’s more of a general election thing. Right now, he just needs to build a base of support large enough to gain him traction in a crowded primary field.
You don’t do that by being one of many, but the most unique one of you…
Which is a good lesson for any kind of marketing…how do you make yourself unique?