In One Day, President Trump Set More Appointment Tune Ins Than Your Station Did

by Tracy Johnson

Whether you support him or loathe him, you have to agree that Donald Trump isn’t like any other president. The Donald may end up being known as the Tweeting President, which drives some of his party crazy. But that direct communication to his Twitter audience of over 22 million can be a powerful tool when it’s used properly. In fact, President Trump is probably using social media to set appointments much more effectively than your radio station.

Of course, Trump uses his social media megaphone for many purposes, including a seemingly endless stream of consciousness. But he’s become very effective in directing attention to what he wants you to notice, and he’s doing so without having to leverage traditional media outlets.

Program Director and talk host Scott Sands of 1370 WSPD/Toledo alerted me how effective Trump is. In a 36 hour period, the President of the United States used social media to set 8 appointments! He used Twitter five times and Facebook three times, setting appointments vertically (later tonight, in 10 minutes) and horizontally (tomorrow, next Thursday). This is terrific teasing and promotion.

 

How Trump Uses Social Media To Set Appointments

Each message he sent was different, yet each set a specific appointment at a specific time. And each played to his audience. He even mixes media in different ways in the tease. Some were text only. Others included a photo or video clip. But one thing was consistent: He always used proper hashtags and @replies.

Politics and the controversy of his social media usage aside, Donald Trump knows how to build and keep an audience engaged.

Here are some examples of his messaging:

 

 

A simple, quick message that promotes an appearance on ABC news.

 

 

Here, he promotes the same interview on Facebook, with a behind-the-scenes photo with David Muir. This is a good example of pulling back the curtain and letting his audience into his world, in the Oval Office.

 

 

Another tweet that builds anticipation for his Supreme Court choice. It’s a much more important event, so he’s tweeting/promoting it further in advance.

 

A preview of what he’ll be talking about at Homeland Security. This is an effective content tease. He didn’t just say “I’m going there” but gave his followers a taste of what he’d be addressing.

 

 

A little later, a tweet that promotes his ABC TV appearance with David Muir, with a different photo from a different part of the White House. This time, he sets the appointment at a specific time (show).

 

 

 

Another tweet with another new photo and the same message to promote the ABC interview. Repetition in messaging is key on social media because the average message only lives for about 20 minutes.

 

Use Social Media To Set Appointments For Your Show

Take a page from Trump’s book of social media secrets. Yes, I realize it’s partly (and maybe even mostly) his staff that manages his social media. Dan Scavino and Brad Parscale are doing a remarkable job with it. Still, it’s a great example of embracing social media and using it to your advantage.