Messaging lessons from the State of the Union, Iowa and more

Much of the national conversation in 2020 will be centered on politics—and that was most evident this week as several big events occurred in rapid succession.

The Super Bowl was followed by the Iowa caucuses (launching the presidential primary season), then the State of the Union address came on the eve of the final vote on President Donald Trump’s impeachment in the U.S. Senate.

One key lesson is that the window for getting your news out there will be extremely short.

Here are some takeaways from a busy week in the news about how to help your message break through and resonate with your target audience:

1. Engage on social media.

Many Super Bowl ads over the years have repurposed characters, video and themes from the gameday spot to a longer campaign on social media. The organizations that have done this well have extended their investment—and the conversation about their product, service or message—long after that year’s Super Bowl left the minds of many Americans.

Adopt a long view when thinking about how your brand managers will engage and converse on social media. Start introducing key themes and characters early in the process. However, you will have to be careful about platforms’ protocols.