Donald Trump’s amazing win has made him the 47th President of the United States. He secured a sweeping and decisive victory. Since the U.S. elections, the mainstream media has been worried that it is losing its grip on power and control of the narrative. This year’s media luminaries include Joe Rogan, Charlemagne tha god, and social media influencers.
As we reflect on the 2024 presidential election, visible and crucial marketing lessons are to be learned.
More Money doesn’t Always Equal More Sales
Vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris raised a billion dollars for the campaign. Now, she (her campaign) is in at least $20 million in debt. President Trump had five times less money than her, but he still won. She had five times more money spent on campaigning. The Lesson: You can market your business for less; you must choose wisely where to spend your money. 
How Trump Leveraged Influencers and Podcasts
A different kind of interview occurs on podcasts, and mainstream media often dismisses these for lacking the same level of adversarial questioning. In traditional media, interviewing a political figure means being scoop-driven, news-making, and asking something new that prompts a different response, generating headlines. This is the mindset of those who have worked in traditional media. However, that’s not what these podcasts are about.
Podcasts often feature three-hour-long conversations where you truly get to know the person. There is a massive new audience for this kind of content that the mainstream media doesn’t fully understand. A recent Time Magazine piece highlighted this shift, noting that 18-year-old Baron Trump led a strategy to leverage these platforms. The strategy ultimately led to Joe Rogan, starting with Aiden Ross and continuing through platforms like TheOvon, The Neel Boys, and Andrew Schultz. The goal was to appeal to young males, particularly political independents who are not very politically active but have their views shaped through culture.
These interviews reveal a different side of the person. For example, Andrew Schultz, a comedian with a popular podcast, conducted a very funny interview with Donald Trump that showed a different side of him. Despite not trying to make news, Schultz broke it by getting Trump to reveal, for the first time, how he thinks about answering questions or speaking during a rally. This became an iconic phrase known as “the weave.”
In contrast, the Kamala Harris campaign took a different approach. Someone suggested that the left needs its own Joe Rogan, and another person responded that they had their own Joe Rogan, but he voted for Bernie Sanders four years ago. Joe Rogan was ready to interview Kamala Harris, inviting her to Austin for a three-hour conversation. He calls these “conversations,” not interviews, and it could have been a great opportunity. It could have shown that both sides can engage in long, meaningful discussions, potentially invalidating the Trump side of the equation.
However, she either refused to do it, or the campaign wanted him to fly to her for only one hour, which he declined. This was an opportunity to speak to millions of people who approach politics differently. The truth is that Kamala Harris does not have the skill set for a free-flowing, casual three-hour conversation. In this election, authenticity mattered, and the strategy Trump employed provided that.
Trump’s amazing win: A Modern Strategy
While the Harris campaign was operating like an old-fashioned CMO, pouring money into Facebook, Instagram, Google, and TV ads, the Trump campaign was thinking ahead, acting like a 2025 CMO. They built a vast influencer network and formed close relationships with manosphere influencers with massive audiences, such as Joe Rogan, Kill Tony, Adin Ross, Theo Von, and the Nelk Boys.
The Trump’s amazing win campaign recognized that media power and influence no longer reside solely in traditional outlets but in individual creators, podcasters, and Substackers. This is especially true if you want to reach undecided voters, who tend to be disengaged, don’t follow political news, and are disproportionately young men. The voters who could sway a close election weren’t watching CNN; they were listening to Joe Rogan and Kill Tony on YouTube.
Taylor Lorenz provides an excellent breakdown of this strategy in The Hollywood Reporter. While the Harris campaign had a genuinely strong social team, they treated influencers as a transactional media channel. In contrast, the Trump campaign understood the game and treated influencers like collaborators.
Trump’s amazing win: Influencer Strategy and the Crypto Effect
An often-overlooked yet pivotal aspect of Donald Trump’s influencer strategy, particularly among young men, was his unapologetic endorsement of cryptocurrency. Interestingly, this approach was reportedly inspired by his son, Barron.
Trump’s foray into crypto was more than a superficial nod; it involved launching his coin and engaging in in-depth discussions with prominent influencers within the manosphere. This move had a profound impact, convincing many young male voters that Trump’s amazing win would have a direct, positive correlation with the value of their crypto assets. In essence, the narrative was clear: Trump’s amazing win would equate to a significant surge in the value of their holdings, enriching this demographic even before his inauguration.
This election highlighted the economy as a central theme, and within the context of the crypto economy, the arithmetic was straightforward. Trump’s campaign successfully leveraged this simplicity, illustrating how aligning with emerging trends and understanding the motivations of specific demographics can be a powerful tool in building support.
Creators and Influencers are the Newspapers and TV Stations
This may seem like a dizzying TikTok fever dream that makes you want to unplug the internet forever, but this is how the media works in this bizarre day and age. Newspapers and TV stations have way less influence than you think. Creators and influencers have way more.
Trump’s amazing win wasn’t a last-minute accident; as Lorenz reports on her Substack, wealthy Republican donors have been backrolling conservative streamers and influencers like Charlie Kirk, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson, and Tim Pool for years. They’ve founded conservative streaming platforms like Rumble and DLive and used them like a minor league training academy, paying up-and-coming influencers hundreds of thousands of dollars and inflating their in-platform metrics to grow their status.
Democrats, meanwhile, have no significant influencer ecosystem. As Lorenz notes, Harris didn’t lose because she didn’t go on Joe Rogan; she lost because Democrats don’t have their own Joe Rogan. The Democratic party doesn’t cultivate its influencers and creators — I’m not talking about millennial celebrities who make one-off endorsements or play a song at rallies to amp up supporters. I’m talking about YouTube and Twitch-native influencers who build trust with people who don’t follow politics through hours and hours of content.
The closest thing the Dems have is Pod Save America, but that’s a show hosted by former Obama speechwriters and tailored to normie liberals who are going to vote and canvass no matter what.
Wrapping Up
For business leaders, this serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of staying attuned to evolving market interests and the potential benefits of embracing innovative sectors, such as cryptocurrency, to connect with key audiences.
By analyzing the strategies and tactics that led to Trump’s amazing win, we can uncover valuable insights that can be applied to our businesses. By understanding voter or customer behavior and mastering the art of persuasive communication, the lessons from this election can help us refine our marketing approaches and drive greater success.
