The Tone of Nasty

This one is worth thinking about – when the president sends nasty tweets, does it sell?

According to the Institute for Public Relations (IPR): “The 2018 Public Affairs Pulse survey shows that nearly 60% of Americans rarely or never read President Trump’s tweets, either via Twitter or the news media, and only 15% read his tweets ‘very often.’ Among people who approve of the president’s performance, just 15% are regular readers.”

And so does the media play a role in publicizing his nasty tweets?

IPR notes: “So why do Trump’s social media rants draw so much attention? It’s partially because the news media magnify his comments when he says something controversial.”

And more: “It turns out that Twitter may not be an effective strategy for the president to communicate with his base. The poll shows that only one out of four people who strongly approve of Trump’s job performance regularly reads his tweets.

Frequent readership is even lower among rural Americans (14%), Republican women (11%), and evangelical Christians (15%) — three key demographic groups for the president.”

You should read the full post here. We’ve written about the tone of nasty before and believe it doesn’t help sell in the long run – unless that’s your ultimate brand persona. For most, it’s not a great strategy for the long haul.

(Note: From 2,200 Americans polled in late August by Morning Consult. IPR’s report was published in October 2018.)