Podcasts won the US Elections

The US elections are done and dusted but the debate as to how President Donald Trump’s win was clinched is still somewhat under discussion. Social media Content creators and podcasts specifically appear to have been the key – as both President Trump and Kamala Harris campaigns used the podcast space to reach out to their prospective voters to try and garner some extra votes.

So, it’s safe to say that this election was a very different one, with interesting strategies from both camps.

85% negative coverage for Trump vs 78% positive coverage for Harris in the American Mainstream media like ABC, CNN, MSNBC, New York time, Times Magazine, Washington Post etc and yet Trump prevailed over Harris. This is the proof that podcasts and content creators are far more influential than traditional media whose ratings as well a trusted source status has been on a massive decline for decades now!

It’s reported that President Trump’s 18-year-old son played a crucial role in organising his 78-year-old fathers many appearances on various podcast shows across the US, all in a bid to appeal to a generation and demographic that lives, breathes and eats podcasts!

An appearance on Joe Rogan’s – ‘The Joe Rogan experience’ during his campaign trail saw 50 million viewers tune in to listen to President Trump, while 14 million were tuned into Theo Von’s ‘This past weekend with Theo Von’ and another popular podcast ‘Flagrant’ had 5 million views.

Some reports have indicated that President Trumps visit to these popular podcasts contributed to his win as the 47^thPresident of the USA – but in the same breath the reports say this did not necessarily decide the election.

Billionaire and Tesla boss – Elon Musk – who is remaining very close to Trump – believes the podcast appearances made a huge difference at the polls.

South African Global marketer and tech fundi Rush Bhana – who is based in the UAE – believe that podcasts and content creators are a direct and powerful medium.

“Podcast and social media Content creators offer brands and marketers direct access to audiences without bias or political narrative of large media and news organisations”.

Bhana says it’s exactly why he uses a lot of content creators for his own clients in the Tourism space and particularly for luxury holiday destinations.

Bhana is available for interviews and can speak on the following:

• The role of new media in future huge events
• The important role and responsibility content creators have in shaping public opinion
• What successful use of content creators’ podcasts will look like in the future
• Content creators and the power they hold when it comes to direct access to the consumer