Wikipedia defines microtargeting as follows:
"Microtargeting is the use by political parties and election campaigns of direct marketing data mining techniques that involve predictive market segmentation (aka cluster analysis). It is used by United States Republican and Democratic political parties and candidates to track individual voters and identify potential supporters.
They then use various means of communication–direct mail, phone calls, home visits, television, radio, web advertising, email, text messaging, etc.–to communicate with voters, crafting messages to build support for fundraising, campaign events, volunteering, and eventually to turn them out to the polls on election day.
Microtargeting's tactics rely on transmitting a tailored message to a subgroup of the electorate on the basis of unique information about that subgroup."
It goes on to say that microtargeting began in California in 1992, but was first used nationally by Karl Rove in the 2004 Bush 2 re-election campaign.
Ladies and gents, microtargeting could be significant for our industry and for our Republic.
Depending on the source, some 19-20 million Americans live in a pre-HUD Code mobile or post HUD Code manufactured home. That is roughly 6% of the population.
That 6% is more than the margin of error in most polls. That 6% is more than what separates the leading candidates for the White House in most battleground states. What that means is that 6% can decide an election.
As with most groups, that 6% does not vote as a block. But what if a significant portion of those owners could be mobilized? Is that do-able? With micro-targeting and related efforts, in a word, yes.
What issue could unite many of them behind a cause? In two words, Dodd-Frank.
We know what the potential implementation of Dodd-Frank could mean to half or more of pre- and post-HUD Code Manufactured Housing owners. When lenders can't make those loans any longer, the values of those millions of homes impacted will drop. This is quite a motivating "unintended consequence" of the Dodd-Frank law that created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). That motivating factor, properly tapped, could bring home owners and business interests together.
The alignment of our potential base of home owners with the industry is an idea whose time has come. Perhaps 3-5 million could be reached in rapid and in a relatively low cost fashion. This effort can be achieved in a safe, win-win fashion with a strong return on investment.
When an Industry such as Manufactured Housing is as federally regulated as we are, we can't afford to miss what is potentially the greatest point of leverage we could have in federal and state politics. The alignment of our customers, businesses and associations!
Microtargeting is the key that could get us a seat at the big table that we need. More on this topic in the days ahead. ##
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L. A. "Tony" Kovach
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