Though we celebrated Presidents’ Day on Monday, George Washington’s actual birthday is today, February 22 (1732). Noted for many things—some trivial, like chopping down his father’s prize cherry tree, and some not, like orchestrating the colonial victory over the British at Yorktown, Virginia—what you may not have known is that our first president was also among the nation’s first content marketers.

Washington was a prolific author and a master of persuasion. To date, more than 135,000 of his papers have been collected for publication. He deeply believed in using the power of the pen to incite a following.

And politicians, just like our buddy George, generally are among the busiest of marketers, though we may not view their tactics that way. (Admittedly, some may be better at marketing, and writing, than others.) Nonetheless, to campaign effectively, they must go through all the proper steps of creating a marketing strategy, from setting goals to defining buyer personas to crafting, refining, and sharing their messaging.

And that messaging has to (or should) be consistent across channels, whether it’s posted on social media, aired on television or radio, delivered in speeches, printed in op-eds or posters, or shared anywhere else.

Done well, their content meets the same two goals as any other effective content: education and persuasion. Done poorly, it turns people off and makes people disregard their point of view.

As President Washington said, “Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.” Good content can create happiness—and thus loyalty—among your prospects and customers too.

Let’s talk about how your content can help your products and services get more votes.

(More) tips to improve your content marketing

What’s new this week in the legal industry

Questions the world really needs answered

So, what has Scribe been up to this week?

Assessing how to run a law firm like a business
Devising a survey on law firm marketing tactics
Writing about law firm and corporate law procurement best practices
Preparing OSHA training materials on personal protective equipment regulations
Drafting an article on why law firms should store their data in the cloud

Ready to kick off your next content marketing campaign? Let’s talk.

Friday scribbles: the power of content marketing in presidential persuasion