In honor of Ben&Jerry’s Free Scoop on Election Day, bestselling author Seth Godin wrote a great post analyzing the 2008 election campaigns and what they teach us about marketing and staying competitive today.  I thought it worth sharing because he’s awesome hiring managers can get just as much value from his “lessons” as marketing professionals.  You can read Seth’s complete post here, but below are my favorite takeaways:

Stories really matter.  ”When people look back at the election,” Godin says, “they will remember mavericky winking… it’s human nature…The story is what people respond to.  Mainstream media isn’t powerful because we have no other choices…It’s powerful because they’re still really good at writing and spreading stories, stories we listen to and stories we believe.”

What it means for you: When it comes to selling your company, consider whether you are really doing all you can to stand out in employees’ minds.  Are you going to career fairs and speaking with job seekers face to face?  Do you provide video on your job postings page of employee testimonials, company tours, messages from the CEO, etc.?  Have you taken a cue from businesses like Ernst & Young or Zappos, creating a presence on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter, respectively, helping to interact with eager job seekers?  

Today’s job seeker market is all about engaging candidates – really having conversations with them – to give them a better understanding of the company culture, as well as energize them about the opportunity to work there. 

TV is over. Godin observes that the most important ads for this election’s campaign were those made specifically for the Web, which needed to be interesting enough for viewers to not only want to watch, but also want to share.

What it means for you: Not that you necessarily used TV much to attract job seekers before, but the point remains that traditional methods don’t necessarily work the way they used to. Again, now is the time to look for not just new, but different ways to utilize media to communicate with and impress job seekers.

Marketing is tribal. Here, Godin talks about the importance of cultivating a “base” – those people who share your same interests and vision.  “George W. Bush was able to get elected twice by embracing the base, by connecting them, by being one of them,” Godin says.  In this election, both McCain and Obama had to decide whether to try to connect with their existing base of would-be voters or weave a brand new one. “This is a real question for every marketer with an idea to sell. Do you find an existing tribe and try to co-opt them? Or do you try the more expensive and risky effort of building a brand new tribe?”

What it means for you: As hiring managers, you need to know who makes up the candidate base you have and who makes up the candidate base you want.  Are you attracting the job seekers you want to attract?  If not, what needs to change? Your employment brand?  The way you communicate your employment brand?  Perhaps it’s the nature of the business, or maybe something even more deeply ingrained, like the culture itself.

What do you think? Does the act of attracting or engaging candidates ever feel like you’re running a political campaign?  Have you seen similarities between this year’s campaigns and your own experience?