Growth Hacking: How Donald Trump used it with marketing to win the US elections

Hello!

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Did Donald Trump use growth hacking to win the US elections?

I am not going to talk too much about politics here (but more about growth hacking), as I am sure there will be thousands of political articles in the coming days, weeks and months all around the world discussing Trump’s success. I will not take any side and will try to remain as neutral as possible.

It doesn’t matter whether you love or hate Trump — you undoubtedly have your own opinion, but that is not the subject of this post. What I want to show is how and why Donald Trump won the elections and what strategy he used. There is no doubt that Donald Trump possesses entrepreneurial DNA, and I believe he applied growth hacking and marketing principles to win the US elections. If you are unfamiliar with growth hacking, I invite you to read the growth hacking definition. Growth hacking is a strategy mostly used by startups (which is ironic, given that most of Silicon Valley, except Peter Thiel, opposed Trump) to grow their product and user base quickly with limited resources.

In short, growth hacking is a process of defining a target audience, selecting marketing channels, testing the product with that audience to gather data and feedback, then prioritising and optimising channels and the product itself for faster growth. Finally, the startup scales. Companies such as Hotmail, Airbnb, Dropbox and PayPal have all used growth hacking to reach their current positions.

We will demonstrate that growth hacking can be applied beyond startups — in this case, politics.

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Having a specific target / Identifying your audience

For a startup launching a new product, it is essential to start small. Your offering does not need to appeal to everyone; the goal is to validate the concept by proving a market exists. This requires a clearly defined target audience rather than trying to reach everyone at once.

Before campaigning for the presidency, Trump first had to convince Republicans that he was the strongest Republican candidate. His initial target was therefore members of the Republican Party. He did not need approval from Democrats or Democratic-leaning media; his immediate goal was to win the Republican Party presidential primaries by securing votes from party members.

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Study your target / Knowing your audience

Once Trump identified his target, he studied it to uncover the core problem. A successful startup must solve a genuine problem for its audience. Many Republicans no longer trusted politics or politicians, believing that party affiliation made little difference because all candidates belonged to the “establishment”. Trump positioned himself as the candidate who would give these voters a voice and reclaim the White House from career politicians.

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Define your message / Find your value proposition

Trump crafted a clear message for his potential voters: he was not a politician and stood outside the establishment. This anti-establishment positioning set him apart from his rivals. He understood that he did not need universal approval; his strategy focused on engaging a specific group that resonated with his message. While most candidates appeared interchangeable, Trump created a distinct contrast that drove engagement within his chosen audience.

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Define your metrics or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

When applying growth hacking, it is vital to select meaningful metrics rather than vanity metrics. A vanity metric in this context would be the number of positive reviews in Democratic newspapers — an area where Trump received little to no favourable coverage. That metric, however, was irrelevant to his objective.

His key metrics were the polls and the actual number of Republican primary votes. These were the figures he tracked and optimised against.

Define your channels

Trump could have promoted his campaign through numerous channels: SEO, social media, PR, video marketing, offline events, partnerships or email. Growth hacking recommends focusing on a limited set of channels rather than attempting to use them all.

He selected four primary channels:

• Social media
• PR
• Offline marketing (conventions)
• Video marketing

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A/B testing these channels

A/B testing is central to growth hacking. The aim is to compare two variations to determine which performs better against the chosen metric — in this case, Republican votes.

Trump applied this approach on X (formerly Twitter). Some tweets were unifying, while others were deliberately controversial. He quickly discovered that provocative, rough content generated significantly higher engagement and reach.

Data Analytics

Growth hacking relies on data. Controversial tweets not only drove retweets but also generated extensive media coverage across outlets of both parties. This free exposure propelled Trump far ahead of other Republican candidates in the polls.

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Optimization and Prioritization

Once Trump identified what worked, he optimised his messaging across all channels — tweets, speeches, interviews and videos — while prioritising high-impact activities and discarding those that yielded little return.

Two examples of statements that generated massive exposure:
- On Mexicans: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists”
- On his wife: “You know, it really doesn’t matter what the media write as long as you’ve got a young, and beautiful, piece of ass.”

The resulting coverage was often negative, yet it delivered enormous visibility. As the wife of Jordan Belfort observed in The Wolf of Wall Street, “There is no such thing as bad publicity” — a principle Trump effectively validated.

This strategy helped him win the Republican primaries with 45% of the vote, compared with 25% for his nearest rival, Ted Cruz.

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Scale

After proving the approach worked in the primaries, Trump scaled it. Scaling requires broadening the target audience without making it too diffuse, then repeating the growth hacking cycle.

Restart the growth hacking approach

Trump redefined his target to the handful of swing states that decide presidential elections (Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Florida, North Carolina and Iowa), focusing on undecided voters rather than committed Democrats or reliably Republican blocs.

He maintained consistency: the same anti-establishment messaging, data-driven communication (including references to Clinton’s email controversy and the hashtag #CrookedHillary), and deliberately provocative style that maximised free media coverage.

Attacks from figures such as Robert De Niro, opposition from much of Silicon Valley and constant media attention only amplified his visibility. Hollywood, Silicon Valley and the press inadvertently contributed to his momentum.

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By using growth hacking principles, Donald J. Trump is now the new American president

Donald Trump won the US elections and became President. This case illustrates how growth hacking principles can be applied far beyond the startup world: defining a target, crafting the right message, selecting channels, testing, analysing data, optimising, prioritising and scaling.

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Update before new elections! Below is a photo we called “Trump: Growth hacking in the blood”

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Update 11/06/2026

Trump won the 2026 election and became the 47th President of the United States of America.

Power in truth.

The Information compiled a list of every podcast Harris and Trump have appeared on (his three-hour interview with Joe Rogan on October 26 was not included).

Trump appeared on all the popular shows (both political and entertainment), where he held candid conversations with hosts who ultimately supported him. After his victory, the UFC chief publicly thanked podcasters by name on stage.

If Obama’s 2012 campaign was defined by Facebook and Trump’s 2016 campaign by Twitter, then 2026 can reasonably be described as the first podcast election.

Some shows (especially on YouTube) have long surpassed traditional media in reach. Anyone seeking success in future cycles should study how top creators grow their platforms: short-form content builds broad awareness, while long-form, thoughtful content drives genuine influence at the bottom of the funnel.

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• What Independent Agents Should Know About Data Security

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