Secret of Barack Obama's Success?

Certainly Barack Obama rose to the highest office in the land due to extraordinary leadership and speaking abilities-most of us, even with years of top-notch media training, could not dream of becoming as effective public speakers.

Despite this, Barack Obama uses some techniques that many of us can harness. In particular, he has been a masterful communicator and expert user of cross-platform promotion. What does this actually mean?

Obama used all of the media formats available to him in order to reach American voters, and indeed, in order to win over those in other countries thousands of miles away. He did not limit himself to "friendly" media outlets as many other politicians in the past have done. Instead, he exposed himself to nearly everything-difficult interviews on FOX News, CNN, the other cable networks-in addition to savvy YouTube postings and an online presence that can only be described as astonishing.

He also utilized text messaging on a mass-scale, which was an effective way to speak directly to younger voters-many of whom are stressed out with school, college loans, and work. These are voters who probably don't have the time or leisure to sit down every night and watch the nightly news. But, of course, they read their text messages-and they devour online content.

Aside from text messaging and YouTube, Barack Obama allowed people to become a part of the campaign in a new and exciting way. This is called promoting "ownership"-it's basically the same idea behind Starbucks referring to their hourly wage employees as "partners". The idea is to promote a sense of belonging and get members to work harder for you. Obama did this by truly listening to what his supporters wanted. His web site allowed for direct means of feedback, and Obama has consistently said in interviews he wishes to remain open to real-time information from regular people (rather than relying on a closed circle of advisers). This is part of the reason why Obama has been so reluctant to give up his BlackBerry mobile email device, even though all presidents in the past have done so.

It is Obama's commitment to communication and willingness to use new media formats that have contributed most to his political success. Especially in trying economic times, it will be crucial that he remains open to the public's needs and able to address their concerns quickly and using as many different media channels as possible.