Donald Trump shocked the world on election night in 2016 when he defeated Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton by 77 Electoral College votes — 302 to her 207. Clinton’s team held big advantages in the paid media environment, outspending Trump for President by more than $200 million. With Team Hillary holding such a huge advantage on the airwaves, how did Trump for President win? In a word: rallies. Then-candidate Trump conducted 137 rallies from June 10 to November 7, 2016, in 62 different media markets (DMAs). Each rally earned Trump tremendous local media coverage in the days surrounding these high profile events. On average, candidate Trump received about seven minutes per day of local news coverage across the three-day period that surrounded each rally. What was this coverage worth from a monetary and audience value? Trump’s rallies garnered the equivalent outreach of what would cost $120 million in local broadcast news coverage, with a staggering 3.8 billion free impressions across the 62 DMAs he visited. So, what can we conclude was the impact of this free local media? Advertising Analytics
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