With great resources out there like Mashable and TechCrunch, I’m constantly seeing how digital technology trends impact businesses. My hope here is look at those same trends and how they impact politics. So while I may overuse the phrase “this idea applies to politics too” at least it’s for a good cause…

In this case, the good cause is getting politicos to think different when it comes to social media and advertising. Mashable recently took a look at this particular topic, and the parallels are striking (advance notice: “parallels are striking” will also likely be an overused phrase. So brace yourself.)

While TV ushered in a new era in advertising, the business aspect evolved and reshaped itself along relatively predictable lines. All of that changed with the Internet, social media, and the rise of mobile devices. This quote from Jim Farley, the CMO of Ford, sums up the sentiment in most C-suites today: “We want to take that stupid little box we were forced into as advertisers, blow it up, and change the way we interact with the customer, and we want it to be around the experience.”

The article goes on to describe five ways advertisers (we would substitute “advertisers” with “hacks”) can adjust to the wild new world of social media:

• Lighten Up. Stop lamenting the end of advertising as we know it. Celebrate the emergence of advertising as the consumer wants it and as it was meant to be — the art of one-on-one persuasion.
• Listen Up. Take Chris Brogan’s advice. Grow bigger ears and become an expert at listening to what people feel. Value response and engagement skills as much as creative abilities.
• Loosen Up. Get comfortable with giving up control to gain confidence and traction with clients and consumers. Client relationships ought to be rooted in trust, transparency and creative programs that are built on a strong positioning and responsibly deliver what is promised.
• Ladder It Up. Embrace “collabetition.” Resist the urge to say “we can do it all” and openly collaborate with like-minded competitors to add value to an idea or program.
• Live It Up. Everyone at an agency has to immerse themselves in the “social circles” in which consumers live and move everyday. Observation and understanding have been trumped by participation and engagement.

Check out the full article here, or follow Mashable’s social media feed on Twitter.