Let’s face it, Celebrities have it good.
They get priority treatment wherever they go, they have power and prestige simply because people know who they are, and they get free advertising because people want to be seen with them.
When is the last time your local news station called you in for an interview?
It may seem to those on the outside like they have life handed to them on a silver platter, but in reality it takes a lot of work to maintain your celebrity, and even more to maintain relevance in an ever diversifying marketplace.
Famous faces come and go, shows get canceled, and people are always looking for the next big thing.
Like the job market as a whole, no one can rest on their laurels any more. Having a job or a paid gig today doesn’t mean you will have one tomorrow.
Even a celebrity can’t rely on other businesses to hand them work for the rest of their lives. They have to market for the new economy – the economy of the connected world.
Whether you call it a list, a following, or a tribe as Seth Godin calls it, celebrities have to be responsible for finding, gathering, and connecting their adoring fans.
This usually consists of an email list, but it could also be facebook fans, twitter followers, Instagram stalkers, or website members.
This strategy is useful for anyone or any business that wants to grow with more control over their client base, and thanks to the digital world we live in, it is basically a necessity for any business online.
Here are 5 tips that your business can use to market like a celeb:
1. Look the Part
The first thing you usually notice about a celebrity… is that they look like a celebrity.
Designer dresses, custom suits, expensive shoes, and that oh so wonderful Photoshop touch up to all of their photos.
Sure they lounge around the house in their underwear when no one is looking, but they’ll never present themselves that way in public.
Every business needs to put their best foot forward, especially in your images on your website and on social media.
If there’s one thing you can do to improve your online brand, it would be to hire a professional photographer and get some celebrity-esque photos of yourself or your team for your website and social media.
You’ll be amazed how people see you differently.
2. Be Seen With Other Celebrities
Why is it that whenever the paparazzi takes a picture of a celebrity, they are almost always hanging out with another celebrity?
There is a certain status, deserved or not, to being seen with a celebrity.
Some people’s entire careers are based on the fact that they get seen with celebrities.
The Kardashians anyone?
This is because celebrity breeds celebrity. It’s called celebrity by association.
Want to appear more influential? Get some pictures of you or your business interacting with a celebrity or well known business leader or expert in your area.
The more famous they are, the more influential you seem.
3. Live It Up
You are rich, you are famous, and you can do anything you want. Life is good.
Or at least, that’s want you want everyone to believe. So you better start taking some epic selfies if you want more followers!
The lifestyles of the rich and famous aren’t just interesting for their high-priced luxury and low-brow drama. They are also a form of social proof.
If you are a celebrity, then you are successful. If you are successful, then you have a lot of money. Therefore, if you have a lot of money, then you are really a celebrity. Or so the common logic goes.
Make videos or do photoshoots of you or your brand in luxurious surroundings. Even if it’s just a fantasy, it tells people that this is where you belong.
4. Promote Yourself
Many successful celebrities are over the top self promoters.
You can wait around for someone else to “discover you” and your talent, or you can start shouting to the rooftops that you are a force to be reckoned with.
Guerrilla marketing, media hacking, or just plain arrogance, whatever you want to call it, it works.
Just make sure that after you talk the talk, you walk the walk, or at least fake it very well.
5. Connect with Fans
The real truth is, fans make a celebrity.
If you don’t have fans, you aren’t a celebrity.
The good news is that even a single die hard fan can bring you many more. You don’t have to please everyone. In fact, it’s better if you target a niche.
The narrower the niche, the easier it is to connect with people.
So find your niche, your ideal customers who connect with you better than anyone else, and own it!
It’s easier than ever to be a celebrity, but harder than ever to maintain it, and even tougher to make any real money from it if you don’t have your act together.
Put up a youtube video and you could be the next viral sensation, watched by tens of millions of people around the world.
The trick is to get them to watch again. Follow these tips, and they just might tune in to see what you are up to.
Ryan Chandler
Celebrity Marketing Expert
Brand Life Marketing
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