Entry By Jason Brick
Celebrities cheat when it comes to social media and text marketing. In most cases, they didn’t start their media presence until after they became famous. Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber didn’t build a cohort of over 20 million Twitter followers each. They built a fanatic fan base, and then announced their Twitter feed.
Despite this, we can look at the techniques of some celebrities to learn about the care and feeding of our media subscribers. Some are examples of flawlessly using universal best practices, while others take unique approaches that we can also use to get the job done:
- The News Feed
Singer/songwriter of geek hits like “RE: Your Brains” and “Skullcrusher Mountain,” Jonathan Coulton built his personal brand through Internet promotion. He uses Twitter as a news center, updating fans about tour dates, new songs, videos on YouTube and updates to his other social media projects. He also observes the primary rule of “be funny or useful” – which comes naturally to him since his songs are primarily comedic. - The Importance of Conversation
A music celebrity from the 80s, MC Hammer maintains a following of over 2.6 million over 20 years later by mastering the conversation aspect of social media. He quickly responds to followers who comment on his tweets, and will hold an entire chat with fans via his feed. This also makes him one of the more prolific social media posters, with even a brief chat meaning a dozen or more updates. - Multi-Platform Magic
Former “Star Trek” star and current geek activist Wil Wheaton tweets, blogs and Facebooks in an interlinked mass that ensures followers never settle for just one outlet. Growing your brand relies on the synergy of multiple platforms, so business owners from all industries can learn from Wil’s example. Coulton from the above example is also an expert at this aspect of social media. - Using the Street Team
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is one of the fastest growing professional sports organizations in the world. Rather than spending a lot of time having management use social media, the organization pays its athletes bonuses for social media presence – both for quantity and for creativity and quality. - Be Engaging
Vin Diesel has no reason to stay engaged and authentic on his Facebook page – in fact many of his peers hire assistants to post for them. But he consistently posts engaging updates and takes time to respond personally when fans comment back. As a result, he has over 7 million fans on his page and thousands of responses for each post – making him the leading celebrity on Facebook.
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