How to Be the Taylor Swift of Your Facebook Feed People are fascinated by celebrities, and that trend isn't going to change. Find out how to turn yourself into a celebrity in your industry and close more sales.
By Kim Walsh Phillips •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
In their book No B.S. Guide to Direct Response Social Media Marketing, business coach and consultant Dan S. Kennedy and marketing strategist Kim Walsh-Phillips show you how to use direct response marketing principles on a variety of social media platforms to drive real results and profit. In this edited excerpt, the authors explain the power of celebrity and how you can use it to land more customers.
An age-old copywriting secret is to "enter the conversation already happening in your prospect's mind." One of the easiest ways to do this is to look at what everyone's talking about.
According to USA Today, Google reported the top three trending searches for 2014 were for Robin Williams following his passing, Kim Kardashian's wedding to Kanye West, and Jared Leto. Yahoo! reported that the top obsessions for 2013 included Miley Cyrus "twerking," Duck Dynasty TV show, the casting of the movie Fifty Shades of Grey, and The Walking Dead TV show.
The popularity of these searches indicates what's on your prospect's mind. Obviously they're celebrity-related. People love celebrities. In fact, they're obsessed with them. A single celebrity death will often trump media coverage over anything else, even if the reality of other news is far more staggering.
This fascination with celebrities isn't going away any time soon and is actually growing. And, inexplicably, people confuse celebrity with credibility.
This is good news for smart marketers.
Every year billions of dollars are spent on celebrity endorsements. People will buy whatever celebrities eat, drink, wear, and drive. They want to know what celebrities do, where they shop, where they live, and where they do business. Tap into celebrity, and you have access to the most powerful marketing force available.
It's easier to do than you think.
If you do business on a local level, it's relatively easy and inexpensive to become a local celebrity. If you do business nationally but in a niche market, it's also relatively inexpensive.
Make yourself famous by writing articles and books, giving lectures, and being active in industry and community affairs. Feature yourself in your advertising, videos and webinars, and social media networks. Get interviewed on radio and TV, and post the files on your website.
It's worth noting that, these days, the lines between free public relations and paid commercial advertising as a means of creating celebrity status are blurred. For instance, when entertainment TV reporter Leeza Gibbons interviewed and profiled motivational speaker Tony Robbins in an infomercial, was that as good as being on the TV show Entertainment Tonight? Yes, and in some respects, it was even better—because this suggests strategy. If you could get three-time NFL Super Bowl Champion Emmitt Smith to appear in one of your ads, do you think it would get more attention than an ad without a celebrity?
Using advertorials in newspapers and magazines, paid radio and/or TV time, self-published books, and social media networks, you can do the same thing you once only accomplished through publicity and public relations. Not to mention you can exert complete control over the process, unlike live interviews where you're at the host's mercy.
Whether you hire celebrity endorsers or transform yourself into a celebrity, you want to create a connection between your product and service. Celebrity is undeniably one of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolbox. This draws attention, enhances the buying decision, and increases the loyalty of your consumers. Plus it increases credibility.
One of the smartest moves you can make is to capitalize on the growing trend of celebrity fascination. Build your own celebrity or connect with others to form an association between them and your business.
1. Determine your unique selling proposition (USP). What makes you different from your competitors, and how can you leverage that in your marketing? My distinction is that I am not just a social media expert, but a direct response social media marketer focused on monetizing all strategies and measuring results. I have brought in millions of dollars in sales for my clients through Facebook and keep growing my firm based on the results we bring them. I share this fact often, and I am the only marketer who can claim this.
2. Get a professional headshot. This is the place to amp up your game and go beyond the selfie-iPhone photo. Celebrities have good photos, and so should you. To find an affordable one in your area, check out a site like Thumbtack.com. You can post the job there, and photographers will apply to take your photo, giving an estimate up front. You can usually get a good headshot for less than $100 using this service.
3. Create your cover photo. Using free templates at Canva.com, create your cover photo using your professional headshot and an offer with your USP. I switch mine if I'm holding an event or promotion, or just working on building my email list.
4. Feature your content in your posts. If you're sharing other people's content more than 10% of the time, stop. Your social media pages are your media. Use them for positioning your message. This is your opportunity to shine and set yourself up as an expert in your industry, so feature your content, and develop your own images and posts.
If you don't know where to start, begin by creating a list of 25 questions your prospects tend to ask when you meet with them, and start by answering those. That will give you almost a full month of posts.
Or use a site like Quora.com. There you can identify the most popular questions people are asking in your industry. Make a list and start your posts by answering those.
5. Have good people. Pull in your "team" to help (after all, celebrities have people, don't they?). There are great resources on sites like HireMyMom.com, Elance.com, and Textbroker.com to get your posts written, images designed, and schedule your posts for you.
Ready to walk the red carpet to prospecting success? Then make sure all of your networks reflect your brand.
