What Kylie Jenner's Hair Color Can Teach Brands About the Power of Crowdsourcing
The reality TV star let fans pick which shade of blue she should dye her tresses via social media.
By Laura Entis •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Reality-star-turned-supermodel Kendall Jenner, a natural brunette, unveiled freshly dyed blonde locks when she walked in the Balmain show on Thursday.
The Twitterverse promptly went crazy:
The bar was just set for 2016's compliment to top: "You're prettier than a blonde Kendall Jenner."
— Kirsten Browning (@iJournalista) January 25, 2016
Kendall goes blonde! Gigi goes brunette! Inside @Balmain's supermodel hair switch-up for the runway: https://t.co/rwHCaNNVoh
— Vogue Magazine (@voguemagazine) March 3, 2016
To be fair, in terms of hair-dye-meets-reality-TV celebrity news, it was already a big week. On Tuesday, Kendall's little sister, Kylie, turned to Twitter to help her answer an important question: what shade of blue should she dye her hair next?
Guys teal or mint for my next sugar factory event? I can't decide pic.twitter.com/MohbNtfd8v
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) March 1, 2016
The 18 year old received so many responses from her 14.6 million Twitter followers that she created a poll:
Ok doing a poll!!
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) March 1, 2016
Say what you will about the Kardashians, but the sisters has perfected the art of using social media to build a following and gain traction for their products, whether that's their reality TV show or a host of businesses, from mobile games to hair extensions.
Kylie, the clan's youngest, is no slouch at this game. Alongside her Twitter followers, she has amassed 53.2 million followers on Instagram, more than 11 million likes on her Facebook page and recently broke the record for the most-viewed account on Snapchat. She frequently harnesses all four platforms to promote whatever she happens to be selling at the moment.
The more I use @MAAZPRODUCTS the more I keep falling in love with the way my hair feels and looks! #maazproducts ? pic.twitter.com/PaRfNyKdHc
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) March 2, 2016
Kylie's hair tweet may be silly, but it's also a deft way to connect with and engage her audience. Brands looking to beef up their own following should consider doing the same.
If you still aren't convinced, take it from Shark Tank's Daymond John. The fashion mogul is a firm believer in the power of embedding consumers in the product design process by routinely asking for style preferences over social media. Whenever possible, engage in shout outs, such as "here are the colors I'm going for -- which ones do you like? Hey, tell me what you dislike," he told us last year.
Unlike Kylie though, it helps to actually incorporate customer feedback.
Based on a rather cryptic tweet, despite overwhelming poll results it appears Kylie isn't going the teal route after all.
Think I'm gonna do something new! ?? inspired https://t.co/Jygn5c6NYs
— Kylie Jenner (@KylieJenner) March 1, 2016
