by samCelebrities are influential. There’s no doubt about that. The question is, how can celebrities use SMO most effectively? And how can their massive reach be harnessed to effectively aid Internet marketing campaigns?
The best example of how a celebrity can be a powerhouse of marketing is the case of Charlie Sheen, who skyrocketed to 1,000,000 Twitter followers practically overnight and was the subject of hundreds upon thousands of online meme trends. On March 7th, 2011, Sheen posted a tweet that read:
“I’M LOOKING TO HIRE A #WINNING INTERN WITH #TIGERBLOOD. APPLY HERE: HTTP://BIT.LY/HYKQQF #TIGERBLOODINTERN #INTERNSHIP #AD”.
By March 11th, the company had received 1,035,021 site visits, 475,375 clicks on the original link, 82,148 internship applications, and 50 short-listed candidates. All from one tweet. That tweet will cost upwards of $100,000 to send out, but when you look at the return, it’s obvious what the benefits of celebrity tweet pushing can be. Just think what all that traffic could do for your SEO! Of course, another element of this success is timing. They knew that Charlie Sheen was snowballing his way across the Internet, and they capitalised on it.
Celebrity social media management isn’t all tiger blood and winning; however, there’s also a massive chance that it’ll backfire. Just look at the infamous “Wienergate” story, in which Congressman Anthony Wiener accidentally posted an inappropriate picture to his Twitter account and was soon forced to resign. Not to mention voice actor and comedian Gilbert Gottfried, who was fired by insurance company Aflac, a company that conducts 75% of its business in Japan, for some insensitive tweets shortly after the Japan tsunami earthquake. Most recently, Microsoft tried to cash in on singer Amy Winehouse’s death, telling followers to remember her by buying her album from the Zune store. In all of these cases, unethical tweets have resulted in extremely poor and damaging PR for the companies and celebrities involved.
Given the number of unverified or fake celebrity profiles, especially on the newly established Google+ network, it’s wise for any celebrity to verify their official account and get the help of an agency or online marketing company to handle their social activity and give them an air of professionalism. Given the rate at which things can spread over the Internet, it’s of the utmost importance to be in control of how celebrity influence is used in a mutually beneficial relationship for themselves and marketers alike.