We believe that bringing brands, content, celebrities and influencers together makes storytelling more meaningful and impactful.
Before the digital age, celebrities were a brand's most valuable asset. Celebrities had the power to influence audiences through their ability to be seen and heard in mass media outlets such as television, radio, magazines and newspapers. The accessibility of these mediums meant that they could reach large audiences with relative ease - at least until social media came into play.
However, despite the rise of social media as a key marketing tool for brands big and small alike, celebrity endorsement has not disappeared from the marketing landscape. In fact it is more important now than ever before because celebrities have built up strong followings on various platforms that give them significant clout when endorsing products or brands online (e.g., Twitter followers). In this blog post, Hollywood Branded will share what celebrity endorsements can do for your regional business and why they may be the right marketing tactic for your company.
The power of celebrity endorsements for brands is powerful. After all, it's these endorsements that have helped to make the Kardashian family millionaires! And the reason why...is because it works.
Businesses all over the world use celebrity endorsements to grow their customer base. I'm going to share how celebrities can help your company become well-known in your region or give your brand an edge over competitors by attracting new customers. You'll also learn why celeb endorsements may be the right marketing tactic for your company and get tips on how to find the perfect endorsement opportunity.
In the last decade, celebrity endorsements have become just one tool of many to leverage the power of influencers as a marketing tool. These days, Twitter followers can reach an audience of millions of people in just one hour - something very few celebrities can do on their own as they don't always have massive social profiles. Influencer marketing and celebrity endorsements are not one and the same, and in fact the rise of influencer marketing has made celebrity endorsement more important than ever!
You might be wondering, how can celebrity endorsements help grow my business? Well, the answer is simple. We're living in a world that's more connected than ever before and everyday we are all exposed to thousands of messages throughout our day - on billboards, social media ads, TV commercials - so it’s easy for people to become overwhelmed by content and inundated with information overload. That's why when brands use celebrities as endorsers they make an emotional connection with the consumer much easier than traditional advertising methods like banners online.
Truly engaging consumers also means building relationships that matter across your company channels including offline marketing campaigns such as live events which benefit from celebrity appearances just about every time.
What does this all mean?
Celebrities still hold significant sway when endorsing brands online thanks to their large followings across different social media channels like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. For example: If Cristiano Ronaldo endorses Nike products with his 21M+ fans or Taylor Swift talks about Apple Music on her Instagram, these branded moments drive sales.
Celebrities can make an impact on consumers in ways that other forms of traditional advertising cannot, such as the way they use their voice to endorse products, model them, and promote them via social media channels like Instagram posts which create visual representations of their endorsement while also leveraging existing connections between themselves and fans; this allows you to tap into these potential influencers' massive followings without having to pay millions for TV ads. Celebrities can also be leveraged for product placement with the brand receiving valuable exposure in prime time television and on magazine covers.
The list is long on the benefits of celebrity endorsement partnerships for brands, let's take a look at some of the top reasons why this marketing practice is still so popular today.
There are other benefits of partnering with celebrities including increased brand awareness, access to exclusive content or events, higher engagement on social media channels which drives more sales conversions. Celebrity endorsements are a great way for brands to engage with a new community and stay relevant.
If you're thinking about working with celebrity endorsers, there are many benefits to consider, but it's important to weigh the risks as well.
Brand managers should take into account celebrity endorsers have certain risks involved as well as benefits before making a final decision about whether or not to use them. Here's a few considerations to keep in mind...
Celebrities can make your product more recognizable and are a powerful way to drive sales for any company - but there's no such thing as free advertising or guaranteed success with celebrity endorsements.
In order for these partnerships to work well, brands should keep an open line of communication with these celebrity influencers and ensure basics like a thorough understanding of your brand exists as the base to the partnership foundation.
We also recommend using celebrity influencers for more niche audiences to open up your brand potential and make it available to a wider audience.
And good news for smaller brands or those in local markets - since regional celebrities are often more well-known in their markets than nationally, you can achieve an exclusive celebrity endorsement by tapping into a regionally recognized figure who is relatable to your product target audience.
There is a 'celebrity' option for all brands of any size. Even well-known local community members can serve as 'celebrities' and influencers on a more scaled down, and affordable, level. These partnerships are less costly than national celebrities, with the same benefits (or even greater).
Local celebrity endorsements have a huge upside for brands in marketing. They can be more affordable, and often times they will offer better ROI for your company because the celebrity is already well-known to their target audience. The beauty of local celebrities is that there are options at all levels - even if you're not big enough (yet) to afford national celebrity endorsers!
Celebrity endorsements are an effective way to engage with your community and boost visibility. I'm sure you've seen celebrity product placement all over - from sports teams wearing jerseys of their sponsors, or a TV show where the main characters wear clothes that were paid for by specific companies in exchange for advertising space on screen. These types of partnerships can work well if they're targeted toward the right audience. Local celebrities offer better ROI because they live in close proximity to potential fans and have strong connections within local communities - plus just smaller fan bases overall, making them more affordable.
Your first step? Identifying which type of celebrity endorsement opportunities best suit your needs; regional celebrities are usually most effective when paired with small niche audiences who want products related specifically to them. This maximizes the reach while still driving traffic back to sites where customers with specific interest can find what they need within an aligned culture.
Celebrity endorsements are more effective than you may think! Check out these blogs on celebrity endorsement deals for brands:
Want to listen to this blog post on our Marketing Mistakes podcast? Check it out!
I've shared the benefits and risks that you can prepare yourself for when creating celebrity endorsements. Our team is always here to help, no matter the campaign size. We have DIY classes at https://learn.hollywoodbranded.com as well as are at the ready to take lead and help ensure success!
To learn more about the power of celeb endorsement, download our complimentary video on how celebrity endorsement deals drive sales today!
Topics: Celebrity Partnership
Stacy Jones, Hollywood Branded's founder and CEO, has over twenty six years of leadership experience building global entertainment branding campaigns for top Fortune 500 companies and hundreds of brands. Her career started after receiving her BFA in Theater Production & Scenic Design from the University of Arizona. Acknowledged as an expert in the field, she has appeared on CNN and MSNBC; spoken at conferences around the globe from Germany to Beijing; and has been featured in Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, The Hollywood Reporter, Financial Times, The Economist, Brandweek, Advertising Age, Variety, B&C and Mediaweek amongst others. Originally from Texas, you will still hear her ya’ll as she gathers the team for strategy planning sessions. Like all true entrepreneurs, Stacy is an adventurer at her core – having sky dived, hang glided off bi-planes, swam with crocs while rafting the Zambezi in Africa, photographed grizzly bears in Alaska, trekked Mayan ruins in Belize, explored the ocean as an avid scuba diver, and who loves owning an advertising agency where she swims with a different type of Hollywood shark on a daily basis.