Just do the opposite of what they do.
Celebrities are awful at using social media.
They may seem good at it because they have big followings, but in 99% of cases that’s not true — their followers are simply a result of fame they acquired outside of social media.
Because this is the case, trying to model your own social media strategy after what you see celebrities do is a huge mistake.
The truth is the best way to create an effective social media strategy is to simply do the OPPOSITE of what most celebrities do.
Here are a few ways to do that…
- Celebrities use social to promote, but you should use it to connect.
The primary focus of most celebrity social media profiles is to promote their projects, products, sponsors, or themselves.
That’s fine for them — though they’d get SO much more value out of an alternate approach — but it’s not going to work well for you.
If the primary focus of your social accounts is promoting yourself, your account will become the equivalent of a TV commercial…and do you know many people who LOVE to watch TV commercials?
Instead of promotion, focus your social activity on connection and use it to build individual relationships.
Engage with followers (or people you follow), learn from others in your field, and leverage these powerful tools to get to know people.
- Celebrities post about themselves, but you should post about your audience.
Celebrities tend to be a bit narcissistic. Shocking, I know.
And even if they’re not, their social media feeds typically are because they’re flooded with posts solely about them.
“Here’s what I’m wearing tonight!”
“Here’s me at the gym!”
“Here’s what I’m eating for lunch!”
“#Blessed”
Ugh.
Celebrities post about themselves because they assume that’s the only thing their audience wants to see (they’re incorrect about that by the way).
Don’t follow that model.
Focus your posts on your audience. More specifically, share posts designed to provide VALUE to your audience.
It’s different for every audience, but here are a couple examples of what that could look like:
If your target audience is bankers then don’t post about what you’re doing at the gym —share tips about how bankers can become better at their job, or a book you recommend bankers read to become better investors, or an interview with an expert on banking.
If your target audience is new parents, don’t just post photos of your baby every day — share what you’ve learned about how to get your baby to sleep better, or recommend podcasts new parents might find helpful, or suggest ways to juggle work and new parenthood.
There’s nothing wrong with talking about yourself and your experiences, but do so in ways that serve your audience more than your ego.
- Celebrities only post on their own accounts, but you should post as many replies as you do posts.
The best way for you to get exposure for your brilliant musings isn’t to simply post them on your account — it’s to share them in existing communities and conversations.
Celebrities rarely reply to other people’s social media posts, but you should.
If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan with something to say about the team’s latest performance, you’ll be tempted to just post about it.
That’s fine, but you’ll get infinitely more attention and traction for it if you go post that same observation in a Cubs fan group on Facebook instead.
To get more exposure for your ideas, put them where people likely to enjoy them already hang out as opposed to only sharing them with your existing followers.
The more new people see your relevant content, the faster your audience will grow.
- Celebrities obsess over their follower count, but you shouldn’t.
Celebrities are unhealthily obsessed with their follower count — they really are just like us!
Need proof? Watch this:
Follower counts are the most highly overrated metric in all of social media.
It doesn’t matter how many people follow you, what matters is how many care about what you have to say.
So rather than drive yourself crazy trying to get more followers or beating yourself up for not having enough, use social media to build relationships and remember it only takes one person to completely change your life or the trajectory of your career.
- Celebrities expect overnight success, but you should play a long-term game.
I’ve worked with a lot of entertainment industry clients and noticed the vast majority think social media success and audience growth comes as easy as flipping a switch.
Just put up a couple posts, boost them with a couple ads, and magically everyone will go see your movie or buy your album.
That’s not remotely how this works.
Social media is a long game and requires an ongoing investment of time, effort, resources, and patience to build something truly valuable.
Don’t wait to start “using social” until you have something you want to promote — start now so by the time you have something you want an audience to see, you’ll already have a loyal audience to deliver it to.
- Celebrities have someone pretend to be them, but you should be you.
Social media is time consuming and it can help to have someone manage your accounts.
But that someone should never be the one solely deciding what to post because they will never be as good at it as you can be.
It’s all too common for celebrities to outsource social media to their publicist, assistant, or guru and the result is always an account that feels inauthentic.
Ideally, you’d run your own accounts.
But if must have someone manage it for you, make sure it’s still your voice that shines through and your expertise being expressed.
No one sees the world quite like you do and it’s your unique perspective which is ultimately the key to standing out on social media.
- Celebrities buy followers, but for the love of God please don’t do that!
Some “celebrities” aren’t quite as famous as they’d like you to believe.
So, they buy fake followers on social media in an attempt to fool the audience, the industry, and probably themselves.
Be better than that.
And if you need some extra help? Here’s how to hire a great social media consultant.