If you have a product that you are developing a particular marketing strategy for, it may be worthwhile for you to consider celebrity endorsements if you haven’t already done so. Getting a celebrity endorsement can be a shot in the arm for many marketing campaigns, and offer a number of benefits, including:
- Position a brand in promoting it to the intended target audience
- Increase awareness about that product
- Reach new markets if that celebrity is popular with a particular audience that hasn’t been targeted in previous ad campaigns
- Encourage people to buy your product! Consumers who identify with celebrities may feel that if the product is good enough for the celebrity to endorse, then it’s worth buying
However, there is a problem: getting celebrity endorsements, particularly from popular celebrities, can range from difficult to downright impossible. Speaking to a celebrity isn’t as easy as looking their number up in the phone book before calling them up. Their information is kept private, jealously guarded in an effort to keep the public from contacting them.
However, there are a few ways that you can land a celebrity endorsement without too much hassle or stress.
Interested? Here are five simple methods for getting a celebrity endorsement for your product.
#1. Through their Publicist/Manager
While many celebrities make themselves as difficult to contact as possible, contact with their publicist or manager is often much easier. A publicist or manager is responsible for conducting the business, so they must be in constant contact with the “outside world” in order to book new jobs, arrange media appearances, or conduct other business for their star.
As a result, they are easier to reach, and more likely to listen to their requests (provided that there is some benefit to them and their star). In addition, an agent’s manager or publicist can often make or break your deal – without their buy in, your celebrity endorsement is as good as dead!
If you are interested in getting in touch with an agent or manager, one of the best ways to do so is by using on online database such as Booking Agent Info that provides a comprehensive listing of many celebrity managers and agents.
#2. Align With a Cause
Your celebrity endorsement doesn’t have to be all about your product. In fact by aligning with a charitable cause, you can create the ultimate trifecta – promote your brand, increase the likelihood of getting your celebrity signing on, while gaining extra good will the process. One great example of this is the shoe retailer New Balance, who inserts a charity component into every endorsement deal and provides funding for charities that their celebrities support.
By aligning with a cause that your intended celebrity endorser supports, they also receive the benefits of being associated with the charitable gesture, giving them added incentive to approve a deal with you. In addition, you get to make a genuine contribution while receiving benefits for your involvement in charity work
#3. Use a PR Agency
Going through a Public Relations agency is another worthwhile avenue for landing that productive celebrity endorsement. There are certain agencies which specialize in connecting with celebrities, and these agencies often have pre-existing relationships with these celebrities that will make possible endorsement deals much more likely.
These PR agencies such as Flying Television have a large and varied listing of celebrities to whom they have access, allowing them to best match celebrities with your brand and obtain an endorsement deal. The particular benefit of using a PR agency is that they do all the leg work for you in reaching out to the right celebrities and carrying out the bulk of the negotiations for you.
#4. Try Online Marketplaces
Most companies don’t have the millions of dollars that many traditional marketing campaigns require when using celebrity endorsements – after all, your endorsement is useless other people know about it!
However, thanks to the internet, there are new ways in which you can connect with your celebrity and get them to share their endorsement with thousands or even millions of people, and often for a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing in the form of online marketplaces. These online marketplaces offer a more direct line to celebrities and are a way to score celebrity endorsement deals, often in a specific media channel.
Companies such as Adly offer a number of celebrity endorsement options over a wide range of social media channels, while others focus on specific media channels, such as Revfluence which concentrates on Instagram and Youtube celebrity promotion.
#5. Choose the Right Celebrity
Probably the most important suggestion for landing a celebrity endorsement is to choose the right celebrity. In fact, when choosing a celebrity, undertaking market research to ensure that the endorsement will be received positively may be the best step to ensure that you maximize your celebrity endorsement benefits. You will also want to choose a celebrity who has a genuine interest in your product, increasing the likelihood that they will be promoting your product even while “off the clock” and that their authentic interest in your product will be obvious to their fans and other viewers.
You will also want to make sure that your celebrity does not have any issues that may tarnish your brand in the future, whether they be professional (such as portraying a role that goes against the implied values of your product) or personal (for example, scandals that may hurt your brand’s credibility).
While obtaining a celebrity endorsement can be difficult, by utilizing these five options you can vastly improve your chances of having a celebrity promote your product, allowing you to use their influence and star power to sell your product and increase brand awareness.
Do you have another suggestion to increase chances of landing a lucrative celebrity endorsement? Have you ever reached out successfully to a celebrity and had them promote your product? Or is there another question you’d like to ask about celebrity endorsements? If so, I’d love to hear it in the comments section below!
Images: ”Endorse road sign /Shutterstock.com“
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