3 Things Business Owners Can Learn From Celebrity Social Media

There should be no debate about whether or not social media is necessary, today; most business owners will understand that it must be done. However, business owners still are not doing it. Statistics show that 78% of companies now claim to have dedicated social media teams. Having a social media team is a great investment for a business owner who has very little understanding of how to occupy the mobile space, however, a team should never fully replace the social media efforts of the business owner themselves.  Here are 3 things that business owners could learn from celebrities about effective social media management. NOTE: Before reading these tips, get your phone out; we’re going to take a little tour of the mobile space. 

1. Having an account on every social media platform is not necessary. 

Lets have a look at Beyonce’s social media accounts; you will notice that she uses Facebook and Instagram only. Beyonce’s social media strategist tells us that this is because the artist prefers to communicate in images.

The first mistake that business owners make is creating a social media account on every possible platform. Creating more accounts than you (and your entire team) can manage means that you run the risk of giving each platform less attention than they deserve. It is better to have 3 accounts that you update consistently with quality content than having 7 accounts that you can’t maintain.  Beyonce says “I would never open an account and not expect that we can continue to fill that channel forever [if we start a Twitter account] we’ll need to continue to fill it, that’s a huge responsibility”. In order to decide which platforms you should be using, start by identifying your target audience and find out which social media platform they hang out on! Once you’ve found your 3 platforms, stop there and commit to them whole-heartedly and delete your other abandoned social media accounts (you probably don’t want anyone seeing that reflection of your brand anyway). 

2. Learn to work the room:

Now lets visit the Twitter account of actor and comedian Ricky Gervais, you will notice that he is on Twitter every day, not just tweeting, but also having conversations, retweeting and clearly having fun.

What business owners often forget about Twitter is that it is not a bulletin board, it is a room. The people you follow, (and the people that follow you) are all the individuals inside of that room. You can’t get the whole room’s attention at once so instead you can mingle and approach everyone in small groups or individually. When I go to a networking event, I tend to look for groups that are already having a conversation and then I go and join in. Ricky Gervais does the same thing on Twitter, he finds trending hashtags and joins the conversation. He works his way around the room daily and his followers can always anticipate that at some point each day, he’ll enter the room for a chat. 

3. Fans connect with people, not robots:

In order to understand the importance of authenticity on social media, lets visit Rihanna’s Instagram account. As you scroll through her photos, take some time to read the captions and after 10 posts you’ll hear her personality coming through. She is unfiltered and completely honest, her brand is effortlessly communicated because she tries to be nothing other than herself. As a business owner, you will understand the heart and soul of your company more than anyone else and therefore you ought to have the greatest hand in choosing the language, tone and creating the atmosphere of your social media accounts. Followers can tell when there is a passionate person behind the post as opposed to a team of marketing specialists. Rihanna speaks directly to her fans on social media just as she would if she bumped into a fan on the street and this personal connection is how she gets brand loyalty out of her fanbase. This formula works best for her on snapchat where she shares her every day life with fans and allows them to get to know her.  Make a conscious effort to actually get close to your company’s followers and get to know them. 

When searching through these celebrity accounts, make sure you use your phone and not your computer. It is important to give yourself the mobile experience and understand how it feels to navigate social media from a consumers point of view, take note of the way different accounts make you feel as you scroll. 

All the best! 

Patrice Stephens

SBB's PR & Marketing Manager

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