You see celebrities endorsing brands all the time. That makes you wonder if it will work for your business, too. Of course, you cannot afford the likes of Kendall Jenner or Selena Gomez, but you have local celebrities and athletes in your town. Maybe that’s a good enough counterpart for your Lakeland business marketing, right?
Yes and no. Yes, because having local personalities endorse your business will bring it to the consciousness of your market. As soon as these people post about your business on social media, swarms of their followers will come knocking on your door. That is the kind of reaction that you expect if you have someone like Taylor Swift endorse your brand. It’s not always this simple with local celebrities.
Remember that these are people who live in the same community and neighborhood as you. This means that although many adore them, a lot of people may not be particularly fond of them, too. They could have haters and bashers. That doesn’t bode well for your business. Instead of generating leads and traffic to your website, you could end up being boycotted.
So, what should you do? It’s important to know who you want to endorse your brand. Forget about the most popular personality in your town. Take a deep look at your brand and ask who you are. The values that you treasure are the same values that you should see in your endorser. Who better encapsulates these values? If you are a children’s clothing business, you can tap mommy bloggers. If you are a sports accessories shop, you can look for local athletes to sponsor and who can become ambassadors of your brand.
A Tricky Balance
Hiring personalities to stand as brand ambassadors requires a tricky balance. On one hand, you want their followers to be aware of what you do and what you offer. On the other hand, you are afraid that they could have bashers and haters who will only boycott your brand as a result. That’s why you need to do a thorough research of the people that you are going to partner with to endorse your brand.
Having local celebrities to stand as an ambassador is always an effective Lakeland business marketing strategy. There is no question about that. However, what you should always remember is that no celebrity—local or otherwise—has a perfect reputation. You have to know how your market perceive this local celebrity before you partner with him/her.