Affiliate Marketing Lessons from Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga 10 Million Facebook Fans

Love her or hate her, there is no doubt that Lady Gaga is one of the most successfully marketed celebrities of the last decade. And it just keeps getting better. She now has 10 million fans on her Facebook page, making her the living celebrity with the most fans (Michael Jackson still beats her by a cool—or is it a bad?—4.9 million fans). She was also the first artist to earn more than one billion views on YouTube. That’s right: One Billion.

So, how did she do it? Is Lady Gaga truly the most amazing thing since Al Gore invented the Internet? Is there that big of a market for singers who dress up in Kermit the Frog dresses? Or, is it that Lady Gaga has one of the most competent marketing machines behind her since Madonna carefully navigated a boat down a Venice canal using nothing but sheer will and some strategically placed bangles in the Like a Virgin video?

There is a lot more than one aspect behind the meteoric rise to fame of this American songstress, and affiliate marketers could take a lesson from her and her team of PR people. So, here are our five affiliate marketing lessons from Lady Gaga.

She’s unique
There is no doubt that Lady Gaga is one of a kind. While many might say she’s derivative, she seems to have carved out a niche for herself. I, for one, have never seen anyone else in a dress made of floppy Kermit the Frog dolls.

Affiliates need to find a way to offer something unique to people, something that they’re not going to get anywhere else. Give people a little something out of the ordinary and they won’t be able to look away.

She promotes constantly!
Images of Lady Gaga on the Internet, TV, magazines and newspapers have become as ubiquitous as shorts in summer. She is absolutely everywhere. Not every affiliate has the kind of team (or product) that can make that kind of invasion into popular culture, but the point is that it is necessary to get out there and promote whenever and wherever you can.

Bloggers do well by guest blogging on other sites, or by sharing links in strategic places. PPC ads are a great way for affiliates to get themselves out there, and well strategized and relevant comments on blogs can also help. And don’t ever forget our old friend, the email. Getting people to sign up for a newsletter that can be sent to them regularly so that you can keep reminding them of what you have to offer is a great way to keep yourself in the proverbial limelight.

Her songs are easy to remember
Another important aspect of Lady Gaga’s success is the people who write her songs. I’m quite sure that if I just said, “P-p-p-poker face,” there are at least a few people who would have that song stuck in their heads for a while.

So, how does an affiliate get someone to remember them? I’m not suggesting you write a song, but finding a way for people to remember who you are and what you do is a big part of marketing. Consider the following: Just do it; let your fingers do the walking; it takes a licking and keeps on ticking; the quicker picker-upper. I’ll bet you can associate each of those slogans with the company they represent.

A catchy name for your blog, a great tag-line, a quirky product line—all of these things will get your site’s song stuck in the heads of your visitors. Now it’s up to you to write the music.

Famous friends
Lady Gaga has done a good job of being seen in public with other famous people, and has even collaborated with many. How’d you like Beyonce to endorse your site? You might not be so keen, but that would surely bring you at least a few visitors. It also helps that she became BFFs with the Queen of All Media, gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who btw calls her his ‘wifey’.

Starting relationships with some of the bigger players in the affiliate marketing business is a great way to get your site known. Once again, guest blogging is a big one, and if you can get a mention on a popular site, that’s a big deal. You don’t have to get ambushed by paparazzi to be well known, but it certainly does help to have a few well-connected friends.

Be yourself
You won’t find another Lady Gaga, and nobody should be able to find another affiliate site that’s exactly like yours. Feel free to draw upon the influences of your favorite affiliate marketers, but remember that unless you are true to yourself, you may not enjoy what you’re doing enough to actually want to keep doing it. Be yourself and let your personality shine through. Besides, that is exactly the kind of honesty that people trust, and people’s trust is the first step towards conversions for affiliates.

Tagged as: Affiliate Strategies, marketing, online marketing