OK I confess. I’ve only recently become a massive fan of Lady Gaga. The person. And The Brand. I’ve loved much of her music for a while {especially Poker Face and Born this Way}, and have been in total awe of her voice and her sheer musical talent, but was not sure about the woman herself. Or even, if I’m to be completely honest, Gaga as a brand.

The last 24 hours has completely changed that for me. Interviews I have heard {with Fifi and Jules}, seen {with Tracey Grimshaw} and read {in The Weekend Australian} have completely changed my perspective. I’m becoming one of her “Little Monsters”. So what I hear you say. She’s just a pop star. Well, um, no. She’s not. She is actually a musical – and a marketing – phenomenon. And these are a few reasons why:

• she taught herself how to play piano by ear when she was four years old. By 13 she had written her first song, by 14 she had begun performing at open mic nights
• she is the only artist in the digital era to top the 5 million sales mark with her first two hits
• she has over 1.3 BILLION views of all her hits online
• she has more than 11.5 million twitter followers
• she has more than 40 million “likes” on facebook
• the single “Born this Way” set music industry records when released in Feb 2011 – it reached sales of 1 million within 5 days of release, on iTunes it debuted at #1 in 14 countries and hit #1 in all 23 iTunes countries within 1 week of release
• total sale of 15 million albums and 51 million singles worldwide
• 12 Grammy nominations – 5 Grammys won
• her music was the focus of a special 90 minutes episode of hit TV show Glee
• AND in May 2011, Forbes Magazine nominated Lady Gaga as the #1 most influential person in the world.

(source: www.ladygaga.com, www.forbes.com)

WOW. All this and she is only 25 years old. And 3 years ago practically no-one knew who she was.

So, I hear you ask. Why exactly IS she a marketing phenomenon? And what can we all learn from her ability to market herself? Well… she uses all 4 c’s of social media BRILLIANTLY  - consumer (customer), content, channel and community.

She knows who her fans {consumers} are, she respects them, she values them. She has even named them – her Little Monsters. Importantly, she gives her Little Monsters what they want {content} and she goes where they go {channel}. And most importantly, she ENGAGES with her fans. Check out her twitter stream – loads of conversations. And her fans have helped her create a massive community by engaging with each other.

She also:

1. has an absolutely MASSIVE talent as a singer, songwriter, entertainer, fashionista
2. knows who she is, what her brand is and what she stands for
3. is completely focused on her brand – when was the last time you saw of photo of Gaga NOT in an outlandish outfit?
4. has a VERY unique selling point (the music and the fashion – both a bit bizarre and weird) which generates a lot of hype. Remember the meat dress? and the egg?
5. appeals to a VERY broad audience
6. is authentic – just listen to the B105 or the Grimshaw interview for a lot of raw honesty. Or follow her on twitter. Not a lot of false pretenses
7. has embraced the digital age and uses social media brilliantly. Seriously. Look at the stats above if you don’t believe me.
8. builds anticipation for what’s next – remember the frenzy that was built up when she tweeted some of  the lyrics of Born This Way in the weeks prior to its release? Actually, just look at the massive lineups outside Sydney nightclubs ARQ and Nevermind last night when she posted this on facebook and twitter yesterday “Thinking of going out in Sydney tonight. How I wish we had a show. NEVERMIND, don’t listen to me. Maybe I’ll just go for a walk in the pARQ”
9. {mostly} keeps her private life private. Which helps her stay on message. No mean feat with such huge celebrity {just listen to the B105 podcast to see what I mean}. But I think this makes her even more beloved. I LOVE how she refused to name the boy she had her first kiss with for fear of making his life tabloid fodder.
10. tackles brave issues and stands up for what she really believes in {including gay marriage, sex trafficking, bullying, to name a few} through her lyrics, her video and her answers in interviews.

We can all learn from the marketing juggernaut that is the Lady Gaga brand. Especially how she uses digital media to create a community of raving fans. What do you think?

I thought I would write a top 10 list of low cost marketing ideas, but couldn’t work out which one to delete!

1.      Have a marketing plan

• It doesn’t need to be sophisticated but should at least include: marketing/business objectives, target market, key messages, communication tactics appropriate for your target market, budget, action plan, evaluation mechanisms
• Make sure your marketing is regular and consistent – this way you won’t be caught out during slower times.
• Evaluate what you do so you can see what works and what doesn’t. If your marketing is not working then look at how you can change and improve it.
• Download my simple marketing plan template

2.      Know who your target market is

• Know WHO your target market is as well as where they go to get information, so you can more precisely deliver the messages to the consumer – no point advertising in a golfing magazine if you are selling cricket bats – for example. This can save you a lot of money as you are not spending it on marketing to the wrong people.

3.     Use your networks and contacts

• The more people who know what you do, the more likely they are to refer business to you – so get out there and talk to people, and ask your networks to talk about you (in a good way of course!).

4.     Business cards

• As far as I am concerned, these are the best marketing tool you can have – low cost or otherwise. Include your name, contact details, website, consider including twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, brief description of your business. Use both sides of it. And give them away often. 

5.     It’s cheaper to market to your existing customers than to get new ones

• Think about the work you are currently doing for your customers – now think about what else you can do for them. Can you work with them on a more permanent basis? Are there other people in their business you can work with? Can you develop a new product or service that will suit them?
• Are your current clients aware of all the services/products you provide? If not, then tell them!

 6.     Get a website

• It amazes me how many businesses don’t have a website. There is really no excuse, particularly with so much free software such as WordPress or Blogger available to start a simple site. Even a 1 page site with a brief statement about what your business is and how people can contact you is better than nothing.
• Promote your website on everything include email signatures, brochures, gimmicky give-aways, business cards and anything else you can think of.

7.     Email marketing

• Sending an email is far cheaper than posting a letter – in terms of dollars and your time. It can also generate faster responses and results.
• BE AWARE OF THE SPAM LEGISLATION. Find out more at www.acma.gov.au

8.     Media and publicity

• Work out your story – if it is newsworthy, journos will want to talk to you.
• Local and community newspapers/radio/tv are also always on the lookout for local interest stories, and trade mags often look for industry information.

9.     Say thank you!

• Be sure to thank your customers, thank the people who refer business to you and thank your suppliers. A bit of gratitude can go a long way in business.

10.  Social media

The benefits of engaging in social media – such as twitter, facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube etc inlcude:

• increase your visibility and target your niche market
• build relationships and communities by engaging in conversations with current and prospective clients and suppliers
• share business tips and find business contacts
• follow interesting people who might give you business ideas
• share and discuss business ideas and useful information including web links and photos
• show the human side of your business.

11.  Use the free resources available to you

• There is a massive amount of information on the web (type “cheap marketing ideas” into Google). 
• Go to the library and check out marketing (and other business) books.

Online useful resources are: 

• www.flyingsolo.com.au – free weekly e-newsletter for soloists and small business
• www.sourcebottle.com.au – free subscription service that emails ‘call outs’ for sources from journalists and bloggers

What are your low cost marketing tips?

I have a lot of people ask me how to write a marketing plan that is simple to follow and cost effective to implement. The simple to follow I can help with, the cost effective to implement depends a bit on the tactics you decide on – and I’ll write about some low cost tactics in a future blog post.

As far as I am concerned, a marketing plan for a small business really doesn’t need to be more than a couple of pages in length.

Make sure you inlcude:

• Marketing goals or objectives
• Key industry trends – these should be based on a SWOT analysis that looks at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, including a bit of info about your competitors
• Your target market – these are the people you want to sell your product to
• Key messages – what do you want your customers to know about you?
• Marketing strategies and tactics appropriate for your target market (such as brochures, website, media activity, twitter)
• Budget – how much can you afford to spend?
• Action plan – when are you doing to do this stuff?
• Evaluation – what has worked, what hasn’t? Why?

Just remember a marketing plan should be a working document that is used, revised, updated, evaluated. Again and again.

I would argue that the most important part of any marketing plan is the action plan. Schedule activities into your calendar, pin them on the wall next to your desk, just make sure you make marketing a priority, and be consistent. After all, the plan won’t work if you aren’t actually doing anything!

Download a simple marketing plan template and get cracking on your marketing today!