Arnie Gullov-Singh, CEO
As is often the case for companies with disruptive business models, we routinely get asked how celebrity endorsements work in social media and how Ad.ly works in particular.
First and foremost, Ad.ly makes it easy for brands to connect with consumers efficiently and at scale in social media via today’s top celebrities.
Why celebrities? It’s simple. With the rise of blogs and social media, people are the new publishers. And the people with the greatest scale (most fans & followers) are celebrities.
Ad.ly has a network of over 1,000 influential celebrities in social media. We match them with brands on a campaign-by-campaign basis to endorse products to their fans and followers.
We’ve developed our network through a combination of personal relationships and data mining to ensure that we work with celebrities who can consistently deliver efficient, scalable results for brands.
Celebrity Endorsements in 5 Simple Steps:
1. Matching: Matching celebrities with brands is similar to matching media with brands. We make the match based on the brand’s campaign objectives and target audience. For example, a new product launch targeting moms and an acquisition program targeting teens would each require a different group of celebrities. We typically match a brand with 10-50 celebrities from the network, so that the brand can easily test to see which celebrities and which messages connect best with their target audiences.
2. Creative: Building creative for celebrity endorsements is a challenge, as one has to balance the brand’s goals against the celebrities’ need to sound authentic. The good news is we do it for you. After running 24,000 endorsements, our in-house copywriting team has mastered the art of writing high performing creative.
3. Pricing: Our pricing model is also very simple. It’s a flat fee per endorsement message, per celebrity, which currently ranges from a few hundred dollars to the low five figures (per celebrity). It is based on factors including the size of the celebrity’s fan base, the amount of engagement between the celebrity and their fans, and the prior performance of the celebrity’s endorsements.
4. Execution: Executing a traditional endorsement program typically involves additional distribution costs for media and creative above and beyond the fees to the celebrity. With Ad.ly, brands get everything in a single package for one price and we handle the entire execution from start to finish. We make it simple.
5. Measurement: Measuring a traditional endorsement program typically involves a brand spending well into the seven figures before knowing whether its working or not. With Ad.ly, brands can get started for as little as $50,000 and see within a day or two which celebrities and messages are delivering the best results.
We also offer the peace of mind that comes with working with the market leader. After running 24,000 endorsements for 150 brands — including Sony, Microsoft, AT&T, Toyota, NBC, Best Buy and more — we’ve developed an expertise in helping brands advertise efficiently and at scale in social media via today’s top celebrities.
Thanks for reading,
- Arnie