It doesn’t matter if you love him or hate him … or even know who he is. You have to respect Justin Bieber for the mere fact he knows how to draw a crowd.
Teenage girls launch into deafening screams of delight at the mention of his name. When Bieber was scheduled to perform earlier this year at a Long Island mall, it took more than 35 police units to wrangle and control the crowd. Australian police in April canceled a television appearance when a crowd crush injured several adoring fans. What gives?
I can’t name one of his songs (he is a singer, right?), but clearly Justin Bieber is a man who knows how to market himself.
I’m not saying teenage girls soon should be screaming down the doors of college admissions offices, but surely there’s some lessons to be learned here. One can’t be a constant trending topic on Twitter without knowing a few tricks, right? Bieber’s teenage audiences react to him in ways college admissions counselors could only dream about. Why can’t we be rock stars, too?
So here’s my take on the five things colleges and university marketers could learn from the teen pop sensation:
No. 1: Know your brand.
Justin Bieber is a teen pop star and knows it. He’s not just OK with it; he embraces it and owns it. Critics who say he’s just the latest teenage craze mean nothing to him. “There’s more people that like me than there are who hate me, so I kind of brush it off,” Bieber told the Arizona Republic. Why can’t universities have the courage to say the same? So often colleges and universities try to be everything to everyone. Recognize your brand. Embrace it. Own it.
No. 2.: Engage your audience.
More than 4.8 million people follow Justin Bieber’s Twitter account. Wait, what?!?! Yes, 4.8 million people. It’s where his audience lives. Justin Bieber wasn’t a product of American Idol or the Disney channel. He’s the beneficiary of some well-placed social media. And so 24 hours a day Justin Bieber engages his audience in the same manner he met them, through social media. He’s constantly posting updates, re-Tweeting and giving mention to those that offer him praise. He’s engaged and, therefore, so are his fans.
No. 3: Demonstrate your relevance.
There’s no need for Justin Bieber to tell people about his singing prowess. All he has to do is sing. He doesn’t print a fancy product brochure and he doesn’t send free T-shirts just for following his Twitter account. Watch a old video of the kid and the talent is obvious. Universities should market the same way. If a school claims “personal attention” as a hallmark of the education it provides, provide the personal attention. No need to talk about it when the chance to do it exists.
No. 4: Utilize the tools that already exist.
The great benefit of social media is the subsequent democratization of the web. It probably took Justin Bieber’s mother all of 10 minutes to upload a YouTube video of her son singing — the same amount of time it would have take Capitol Records. Bieber’s channel launched in January 2007 and it now claims more than 230 million total video views and more than 748,000 subscribers. Creating the channel didn’t cost a dime.
No. 5: Have fun.
Justin Bieber’s still just a teenager and isn’t afraid to act that way. He’s goofy, prone to pulling pranks and uses LOL as part of his Twitter vocabulary. He talks loudly in the library, swims directly after eating and doesn’t care. Why should he? The social web is a fun place. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
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