Full disclosure #1 - I like Justin Bieber. Full disclosure #2 - I've seen Justin Bieber's movie, Never Say Never (twice). For the record, I also bought Milli Vanilli's CD. If you're cringing, forgive me - blame it on the rain, or blame it on Usher. It's quite clear to me, however, that Mr. Bieber was one of the earliest (and youngest) inbound marketers.
For the uninitiated, Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube by Scooter Braun and amplified into stardom by Usher and "LA" Reid. If you study Bieber's meteoric rise, you can see key inbound marketing tenets manifest themselves:
- Regular, Fresh Content - the Bieber team realized early on that radio stations would not play a 15 year old's songs on regular rotation. To combat this, they hit the road and played radio station after radio station. In addition to playing his own songs, Justin played any songs that were requested - showcasing his talent. It was hard work, but much like producing regular blog content, Justin's consistent radio station gigs got him noticed and expanded his reach.
- Sharing - from his very first YouTube videos, to tweeting to his 12 million followers and promoting hashtags - like #NSNFancut, Bieber has realized, almost preternaturally, that sharing is the new metric.
- Advanced Content - from constant touring to remixed CDs to acoustic CDs to a rockumentary (popumentary?), Justin has focused on providing the entertainment his fans want. Broadly, we access the web for two reasons - to be entertained and to solve problems. You may not be a pop star, but providing advanced content that is helpful to your website visitors is an invaluable component to your inbound marketing strategy.
The Marketing Takeaway
Don't laugh. Justin is the marketer of the future. Learn from him - put in the hard work to produce valuable content - produce amazing content. Love what you do. Live what do. Have a conversation. What other celebrities crystallize inbound marketing? What are you missing in your marketing mix? Are you producing captivating content?
Bieber Fever pic: ZombieYeti
