Do business leaders have a lesson to learn from Lady Gaga? At first glance, it might not appear so, but that’s until you learn that the 25 year old singer is well on her way to earning over $100 million in 2011.
Forbes Magazine recently ran a piece detailing Gaga’s multiple revenue streams. Praised for being as shrewd and decisive as she is fashion-forward and creative, Lady Gaga has done some things exceptionally well. There’s wisdom in her approach that can be emulated by business leaders across the board.
Besides, she’s a snappy dresser.
Loving Her Little Monsters
Lady Gaga has, throughout the course of her career, made an explicit point of reaching out to and celebrating her fans. Calling them her little monsters, Gaga connects with her fan base regularly, via Twitter and other social media platforms. There’s a continual emphasis on community, and when Lady Gaga talks to her fans, she makes a point of addressing them en masse.
This same sense of community, of belonging, of being part of a larger whole, is echoed in the success of some of the world’s most dominant brands. Harley Davidson, through gatherings and events of the Harley Owners Group, takes much the same approach, albeit with marginally more chrome.
Apple aficionados revel in their sense of community, defining themselves as much by their choice of technology as their worldview, personal philosophy, or profession.
Let Your Best Customers Know They’re Your Best Customers
Lady Gaga uses every touch point to let her fans know she values and appreciates them. She shouts it from the stage, she says it when she’s accepting awards, it’s written in the liner notes to her CD, and her website is loaded with messages of appreciation and gratitude. Fans are told that coming albums are polished versions of what they got to see first at live shows and concerts, before the world was watching every note. There’s an overt message of inclusiveness and celebration.
More than that, Lady Gaga’s messages are crafted and delivered in a way to resonate uniquely for her very best fans, many of whom think she’s speaking directly to them. This connection underlies their fanatical loyalty. Business leaders who want to duplicate the same type of connection with their best customers need a way to find the same point of emotional resonance, delivering the messaging that buyers will find not only compelling, but meant exclusively for them.
“I am doing this all for you,” Lady Gaga pronounces, and her fans cheer with total abandon—because they believe it.
Can your organization say the same thing to its customers? Would it be believable? Can you, right now, point to three things that your organization has done to let your best customers know not only that they’re appreciated but that they’re the core, driving force behind every aspect of what your company does?
If you’re committed to growing your business and growing your profitability, all of your marketing and branding efforts must be discovering why your best customers love you. Like Lady Gaga, you must use constant, overt appreciation and celebration of your best customers. If for no other reason, treating your best customers better than anyone else creates more people who want to be your best customers. And that’s music to anyone’s ears!