You’re about to hit the big time, willingly or not. Your face is on the tele, in the latest reality show, campaigning on the local news, or in a YouTube video series, or something similar... So how do you make the most of the opportunity? Providing you’re up for it, let’s talk through ways to amplify your personal profile when you’ve had a hint of life in the limelight…
What’s your 15 minutes of fame?
A good friend of ours is currently starring in SAS Who Dares Wins. (Keep your eyes peeled for no. 15, who’s currently smashing it). It’s got us thinking about how she could leverage this success if she wanted to.
Fame is a fickle beast but a carefully crafted and strategic approach to personal profiling and social media can make it work for you.
And if you want the experience, but want to avoid the limelight as much as possible, how can you manage that too?
What’s your personal profiling strategy?
The first step in any communications plan is to work out what you want from it.
Do you have a message to share?
A book to sell?
A service to offer?
A cause to raise the profile of?
You’ll need to set your objectives before you begin. Doing it for the purposes of creating a following alone is not a long term strategy. It might boost your ego, but it won’t boost the bank balance!
How much do you want to share?
Be aware that journalists will dig and keep on digging until they find some dirt on you, whether you are Mother Theresa or Prince Andrew. We all have something tucked away in our social media histories (now most at least a decade old) that we’d probably rather not share with the public whether they are adoring or not.
Tidy up your personal social media feeds - we’ve all done and said daft things that are unfortunately now committed to internet history.
If you’re too late to delete anything incriminating, prepare a strategy to defuse or defend it.
Personal profiling and social media
5 ways to manage #instafame
We’d recommend starting a new Insta feed. A #finsta if you will. Invite friends and family to follow you there for limelight-specific news.
If you’re under embargo and not allowed to share details before the show airs, drip feed some cryptic clues in the weeks building up to it. The element of tease will keep people returning to your feed.
Encourage people to share your news on their Stories and people will find you.
Write your Insta bio to sell yourself. Keep it to the point, using upbeat language that prompts action. Include a reference to your appearance on said show. A couple of emojis won’t hurt either. Think of it as a highly abbreviated elevator pitch. Doing this will also help clarify your thoughts on what you are offering.
Research the hashtags that are relevant to the show, the other contestants and the product or service you’re offering. Use them in posts on your grid, and hide them in Stories. Think of the grid as your curated shop window.
Prepare to succeed
In the weeks, days or hours leading up to filming, pre-record teaser videos that you’ll be able to use after the embargo has broken or the NDA has expired. Perhaps, the case of SAS:Who Dares Wins, you’re setting out your kit the night before departure, or recording a piece to camera explaining how you’re feeling about the impending challenge.
People love a glimpse behind the scenes. You’ll be able to use these videos on IGTV and as videos on your other social channels.
You could also go Live during transmission to give your perspective on events, perhaps on the edit vs the reality!
Enter the debate on Twitter
Viewers love to chat about TV shows during transmission, so enter the debate on Twitter by tracking the show’s hashtag. The chat can get a little spicy, so prepare to thicken your skin. It might be that you’ll find this easier if you’re a contestant on SAS Who Dares Wins as opposed to say, The Great Pottery Throw Down, but we wouldn’t like to assume!
You’ll notice your following grow fairly rapidly if it’s easy to find your profile. Much like having a new Instagram profile, this would make sense for Twitter too. In part because you don’t want or need your tweet history scoured through. And in part to create a profile handle and bio specific to the show. These will make you easier to find. Great British Bake Off contestants are particularly good at this if you’re looking for examples.
Facebook: review your privacy settings
If you think fame will be fleeting, consider changing your name on your Facebook account, at least temporarily. Even if you’re happy to share, your friends might not like their comments on your posts to get airtime. Adjust your settings to private.
If the TV show has a dedicated profile page or if the airing channel promotes the show on its feed, you can share their posts and/or comment on them providing you’re comfortable with the exposure on this platform.
Carve out your career on LinkedIn
Depending of course on which show you take part in, what your goals are and where you’re hoping it will all lead, LinkedIn will either feature in your profiling strategy or not. But whatever you do, don’t forget about it. People are increasingly comfortable with the notion of professional profiling on the platform and the opportunities its degrees of separation can create.
Act while the iron’s hot
Don’t disappear into corporatese
You don’t have to become a bland brand if you suddenly find fame. The thing people like about you is YOU. So stay true to your roots and present yourself authentically, but with added rose tinted filter. Be entertaining, informative, supportive.
If you’re being flooded with thousands of comments, reply to what you can but keep it in perspective and don’t be too harsh on yourself. No-one expects Beyonce to reply to every comment but engaging with the best will always be a positive step.
Lead from the front
Bizarrely you have found fame and become a role model, overnight. So take the responsibility that comes with that seriously and let it add weight to your tweets and comments, and ultimately the goal of your personal profile strategy.
You have a great opportunity to add light and lift others up. Just because social is instant, doesn’t mean it should be unedited. So mentally delete any negativity before you approach the keyboard.
Be clear with yourself and the promotion team behind the show what you’re willing and able to do to support show promo before, during and after it has aired. Tie this firmly to how you want to be perceived and what you’re aiming to achieve.
If your fame continues to grow, consider hiring a PR agency or social media firm to manage your persona online. It’s time consuming to the extent that it can take over, so let someone else take the strain. A good agency will get to know you well enough that anything they write will sound as if it is you speaking. They can plan content and ensure you are capitalising on trends, timings and news opportunities. It might even be time to hire an agent…
And if you’d rather disappear down a black hole… Delete everything. Say nothing!