Comedians and marketers have a lot in common. Making it in the entertainment industry goes beyond getting people to laugh. On top of humor and talent, you’ll also need to know how to market yourself. From content marketing to social media marketing and collabs, here are four well-known comedians and their strategies. 

Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart has a reputation for being a funny guy and an extremely hard worker. He thinks it’s an excellent reputation to have. Having been in the industry for over two decades and working relentlessly since 1999, his career only took off over the last few years. 

According to Forbes, Hart rakes in approximately $87 million per year. Not only does he feature in box-office hit movies and develop his own comedy shows, but he also has multimillion-dollar endorsement deals with major retail brands such as Nike and H&M. His success goes beyond the movie industry.    

In 2018, he went on tour for his stand-up comedy show Kevin Hart: The Irresponsible. He managed to sell more than 1 million tickets, making it the most successful comedy tour of 2018. Selling 1 million tickets is a considerable feat, and many experts believe he was able to pull it off partially due to his fan base of over 62 million followers on Instagram and 24 million on Facebook!  

With major collaborations with A-List celebrities such as Will Ferrell and Ice Cube, he is widely considered to be a mainstream success. He’s the type of comedian you either hate or love. What you might not know is that this Philadelphian native used to hustle as a shoe salesman before landing major acting roles in Hollywood. Love him or hate him, Kevin Hart is a businessman and marketer. When you look closely at what he’s achieved over the years, you’ll notice that he approaches everything strategically. From his business ventures to marketing strategies, Hart puts in the hours to ensure that his brand is recognized by millions of people.      

Here are some of his marketing strategies: 

He Markets Himself

When you visit his Twitter profile and check out his description, you’ll read “My name is Kevin Hart and I WORK HARD!!! That pretty much sums me up!!! Everybody Wants To Be Famous But Nobody Wants To Do The Work”. This is an indication that he considers himself a brand. While other entertainers regard themselves as talents, he has identified himself as a brand. He understands that his name “Kevin Hart” is a business that he has to lay out marketing plans for. Like all other businesses, an integrated marketing plan is necessary to build long-term success. 

Another example is when you visit his website. It contains all the essential information such as how to contact him, make bookings, merchandise for sales, press, and media, as well as links to other businesses in his empire.  

Branching Out Through Social Media

Kevin Hart knows the ins and outs of social media marketing. Hart’s production company, ‘Hartbeat Production’ manages all his social media channels, and it does a ton of branching out. Hart utilizes Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Webstagram, Vine, Google+, and so many more. His social media presence is like an octopus with many tentacles.   

When you further study his social media content, you’ll notice that his channels work together. Different media reach different audiences and prospective fans. The content may also be the same across all channels, but not the message. For each post, messages are personalized, which is good for a business that uses various channels. At the end of the day, the audience for each channel is unique, and so you have to cater to them.  

These are some of the things he does really well on social media:

• Whether it’s good press or bad press, he keeps it personal, so his audience knows who he is
• He collaborates with other stars that have millions of followers on social media: Ice Cube (11M Instagram followers) and The Rock (96M Instagram followers) are two good examples. 
• He keeps production cheap: as you scroll through his social media channels, you’ll see that most of his videos are not well-produced. It’s just him and the camera. This “cheap” production helps to keep it real. The same goes for his tours. He doesn’t need to go the extra mile with expensive equipment to sell a million tickets. 
  
  

Cross-platform Promotion

When it comes to promoting, Kevin Hart makes sure to do it wherever and whenever the opportunity presents itself. While he was on his stand-up comedy tour, he used the opportunity to promote his latest movies. He showed videos and previews to the audience.   

Going cross-platform is an excellent strategy. It’s a fundamental principle of integrated marketing for businesses. This gets you thinking about seizing every opportunity that comes your way as you never know where and when you might reach your audience or prospective fans. 

Some questions to think about:

• Do you use email marketing?
• Are you blogging regularly?
• Do you post articles on social media channels or send them to your mailing list? 

If you are running a business, Kevin Hart’s cross-platform approach shows us that we need to be looking out for missed opportunities when it comes to reaching the relevant people. Get out there with a broader marketing vision.  

Video, video, video

With smartphones equipped with good quality video cameras and how easy it is to shoot content and edit them, it’s no surprise that video marketing is taking over the industry. Many marketing experts foresee that video content will be the most-watched, the most absorbed. If you take a look at Kevin Hart’s Facebook and Twitter, you’ll see how often he uses video. Businesses shouldn’t get left behind either. It’s time to jump on board the video wagon.

Produce video content that explains who you are and promotes your products and/or services. The quality doesn’t have to be superb or an expensive production. You can even use your phone. Just make sure that it’s digestible and easily understood. Leveraging video will help you to reach more customers as well as groups of people you never reached before.

Awesome Content Creation

I’m going to go and become the greatest, biggest comedian in the world, and then Hollywood will start calling me up and not making me audition.

As mentioned earlier, Kevin Hart is a trooper. One of the things that motivated him was the fact that he wanted to become a star. His ability and drive to continually improve helped him to get to where he’s at today. With each new comedy show, he made his audience laugh even more. His materials were funnier, attracting more and more people to his shows.

What did he do with the money he earned? He re-invested the money back to his shows and judging from his success now, it was definitely the right move. His audiences grew bigger. He had repeat fans who brought their friends along. His movies brought in more and more money as well. By 2016, he had become a very successful comedian and entrepreneur.

Getting Your Audience to Ride Along With You

This was an early realization for Kevin Hart. Early in his career as a stand-up comedian, he knew that his growth would heavily depend on his audience and fan base. Completely aware of this, he decided to take this matter into his own hands. After every show, he’d make it a point to collect his fans’ email addresses. He directly marketed to his fans. He communicated with them, letting them know his latest stand-up venues or cities where he was touring. Year after year, his attendance rates grew higher, indicating that this strategy worked perfectly well for him.

Fan Interaction

Another thing he’s excelled at is giving fans access to him. It’s a known fact that he takes his fans seriously. On his Facebook biography, it reads “I Love All My Fans”. On Twitter, fans who tag him will get retweeted. Clearly, he encourages engagement with his fans. On both accounts, you don’t only notice fan interaction; there’s two-way communication going on. And this is one of the reasons his fans remain loyal.

Brand Awareness

What is brand awareness? It is defined as the intangible sum of a product’s attributes: its name, packaging, history, reputation, and advertised image. 

“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room”. – Jeff Bezos

According to Bezos, our efforts can only influence people to a certain extent. Besides various elements, a brand must also deliver on its quality and value to a consumer. When it comes to the hardworking comedian, Hart practices brand awareness by being constantly active across his social media channels. As a marketer and entrepreneur, he is leveraging on the impact social media can have on a business, leading to business growth. On a recent episode of Oprah Prime, Hart sat down with the American talk show host to talk about the importance of social media. Check out the video:  

 

“Being able to talk back and forth with your fans goes a long way”. -Kevin Hart

With the rise in digital marketing, Kevin Hart has mastered the art of engagement with his fans. In this day and age, things are entirely different from how they were back then. Older stars didn’t have the same tools, but they didn’t have to. Back then, they were more focused on campaigns and talkshows. 

Part of his brand is about keeping it real. He claims that he’s shown everything to his fans and that he’s an open book. From happy moments in his life to a divorce, he’s revealed every aspect. There are also times when Hart uses social media to ask his fans to watch his latest movie or go see his latest show.   

This social media and branding strategy combined has taken his business to a level that no paid advertising ever could. Hart continues to grow his following on social media, and people around the world love him for being who he is.

As a comedian, he’s sold out NFL stadiums, starred in hit movies, and has appeared on TV too many times. If there’s anything he understands well, it’s building an empire with integrated marketing strategies.   

Key Takeaways from his social media mistakes

Apart from his marketing mastery, Hart has also made mistakes along the way. Although he seldom does, mistakes are often remembered for longer periods of time and might affect your career. For the famous comedian, he landed the gig of hosting the 2019 Academy Awards, but had it stripped away from him due to some ugly history. 

Benjamin Lee, an editor at the Guardian, shed light on Hart’s old tweets following the Oscars announcement.

“I wonder when Kevin Hart is gonna start deleting all his old tweets,” Lee tweeted, adding screenshots from some of Hart’s since-deleted tweets in which he said someone looked like “a gay bill board for AIDS” and called another person a “FAT FAG.”

Social media is such an effective communication tool, but you should always control and monitor what you put out there. Many people like to use these platforms to vent out anger and disappointment. You’ve got keyboard warriors who are not afraid to voice out their opinions that they would never say in person. You’ve got hate comments written by people hiding behind their computers and phone screens. But these negative posts will stay online and may be permanent. What you say online may affect your business and career.  

Stay away from controversy

Because social media is instant, situations may quickly escalate. People rapidly fall deep into the moment and become trapped in drama. The unfortunate thing is that it’s visible for anyone online to see. 

Expressing a controversial opinion is often pointless. You’ll gain a lot of haters, and you put yourself at risk. Don’t leave a trail of negative posts for people to dig up. It might hurt you in the future. 

Think before you hit on send

Whether it’s an email, a text message, or a social media post, responding without thinking may also put you at risk. If you’re not emotionally stable, take some time to cool down before you hit on send. If you’re angry or upset, you might feel the wrath and be tempted to send a message, but it’s definitely a better idea to think about what you’re about to send. You can’t take these messages back once they’re out.   

Unless it’s urgent, take your time to formulate a strategy for crafting messages. It could be hours or days but take your time. Being patient allows you only to send messages you want to send out. This strategy will help you to protect yourself from saying something you might regret in the future. 

 

Jerry Seinfeld

If you grew up in the 90s, you’d remember the Seinfeld TV show. To this day, episodes are available on various streaming services so you can revisit your past. Or for the younger generation to experience a completely different era.

The hit comedy show starred Jerry Seinfeld playing himself as the main character. The semi-fiction story, created by Seinfeld and Larry David, aired on NBC from 1989 to 1998. It became one of the most popular and successful sitcoms of all time. Although the last episode aired 22 years ago, the creators of the show are still making bank to this very day.

It has been estimated that syndication royalties have amounted to $3.1 billion, which continues to grow every year. A few years ago, Hulu bought streaming rights to the show for $180 million – a substantial sum for a show that dates back to the 90s.

When it comes to the TV show, Seinfeld has treated it as a franchise. It’s still paying him decades later. The way he’s branded it means that he’ll be putting money in his pockets for a very long time. As you take a closer look, the success of the show is attributed to its content. As co-creators, Seinfeld and David knew how to create entertaining and informative content about “nothing”. There was no storyline. The show revolved around the smallest things.

After a long hiatus, one of the world’s best comedians chose to make a comeback. In 2012, after being out of action for 14 years, he surprised everyone with a new show. Many thought it wouldn’t live up to the standards set by his popular sitcom Seinfeld. However, he proved everyone wrong and showed that he was a video marketing and content marketing wizard.

With the new show, the idea was to involve antique cars and drive them while hanging out with other comedians. Every episode revolves around a drive and enjoying a coffee while breaking a few jokes. As the creator of one of the most successful TV shows of all time, any major television network would have produced his new show. But Seinfeld elected not to take this route. He chose to be original and created the internet series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.

Video marketing experts said it would fail. They all told Seinfeld that online audiences wouldn’t be able to pay attention for longer than 5 minutes. With no support from the big guys, Starbucks also rejected his sponsorship proposal. But Seinfeld didn’t stop there. He was optimistic in bringing his idea to life, proving everyone wrong. 

Shocking everyone in the entertainment industry, he chose to team up with Crackle – a small streaming service. Why did he do this? He wanted full creative control over his latest project. It was his passion, and he wasn’t going to let big networks modify his content.

The small streaming service gave him all the freedom and he took advantage of it. He created a hit internet series with fancy cars and awesome jokes from the world’s funniest people. Let’s take a look at how he pulled it off with video marketing and content marketing.

Video Marketing

Since it launched in 2012, “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” has amassed over 70 million views, won several awards and received two Emmy nominations. And he did it through streaming on the internet, passing on national television. Here are some of the secrets to his video marketing success:

1. Be Human

Sitcoms in the 50s to 90s were way too scripted. There was no sense of honesty. After years of fake media, today’s online viewers want to watch what’s going on in real life. Real stories about real people.

Being human is powerful. When you’re honest and vulnerable, as well as show your humor and interest in telling stories, you’ll stand out from others. That’s why Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee is getting a ton of attention. It’s diverted from the conventional methods of video marketing with planned scripts and plots. It’s in line with the new era, which is telling your story and being authentic.

In his latest internet series, Seinfeld often talks about his own relationships. Throughout the show, you’ll see Jerry doing this. In an episode with Ali Wentworth, he spoke about marriage and having arguments with your spouse. He also openly talks about one of his biggest fears – when people don’t think he’s funny when he’s on stage.

When he tells true stories about himself and not the part the whole world knows about, it reveals a compassionate side. It reveals humanity. Everyone knows he is a major success, but what we often miss out on is that successful people struggle too. There are dreams, doubts, passions, and fears.

If you’re planning to use video for your marketing campaign, think about honesty and transparency. Tell a story about your life, your company, your vision, and your team. Show your audience the tough times you’ve been through as well as milestones you’ve reached. Don’t forget to BE HUMAN!

2. Constant Movement

During an interview with David Letterman, Seinfeld sat down with him and revealed one of his secrets. Using this technique, he’s able to keep his online audience engaged. What was the secret? Having constant movement.

“Part of what makes the show watchable is that it’s always moving. There’s no narrative [to] drive the story. We know what happens. We know they’re going to get coffee. You need a kinetic energy to move it along,” Seinfeld said. “Moving people around keeps them awake.”

The show centers around conversations taking place during a drive or while enjoying a cup of coffee. There are no special effects, nothing fancy.

Here’s a compilation of the best of Season 11. Notice the constant movement in every single frame:

 

If you’re not sure about what movement is, it covers any physical movement, movement in frames due to changing camera angles, and so on. With constant movement, your audience’s eyes continue to stay alert as there’s something to always take note of. Whether it’s a change in scenery, a shot getting zoomed in; these movements capture your audience’s attention.

3. Do What You Want To Do

When you hear the title “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee”, it sounds too long. Moreover, it doesn’t sound interesting at all. Even the video marketing experts disagreed with the length of the episode claiming that audiences wouldn’t be engaged. But they were all wrong. What you might not be aware of is that most people are usually wrong. It’s people with courage and a vision who will find success. 

His new show was unique. There was nothing out there like it, which was typical for Seinfeld. He never wanted to be like everyone else.

At the time when Seinfeld was a hit sitcom, there was no other show like it. If you’re going to market a new brand, it should be original and have its own personality. Looking at the greatest success stories, they are not copycats. They are original ideas that take the world by a storm.

 

Content Marketing

1. Jokes are supposed to be funny, not insulting

“If it’s offensive and not funny, it’s not a joke.” – Jerry Seinfeld

His video marketing prowess is no doubt, but let’s also take a look at his content marketing. Many brands and companies often go too far with their jokes. In the end, they have to stop campaigns and issue apologies. According to Seinfeld, you’ve got to be careful with how you formulate your jokes and present them. The main objective is to make people laugh, not hurt their feelings.    

If you’re looking to inject humor into your campaign, all content must be thoughtfully planned. The target audience and your one key fan should be taken into account. If you know who your product is for, there’s a smaller possibility of offending them. On top of that, you should also get feedback from a diverse group of people. Everyone has their own opinion, so it would help to hear their voices before you put your joke out there.  

2. Nothing works forever

You turned down an offer from NBC of $5 million an episode to do one more season of “Seinfeld.” Nobody in TV has ever made even close to that money before or since. Did you ever second-guess that decision? 

No. It was the perfect moment, and the proof that it was the right moment is the number of questions you’re still asking me about it. The most important word in art is “proportion.” How much? How long is this joke going to be? How many words? How many minutes? And getting that right is what makes it art or what makes it mediocre.

Seinfeld refused to do another season of his hit sitcom. As he realized that no one could stay on top forever, he decided to take a break from the scene and wait for his next big idea. He could have easily accepted the money and done another season, but his decision was not motivated by the millions. The passionate person in him wanted to walk away while he was still on top. He didn’t want to risk stretching the show on and on until it became too draggy to watch.   

When it comes to content marketing, just because something worked before, it doesn’t mean it will again. Always try to look for new methodologies and be innovative. People are constantly changing, so should your content.