Celebrity Endorsement in Mobile App Marketing: Part 1

In this guest post, Raj Misra, Senior Vice President of Marketing at adtech innovator Aarki, discusses the benefits of celebrity endorsement in mobile app advertising.

Having a familiar face endorse your product is one of the fastest and easiest ways to create brand awareness. Besides getting recognition, the product (and your brand) also gain credibility. Read on to learn more about this effective mobile advertising approach.

What Is Celebrity Marketing?

Think about it. Would you rather buy sports shoes endorsed by basketball legend Michael Jordan or by the author of this article? Most people (including me) are likely to trust a well-known celebrity, especially if they are an expert in that field. If your opinion about the celebrity is positive, it makes the brand or product advertised much more enticing.

The basic notion of celebrity marketing is to have a famous and credible person to endorse your product. This famous person might be an actor, musician, athlete, ex-politician, social media diva, or even a cartoon character. Celebrity marketing can be a powerful way of lifting app marketing campaign performance.

Why Does Celebrity Marketing Work?

So why is celebrity endorsement effective? Let's clarify the benefits. Celebrities help build brand awareness and credibility. A celebrity already comes with a level of recognition and trust, which can be immediately transferred to your app. "If the app is good enough for them it's good enough for me," you may think. And while endorsement deals don't last forever, there is a high chance that the celebrity will continue to be associated with your product for years to come.

Celebrity endorsement also helps you tap into new users by automatically attracting their fan base. People who may not have cared much about your app are now more likely to try it at least once because their favorite athlete, actor, politician, or model is endorsing it. The bigger the celebrity, the larger the audience base you are likely to invite into your fold.

By leveraging celebrity endorsement, you are essentially personifying your app. Hence, it is very important to find a celebrity that matches your app. The sentiment that the celebrity generates should be aligned with your positioning, and the followers should align with your target audience. For example, picking a famous athlete to endorse your hardcore game may not be the best idea.

Guess Which of These Creatives Performed Better

Mobile Strike App Install Ad with Original Character

Mobile Strike App Install Ad with Arnold Schwarzenegger

Please look for part two of this article, where we attempt to quantify the impact of celebrity endorsement on the performance of an app marketing campaign, coming in two weeks.

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