Whether you love them or hate them, there’s no denying that the Kardashians have become a ubiquitous force in American pop culture. Twitter, despite having a notoriously short attention span, has become the most recent site of an enduring Kardashian occupation otherwise known as the #KimExposedTaylorParty.
For background, this frenzy of a hashtag is the result of the latest installment in a feud between musicians Kanye West and Taylor Swift. In a nutshell, West recently released lyrics declaring he “made Taylor famous,” and Swift responded via her Grammy acceptance speech in which she warned fans about those who “try to… take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
Enter Kim Kardashian West, social media maven and West’s wife. Over the weekend, she countered Swift’s defamation of her husband with a ruthless campaign across both Twitter and Snapchat, releasing video footage that seriously damaged Swift’s credibility and good girl reputation.
The high drama between celebrities is almost always shallow and frivolous. That aside, there are valuable lessons that any brand can glean from Kardashian’s expert command of social media.
Understand each platform and audience
Frankly, most brands will never be able to match the sheer mass of Kardashian’s social media following. Having a lot of followers doesn’t hurt, but it’s actually her precision and understanding of each social media platform that keeps Kardashian ahead of the curve.
For example, Instagram users are drawn to visual content, so she posts photos of her life and projects. Meanwhile, Twitter users are all about dialogue, so she shares personal news and engages in direct conversation with her followers.
She has effectively identified how she uses each platform and why. Consequently, each of Kardashian’s social media accounts is a discrete channel of content tailored to her specific audiences. Companies and brands should also determine which platforms your audience is using and establish the purpose and content of each of your social media channels.
(Swift, on the other hand, made the amateur mistake of copying and pasting the same response on all her forms of social media. Don’t pull a Swift.)
Build a narrative using multiple platforms
Kardashian first hinted at the now infamous video in a GQ interview weeks ago. In the following episode of “Keeping up with the Kardashians,” she mentioned the issue again. While live-tweeting the show, she asked her fans to follow her on Snapchat. Finally, she delivered the coup de grâce by posting the whole video to her Snapchat account.
By using multiple channels to tell her story, Kardashian killed two birds with one stone, creating hype for her narrative while driving more followers to her Snapchat, which she had created only a few months ago. And because she posts distinct content to her social media accounts, she has made it so that her fans will meet her at multiple points.
Tell a cohesive story
Employing various forms of communication is powerful, but it’s equally important to stay on topic. While Kardashian used several platforms to disseminate her story, all messages on all channels aligned with a singular goal. Combined with smart timing, this narrative created excitement bordering on hysteria for her content and her brand. All the while, her methods are in keeping with her overarching brand theme of hypertransparency.
Companies should also tell their stories consistently so as to cultivate a sense of authenticity and integrity. A cohesive narrative distributed across multiple channels builds a comprehensive brand experience and inspires consumer loyalty.
At the end of the day, PR is about powerful storytelling. Despite her many critics, Kardashian has managed to stay persistently relevant by providing a compelling narrative via, of course, social media.