Carrie Underwood: 5 Life Lessons
First and foremost… HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARRIE UNDERWOOD!
What do you see in the image above? I see Carrie’s Calia By Carrie clothing line brand video repost, a couple of personal shots, and a group photo with her Storyteller tour-mates after one of their shows. This is a well-rounded Instagram account that reminds us that even though she has a following of 5.5 million followers, Carrie Underwood is (like ALL the teen magazines say) JUST LIKE US. Oh. My. Gosh.
Often times when we follow a celebrity’s Instagram account, we get these high-quality photos on their feed, which increase the aspirational gap between the ordinary, every-day person and the highly glamorized, famous person. We find it harder to connect and relate to the person we idolize.
Carrie Underwood — Country superstar, businesswoman, wife of CANADIAN NHL player, and mother of the most beautiful baby boy you’ve ever seen — has done it right: she shows the various angles of her dynamic life. We see the professional side, as shown through the high-quality photos and the personal side from photos clearly taken off her phone to give us a well rounded idea of just who she is.
On Instagram, you can create a persona that doesn’t fully embody who you are. You’re able to create this lens of what you want people to think of you. You can strategically post content that gives off a certain image you want your audience to see and get to know as part of your brand even if it doesn’t reflect the person you really are.
With the Country superstar, it’s hard to pin-point a specific aspect that makes her brand consistent and I think that is what I love the most about following her. Each post is something new she shares about her career as both a singer and businesswoman, her home life with family, friends and her dogs, and also her support for other talent in her industry. Carrie chooses to show every side and it is effective because it is more interactive and relatable to her fans. This is why everyone loves her. She creates content that matches her brand and her brand is all about telling HER story.
As Hamza said in class, Instagram is all about perspective. You can see by her posts that she is down to earth. Getting analytical, we can take life lessons from her posts:
- Don’t take yourself too seriously.
2. Post about things you believe in.
3. Get interactive with your following.
4. Let them in on your inspirations.
5. Cross-promote with others in your community.
How is Carrie’s creative & effective marketing strategy executed? Through storytelling. She’s a storyteller.
The overall message is that you can see that Carrie has more than one side to show. She keeps her Instagram account fresh with new posts on her adventures and all that encompasses a day in the life of Carrie Underwood. Again, reflecting back to class last week — what does life look like to you? Capture your perspective.
