For anyone who’s watched even a second of Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), the marketing is obvious. Sponsorships make themselves known from host mentions to full dances choreographed in honor of the brand (I mean this season even had a “Paris Baguette” sponsorship dance from host Julianne Hough). What people don’t realize is marketing is much more than sponsors and product placement.
The “Golden Rule” of marketing is that you shouldn’t market to everyone because in reality, you’re marketing to no one. But doesn’t Dancing with the Stars do this? After all, many of the contestants fall outside the standard scope of the show’s target demographic. The thing is, DWTS is not trying to market the show to everyone; the largest percentage of contestants come from reality TV which shares a demographic with the show. Additionally, many of the other contestants are social media personalities which extends the demographic to cover nearly all of the show’s contestants with a few outliers.Â
What viewers don’t realize is that the entire premise of the show is marketing. Contestants rely on viewer votes to keep them dancing week to week, and how do they do this? By marketing themselves. Obviously performing well or having creative dances causes viewers to vote for a particular dancer; however, most people vote for their favorites. To achieve this favorite status, contestants have 2 ways to win these fans over.Â
- Already have then as a fan
- Win them over
As soon as pairings are announced, contestants and their pro partners take to social media, promoting themselves in order to build up a fanbase prior to even stepping foot on the ballroom floor. These videos continue once the season has started and serve two purposes.
- To entertain viewers and gain followers (after all, DWTS is as much about publicity as it is dancing and competition)
- To keep themselves fresh in viewers’ minds
The second point matters especially when it comes to Tuesday nights. Viewers are going to root for and watch who they know; then likely, they’ll be voted for. Even I’m willing to admit that I will pay more attention to the dance of someone I’m familiar with than someone who is easily forgotten (at least in the beginning).
Now, I’m going to let you in on the secret to predicting exactly who is going to be on the chopping block each week. Numbers don’t lie, viewer counts on the official DWTS pages of each star’s dance, likes on their posts, and social media sentiment are a decent teller of at least who will be safe. The stars whose content doesn’t cross your For You Page, whether it be their content or people talking about them, are the most likely to go home each week. No content = no familiarity = no votes = going home. There are two prime examples that illustrate this principle.
- Julia Stiles and Giada De Laurentiis
The first few weeks of the show, Julia Stiles (actress) and Giada De Laurentiis (celebrity chef) experienced very similar arcs, a lack of confidence while performing and scores that could be seen as nothing short of discouraging. As a part of the target demographic of DWTS, neither contestants’ videos really appeared on my social media, putting them in an equal playing field for many viewers who may have been in the same boat during the first few weeks. What kept Julia Stiles safe then? Familiarity. Viewers arguably were more familiar with Stiles from her previous movies which provides an advantage if neither contestants’ videos are doing the numbers to reach a vast majority of viewers.
- Guillermo Rodriguez and literally everybody who’s already gone home (I know he went home this week but it’s still a good example)
It is without question, that each week Guillermo has had some of the lowest scores of all the stars dancing but is still competing every Tuesday. The same thing happened with Andy Richter last season where he was kept in the running largely due to inbound fan votes. This is a prime example of being known in fans minds and doing enough to keep them supporting you so you can continue on the show.
The point in this being Dancing with the Stars and its marketing is far more than what people assume. The show is far more about the personal marketing and brand building of its contestants and, in part, its pro dancers.
As an analytics major myself, I’m willing to use this knowledge I’ve shared to make my predictions for three of the five couples that will be dancing in the finale (in no particular order, in true DWTS style). Looking at both actual dancing ability and judges scores and social media presence and self marketing, Ezra Frech, Maura Higgins, and Harry Shum Jr., will be three of the couples in the finale.