Today a link to a post passed through my inbox: Bruce Springsteen's Guide to Social Media Marketing. The actual post title was titled Baby, We Were Born to Market: Springsteen on Social Media Marketing.

I've seen a number of this type of post recently, and before that, books such as All I Really Need to Know I Learned from Watching Star Trek and The Tao of Pooh. It got me thinking.

The faux-celebrity endorsement is a clever way to cut through the data smog of social media, and target to a niche audience. (Although I'd argue that these days neither Springsteen, Trek or Pooh are exactly "niche.") There are only a gazillion (give or take) top 10 lists in the blogosphere right now, and your next one might not get noticed. That is, unless the Dark Knight, Daisy Lowe, or Chupacabra get behind it and give it a little push. (All three are trending topics on Google as I write this blog post.)

The format is simple: take an icon that is relevant to your audience and connect it to your business or message.

• Killer [blank] Tactics from [celebrity].
• Everything I Learned Came from [favorite childhood TV show.]
• [Disgraced politician's] Guide to How NOT to do [something].

You get the idea. You can take your own top 10 list and just filter it through the songs, episodes, or credo of your favorite band, celebrity or superhero. If possible, tie it into something that's in the news, (Everything I Learned About Twitter I Learned by Ignoring Anthony Weiner), pop culture (Hal Jordan's Guide to Sustainability: He's not the Green Lantern for Nothing) or a holiday, (The 11 Scariest Hiring Mistakes for Halloween.)

Once your blog post (or video) is up, you could market this further by taking out a targeted Facebook ad. Did you just post The Where The Wild Things Are Guide to Corporate Events? Buy some Facebook ads of people who are in marketing and "like" Maurice Sendak or Spike Jonze. Rinse and repeat.

BTW, I was originally going to use Spider-Man's name in this post-my personal favorite-until I found The Amazing Spider-Man Guide to Responsible Word Power over at Copyblogger.