Lady Gaga is working with Google on a new YouTube campaign that puts her in touch with fans via video, and marketers might be inspired by her use of social media to engage her audience.

She may have recently been dethroned by Eminem from her reigning title as the most “Liked” living artist on Facebook, but Lady Gaga has her sights on a new social marketing channel – Google's video platform. The first lady of pop is working with Google on a new YouTube campaign that puts her in touch with fans via video, and marketers might be inspired by Gaga's use of social media to engage her audience.

Google announced the campaign in its blog today. The company promotes the official Lady Gaga YouTube channel, and it encourages users to ask Lady Gaga whatever questions they want.

In an explanatory video, titled Google Goes Gaga, the pop star invites fans to ask her about herself – from her music to her fashion choices, her latest tour to “the things [she searches] for on Google.” So far, more than 14,000 fans have submitted nearly 30,000 questions.

While the high response volume is due Gaga's larger-than-life fame, brands across industries might consider similarly fielding questions from their target audiences to increase online engagement. Lady Gaga explains that question submissions are possible thanks to the Google Moderator tool – available to all marketers.

Google says that this service helps brands “get to know [their] audience by letting [consumers] decide which questions, suggestions or ideas interest them most.” Businesses can include a brief description of the kind of expertise or insight they are open to sharing, and then decide how they want to let their target audience submit questions, with Twitter and YouTube as options.

The tool may be a good way to engage an audience and establish a brand as a thought leader. Plus, marketers may want to follow Gaga's steps and offer YouTube responses to directly address their audience. As Brafton has reported, video engagement translated into sales for Old Spice, which used YouTube and Twitter to connect consumers to “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like.”

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.