Taylor Swift Marketing 101
Possibly one of the most successful artist of our generation, there is no denying that Taylor Swift is an absolute icon and legend. The 14-time Grammy winner has released 11 original studio albums, 4 re-recorded albums, and about 274 songs to date! All of her success can be attributed to her talent in singing, songwriting, and most importantly, in storytelling. On top of all this, she is an amazing businesswoman and, if you think about it, an incredible marketer.
Before you continue reading, full disclaimer that yes, this writer is an absolute Swiftie. But let’s put that aside for now and put on our marketing hats. Looking at it through this lens, Swift is actually a marketing genius. Given that she’s been in the music industry for over 18 years now, it’s very rare for artists nowadays to stay relevant for this long and yet, she continues to grow. But how does she do it? After doing some digging, here are four insights or learnings we can take from Ms. Swift and her team’s approach to marketing.
Be brave to reinvent
If you’ve been following Taylor Swift for a while, you would notice how each album, or era, is quite distinct from one another. From the sound, her outfits, to even how she styles her hair, each era is unique, matching the album’s aesthetic and fully embodying what it’s all about. This personal reinvention (or rebranding in marketing terms) is what keeps her relevant in pop culture. It gives her brand a fresh look, paving the way to attract people’s attention and even capturing a new set of audience that resonate with her latest sound or aesthetic. This is not an easy task to do, especially with how massive Taylor Swift’s brand is. The extent of rebranding she and her team goes through is unbelievable and we are not just talking about outfits now, we are talking about the look of her social media page, website, merch, and sometimes, even tone of voice. It all has to be on brand with the latest album, truly impressive.
In fact, every era is so unique that oftentimes, subtle changes in the colours of her outfit or new accessories worn can be seen as a hint to her upcoming album. They almost serve as easter eggs to fans on what’s to come next for her, which leads us to our second lesson.
Learn to build anticipation and surprise the crowd
When you’ve established a good amount of following (or fans), building anticipation for the release of a new product (or album), is key to making an impact and a memorable launch. And to do this, one would have to know their audience very well.
This is something Taylor Swift and her team has mastered throughout the years. She has arguably the strongest relationship with fans in the industry, that she even jokes that it’s her “longest relationship” ever. With that said, this has enabled her to deeply understand her fans, what they like, how to keep them engaged and on their toes all the time. Through the years, she has become a mastermind (in the best way possible) of dropping hints and providing little elements, sometimes even teasers that she builds up for years! How did she do this? To be honest with you, I’m not quite sure. But from observation, it’s very likely a mix of her genuine love and connection to her fans, matched with her clever wits and fun personality and being able to plan ahead on her music career. She is also very meticulous and takes into consideration even the smallest of details when it comes to her posts, outfits, and what she says in interviews. The kind of unexpected hints that she gives fans are very out of the box, making them alert and always engaged in everything she does. As a result, when it comes to dropping new songs or albums, it’s very easy for them to reach number one instantly because on top of the music being really good, the anticipation she has built for months (or years) for it is finally out in the world and the fans can’t get enough. It’s all about consistent engagement, fun little teases, and actually delivering the product (or album) in an impactful way.
Engage with your community (or fanbase)
A lot of Taylor Swift’s success can be attributed to her fans. Their love and support for her has helped her grow to the massive icon she is now. What makes it better is in return, she would spoil them with new songs, merch, and many more regularly. In fact, she has personally invited them to key events in her career in many occasions
In the premiere of the Eras Tour movie, instead of the usual influencers that brands would typically invite to help promote the event, she has invited fans to be there with her. From footages posted, it even looked like the fans walked the red carpet and Taylor personally sitting with them in the cinema theater to watch the movie for the first time together. Another way she connected with them for a launch is hosting “Secret Sessions” at her very home. For this, in anticipation of the launch of her album 1989, she invited a select number of fans to her house, baked cookies, and played for them the songs in her album exclusively for the very first time.
Its these little gestures that keeps your fans engaged and loyal to you/your brand. Making important events even more special by inviting them and creating memories together is what makes ones relationship with their community (or fans) deeper. Its more than just liking or replying to people’s comments online, but the extra step of personally engaging with them in the most creative way is what’s going to make your relationship with customers (or, again, fans) grow fonder.
Go beyond conventional marketing
Now going more technical, Taylor Swift and her team has actually utilized some pretty fun and innovative tactics in launching new albums. Swifties once broke Google as Taylor was promoting 1989 (Taylor’s Version), through a new game the tech giant set up specifically for her. During the launch of “The Tortured Poets Department”, Instagram seemed to have created a custom feature on her profile, with users being able to see a live countdown when you pulled down her profile. These marketing activities are once again, what keeps her fans on their toes and always locked in, eagerly looking for easter eggs Taylor would creatively (and randomly) drop.
The chances of Instagram making a custom feature for your brand may be low, it is still possible to partner up directly with these companies to ensure an impactful campaign is done for your brand. If you don’t have one yet, I highly suggest trying to get a direct contact or representative from Google, Meta, TikTok, etc. to get exclusive insight on any new features they are launching for advertisers, any best practices, and general advice they could give to ensure the success of your campaign.
I think it’s safe to conclude that Taylor Swift (and her team) is a true mastermind when it comes to business and marketing. She knows her audience very well and engages with them regularly. On top of being multi-talented, she is also a genuine human being who is clever and always evolving (in the best ways possible) – in my opinion, important qualities of a good marketer.
