Taylor Swift – A Marketing Genius!
- Ben
- Apr 28, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: May 13, 2019
…Ready for It?
In today’s blog, I would like to talk about Taylor Swift. Yes, the pop musician! Whether you love her, hate her, or reside somewhere in the middle, there is no denying that the young woman is more than just a musician – she is a brand and marketing force. The songstress and songwriter has reinvented herself from time to time again, from a young country performer to a polished pop diva. And regardless of what we think of her (or the media), none of us can deny that she is a smart businesswoman, where we could learn some marketing lessons from.
"I'll never change, but I'll never stay the same either." - Taylor Swift
This week, Taylor kicked of the next era of her career by releasing her new single ‘’Me!’’, which also features Panic! at the Disco front man Brendon Urie, on the 26t hof April. According to YouTube, the accompanying music video managed to break the Vevo record for the most viewed video in a 24-hour period. The visual racked up an impressive 65.2 million views in just its first full day on the platform, beating the previous record holder; Ariana Grande’s “Thank U, Next.”, which hit 55.4 million views when it premiered late last year.
The former country star is no stranger to breaking records however, since her long list of achievements and milestones proves that she is one of the most successful recording artists of the last two decades. With the release of her last album ‘’Reputation’’ in late 2017, she managed to secure her fifth number one album with pure sales of 1.05 million in its first four days. The album outsold every other new album in 2017 after only five days of sales, which is impressive in this era of online music streaming services. Her supporting ‘‘Reputation Stadium Tour’’ also managed to become the highest grossing North American tour and highest tour gross for a female artist this decade ($345 million) with only 53 shows.
So how does Miss Swift managed to do all of this? Well, I don’t know her exact marketing strategy of course, but I can definitely tell that she and her team excel in certain marketing aspects with innovative marketing, talent, round-the-clock efforts and deliberate chances. Here’s how I believe she achieves this:
1. Community Building - #Swifties
Taylor has been known as an artist for a long time. Throughout her whole career she amassed a big loyal fanbase behind her, who call themselves ‘Swifties’ and can be considered a social group. The group, is like a tribe, where fan members share their devotion for the pop star and her music. Taylor of course, is very aware of her fanbase and tries as much to bond with her fans through special events and actions. Taylor often uses her social media to connect with her fans online by reacting, liking and sharing on their posts.
Through these examples she manages to strengthen the bond with her target audience.
2. Campaign Management in ‘’Style’’
After her public feuds and a couple of months before her ‘’Reputation’’ album launch in 2017, Taylor deleted all of her social media content. A smart move that sent her fanbase and the media into a frenzy, because they knew something would be coming soon. As ‘a master of suspense’ the attention was increased with further teasers and the announcement of the music video release of her lead single during the VMAs. A bit dramatic, you would say, but with the release of the music video of ‘’Look What You Made Me Do’’ she broke a YouTube record and created an enormous PR-buzz through the viral marketing of it. The approach proved to be successful again with the promotion of her latest hit ‘’Me!’’. It also included social media teasers, but also a changing countdown which revealed several clues through time in order to keep fans curious about it. Both examples show great campaign management in terms of creating brand awareness and engagement.
3. ‘’Gorgeous’’ Brand Support
In addition to her massive fanbase who promote her heavily, Taylor also has an army of influential friends, that range from models, actors to fellow artists. This group also support her through certain social media activities, which helps Taylor’s music to access a huge number of potential followers and fans. A good example of this is the promotion of the ‘’Bad Blood’’ music video, where the appearing friends posted their ‘Sin City’ style posters of their alter egos on their social media to promote the song and the music video. To top it off a supporting campaign was set up where people could create their ‘alter ego’ and share it with friends on social media in order to promote the music video even further.
4. Creating ‘’Enchanted’’ Customer Experiences
Taylor also appears to be strong in creating great customer experiences through small details. For the physical copies of her album 1989, Taylor included 13 Polaroid pictures with handwritten lyrics from each of the songs with the plastic box and CD to give listeners a more personal and connected feel. The same goes for het concerts, where LED wristbands for concertgoers are provided. The technology utilizes infrared transmitters to get the bracelets to sync to the music and motion of the crowd. As the bracelets light up during the show; fans are simply not watching the show, but also part of it. Taylor also manages to personally connect with her most devoted fans by inviting them to her home for her Secret Sessions, where fans could listen to her album before the release of it or a special meet and greet after her shows.
5. A ‘’Fearless’’ Marketing & Sales Strategy
Besides using innovative technology to leverage the customer experience, Swift also utilizes the new tools to embrace new opportunities. Upon her ‘‘Reputation Stadium Tour’’ launch, the singer advised fans to register on her official platform in order to improve their chances of getting concert tickets and in effort to fight ticket resellers. During the process, fans could complete a variety of tasks to prove that they were not bots of scalpers, by buying merchandise or promoting her on social media. A dynamic pricing strategy was also implemented so that the ticket prices were continuously adapted to the market demand, similar to airline and hotel tickets. In addition, various strategic partnerships were made with Target and UPS for the sale and delivery of her album.
Well, that were my insights. ‘’Call It What You Want'', but the international pop sensation’s refined marketing strategy is everything we want in our ‘’Wildest Dreams’’ and where we could learn from.
Do you have any Swift tips that I have missed? Share them with me in the comments!
Until next time!
Sources: Exposure Ninja, Forbes, Musically, Capterra & Gartner
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