Learning Marketing Through Taylor Swift
With the success of the Eras tour, both the tour itself and the movie, Taylor Swift had made her name known worldwide. From sprinkler splashes to fireplace ashes, her career spans from 2004 until now. Her talents alone are outstanding but talents alone do not make her successful, especially for this long. Taylor Swift is known for her incredible marketing that expands beyond the borders of her talents.
There were a couple of things that could be noted from her successful marketing campaign such as:
- Knowing her audience like no other
Taylor knows her audience like the back of her hand. She seems to understand their demographic well and tailor content to those audiences. Taylor kept a feedback loop between her fans and herself, sharing fan content and such. This is all consistent and this makes her fans happy as they feel appreciated. Not only that, Taylor also hosts several more intimate events, such as doing some secret listening sessions before her album release.
- Storytelling as her brand
As a singer, Taylor is always well-versed in the art of storytelling. However, she took it to the next level as she integrated it into her marketing as well. You can see with her Instagram reels, that she uses her music to tell interesting stories that captivate her audience. Most of her marketing consists of her telling a story, making it much more captivating to her audiences as it does not feel like marketing.
- Taylor Swift as a brand
Taylor did not shy away from her powerful branding. She went as far as reclaiming her stolen albums and trademarking her name on everything so it all belonged to her. Every one of her albums also has different concepts and colors to it making it much more distinguishable. These distinguishable things lead to a feeling of freshness. While some companies and artists search for consistency, Taylor strives for freshness.
- Reinventing herself as a way to stay on trend
Adding more to her freshness, she doesn’t only change up a few things and call it done. She completely reinvents herself for every album. Every song she makes sounds different from one album to the other. Not only that but the way she dresses, the color of her album, and the whole concept itself are different within every album. This creates more than a sense of freshness. It was as if she came different with every album she made.
This could be seen in her “Taylor Version” of an album in which she adds more depth to the album by adding songs to the new album. These songs such as the popular All Too Well (10 Minutes Version) add some freshness to the album, to get more people talking about the album itself.
- Using easter eggs to get people excited
Movies usually use trailers to get people to watch it. Taylor on the other hand, uses multiple easter eggs, whether it is on her music video or her tour to get people talking and post it on social media about what’s to come. This is a good move on her end as it creates hype around what she is about to release and builds suspense so that when it is released, it will already be a hit.
In conclusion, Taylor Swift’s success is not only based on her talents. The marketing behind her is as incredible as her talents in songwriting skills. She knows the depth of her talents and is not shy to integrate her genius talents into her marketing, making people much more enticed to her. Taylor Swift is much more than a simple artist, she is also a genius businesswoman and we can all learn something from her.
REFERENCES
Cozar, K. de. (n.d.). Why Taylor Swift is a marketing genius – and four key lessons brands can learn. CCgroup Blog. https://blog.ccgrouppr.com/blog/why-taylor-swift-is-a-marketing-genius-and-four-key-lessons-brands-can-learn
Fastuca , D. (2023, July 10). Dissecting the marketing brilliance of Taylor Swift. Forbes Australia. https://www.forbes.com.au/life/entertainment/inside-the-marketing-brilliance-of-taylor-swift/
Lutz, A. (2023, July 25). Taylor Swift’s new album proves she is a business genius. Fortune. https://fortune.com/2022/10/08/taylor-swift-midnights-release-business-strategy/