Becoming a Marketing 'Mastermind' like Taylor Swift

'Are you Ready For It?'

Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a global sensation in marketing? Look no further than Taylor Swift! Even if you're not a fan, it's hard to deny the impact that this star has had on the world of marketing.

With her catchy songs and surprise album drops, Taylor has taken the world by storm, not just in the music industry but also in the digital space. She has broken into countless digital outlets, including social media and Google.

Let's take a look at what makes Taylor Swift a marketing genius, that 'never goes out of style'.

‍

Telling 'Timeless' Stories

Swift is an expert at incredible storytelling and vulnerability, which has helped her create a deep connection with her fans. It almost feels like the fans know her because of how she's opened up and shared her personal narratives. This type of connection is powerful and can help build a loyal and engaged fan base that truly cares about the person behind the story.

‍

'So It Goes...' Never Stop Evolving

If one thing is clear about Taylor Swift, she is a 'lover' of reinvention.

Throughout her career of over 17 years, Swift has continuously kept her fans interested and captured new audiences with her versatility and universal appeal.

By creating a unique brand each time, every era has seamlessly transitioned between genres and aesthetics, which is shown through its distinctive colours/symbols. This ability to keep up with the latest trends is a massive contributor to her success.

‍

Creating Surprises Beyond Your 'Wildest Dreams'

It's 'Nothing New' that unexpected surprise drops have proven to be a successful tactic in generating immediate buzz for musicians. Taylor Swift is a prime example of this, unexpectedly releasing her albums 'Evermore' and 'Folklore' within just four months of each other during lockdown.

Additionally, surprise songs for her 'Eras Tour' have kept fans on their toes, eager for what she'll perform next. These tactics have helped Swift maintain her status as a beloved and innovative artist in the music industry.

‍

Know Your Audience 'All Too Well'

Taylor is an expert at keeping her fans engaged by connecting with them on a personal level and creating a community. She doesn't always need to market herself because her audience does it for her.

Swift is especially popular on TikTok, as shown by the millions of videos of her music being used for trends and dances. In fact, views on Taylor's content jumped from 80M to over 260M in only two days, as her fans tried to figure out the easter eggs included in the short film 'All Too Well'.

Gen Zers make up around 60% of Tiktok users, and the majority of Swift's fans (41%) are also a part of this group. This explains why she is able to continually speak her audience's language, take over the platform and create a never-ending bank of fan feedback to use for future campaigns.

‍

Create Buzz/Hype

Not only does she regularly share fan posts, but everything has a strategy in order to fuel the excitement. She puts in a lot of effort to hide subtle references in every music video and album release to keep her fans engaged and excited. Her fans eagerly anticipate every drop, knowing that there will be something to decode, whether it's a hidden message in the lyrics or a clever Easter egg in the video.

In her music video for 'Bejeweled', fans quickly worked out that her next re-record would be 'Speak Now' (Taylor's Version) after she enters an elevator, presses a purple '3' button and then leaves on a dark purple floor 13.

In addition, Taylor Swift recently came to social media to announce that her new album, 'The Tortured Poets Department', was going to be a double feature that included 31 songs instead of the initial 15.

This was subtly hinted through social media in the months building up to the album release through clever placement of the number 2 in her social media copy as well as on stage at an awards show which was referred to by Swifties as the 'two theory'.

There's no denying that she understands her fan base loves playing detective in her ever-evolving marketing ploy.

‍

Swifties Crack The Code Of Google's Interactive puzzle

Another one of Swift's most successful marketing strategies was when she partnered with Google to tease and promote '1989 (Taylor's Version), where fans had to solve 33 million interactive word puzzles by googling Taylor-related phrases to find out the album track titles.

Not only were these puzzles all solved in less than 24 hours, but the campaign drastically boosted her online searches. 'Taylor Swift Sheep' (one of the answers to a puzzle) rose by over 5000%.

‍

'Call It What You Want' Taylor is 'Fearless' at Marketing

Long story short, Swift is clearly a 'mastermind' at using hidden messages, puzzles, clues and easter eggs to encourage fan interaction/engagement and build anticipation.

‍