How Taylor Swift Made Me a Better Marketer
When you hear “Taylor Swift,” your next thought probably isn’t “world’s best marketer.” But, few can argue that Taylor Swift has established an incredible brand with a loyal fanbase. Isn’t establishing a brand people love, and want to buy more of, exactly what a marketer does?
After over a decade of fandom, here are the top things I’ve learned from Taylor Swift that make me a better marketer:
A Rebrand Should Amplify Your Identity, Not Change It Completely
Taylor Swift has become known for her ability to reinvent her sound and image with every album. With each new album or “era” as Swifties call it, Taylor rebrands herself. She adopts a new reputation, a new sound, and a distinct visual identity. Her promotional material, digital presence, merchandise, and wardrobe, all adopt this new look-and-feel, creating an entire personality for this new era.
Yet, reinventing her music and rebranding her visual identity does not mean that Taylor changes what she stands for each time. That would be a lot of whiplash for her fans if she did! Instead, each new era stays true to her core brand pillars:
Songwriting
Taylor is a superb songwriter. She has a masterful grasp of “verse-chorus-bridge” architecture that remains consistent across albums and genres. This talent helps her seamlessly change genres without each album feeling like it came from a completely new artist. As a result, each era’s rebrand still feels familiar thanks to her consistent songwriting skills, and epic bridges, even when sonically each album is completely different.
Storytelling
Taylor never abandons her ability to tell intricate and emotional stories with her music. Whether based on her own personal experiences like all of her early albums or dabbling in fabricated tales like my recent personal favorites ’tis the damn season and champagne problems, this narrative consistency between eras keeps Taylor true to her roots.
Connection
Taylor always makes a point of engaging with her audience, even during the Reputation era when the music was meant to speak for itself without interviews. Whether through the music itself or interactions with fans in person or online, she never loses sight of the people who fuel her continued success. (More on this in the next section!)
As a marketer, I’ve learned it is possible to stay true to your brand, even while modifying the product or changing external qualities like messaging or a logo. Once you’ve established meaningful brand pillars, you can reimagine your product or visual identity without rebuilding the foundation. Unless your brand is problematic and requires a completely new foundation, reinvention shouldn’t change the core of your business or what value you deliver to your audience. Reinvention and rebranding mean finding new ways to communicate your value.
Use “Surprise and Delight” to Create Community and Drive Loyalty
As a Taylor Swift fan, I may be biased (shocking, right?) but Taylor is a master at surprise and delight. Taylor uses it to engage with fans at scale and develop personal bonds with lucky Swifties. She’s well-known for leaving Easter eggs all over the place to hint at new albums or song meanings. She took surprise to new levels with Folklore and Evermore, but even these weren’t complete surprises to loyal fans: she did leave a few hints on social media in the lead up to both albums.
Taylor serves as a model for delighting an audience. She’ll engage one-on-one with fans by leaving comments on Tumblr posts (known to fans as “Taylurking”), inviting super-fans to album listening parties at her home (because it’s nice to have a friend!), or by donating to fan’s Go Fund Me campaigns. While she’s creating personal bonds with a just small portion of her massive fanbase, her approach makes every Swiftie feel like they could be next, building more loyalty and fueling engagement.
Marketers at brands large and small can take a page out of Taylor’s book.
No matter how big your brand is, you’re never too big to communicate and engage with your audience on a human level.
Know your audience so you can create more meaningful opportunities to add value to your customer interactions. Even B2B brands can have “fans” when they learn to interact in a more personal manner. Create engaging opportunities to interact with and approach each customer as an individual, and you’ll turn customers into Swiftie-level fans.
Lead with Your Values and The Audience Will Follow
Admittedly, Taylor didn’t immediately understand the importance of leading with her values and being too loud about her beliefs. Once she recognized the power she has to create change, she stopped calming down and started using her voice. From advocating for LGBTQ rights with a song to supporting Democratic candidates, Taylor uses her platform to be loud about what she thinks is right and wrong.
I love how she advocated for artist’s rights by withholding her catalog from Apple Music and Spotify until they changed compensation rates for artists; and, how she’s stood up for the right for artists to own their catalog. These are actions smaller artists would never be able to afford to take; Taylor uses her position to make a statement, and make a meaningful change.
A brand’s core values and principles are strong ways to fuel engagement. But the real reason to lead with values? To use your platform for good! Companies, particularly those with large audiences, should be held accountable for creating meaningful change in the world and sparking important conversations. Sure, those who disagree with you might abandon your brand. But you’ll also create fiercely loyal brand advocates out of individuals who share your values. A recent report revealed that 65% of millennials say they have boycotted a brand that took the opposing stance on an issue, while 62% favor products that show off their political and social beliefs. Leading with values is not only advantageous to your business’s bottom line, consumers also expect it.
When I’ve been asked in interviews what product’s marketing I admire, my answer has always been Taylor Swift. While I usually get a few strange looks with this answer, I hope now you understand why I believe Taylor Swift is a superb marketer that we can all learn from.
What unexpected sources have made you a better marketer? For more on my Taylor Swift POV, check out my podcast AP Taylor Swift.
