Whether you’re a Swiftie or not, you can’t deny the viral sensation that Taylor Swift has become throughout the course of her career. From her original records to the re-release of each as “Taylor’s Versions” to her worldwide “Era’s Tour”, Taylor has solidified herself as one of the most popular artists of her generation.
But she’s not just an artist. She’s also become an ingenious marketer, building a brand that even the most culturally out of touch will recognize.
And as a small business that is also trying to build a recognizable brand, there are quite a few branding tips that you can steal from her.
Before we get into the Swift Effect, let’s touch on why branding within the marketing world is so important in the first place.
Brand identity is defined as how a business presents itself to and wants to be perceived by, its consumers.
Building a solid brand for your business is how you attract loyal customers. Think about why Taylor Swift might be someone’s favorite artist and why her fans are loyal to her. Maybe they can relate to her music, or she has values they admire. That is what you’re also trying to achieve for your business.
When your business stands out and is memorable, customers keep returning. And one loyal customer is worth 10 one-time customers.
So, what can we learn from Taylor Swift’s marketing that might be beneficial to your own business’s brand? We’ve pulled out a few heavy hitters to go through in this blog. They include:
Let’s dive into each one separately to talk about what Taylor does and how you can do it too.
One of the biggest pieces of branding is the storytelling aspect. Taylor has been able to perfect her storytelling through both the lyrics to her songs and her albums.
And what does this storytelling do? It conveys emotions. Emotions help you connect with your audience and influence emotion-based decision-making.
Taylor uses her life experience to create songs that her audience can relate to. That in turn, makes them feel closer to her and builds trust.
And you can do the same thing with your brand story. Speak from the heart, be a little bit vulnerable and appeal to your customers’ emotions.
Taylor’s commitment to her fans speaks volumes and is another way she has been able to grow her fan base.
A fantastic example of this is her support of fan India Rose in battling a Tumblr troll. Taylor, who runs her own Tumblr account, quickly came to India’s aid to shut down negative comments on one of India’s posts. The subject of the post? Ironically, it was about Taylor’s love for her fans.
As a small business, you can build this same repertoire with your customers, who are your biggest fans. Show them love and support by responding to reviews (both negative and positive) and sharing user-generated content on your social media.
If you aren’t a Swiftie, you might not know that Taylor loves to drop hints and teasers about her upcoming albums. She’ll also leave Easter eggs in her videos and content to keep fans excited. This is an ingenious move because it means her fans are actively looking for her content, watching her videos and Instagram stories multiple times, and posting about their finds and theories. Giving her even more exposure all over the internet.
The main lesson in this? Find ways to keep your audience engaged and talking about you. 64% of people want brands to connect with their customers, so this is an easy way to keep them involved in new product drops and everyday content.
Taylor has been on the music scene since 2006. Starting with a first album that was completely country. She now has songs that are considered pop, folk, rock and even alternative. In fact, each of her albums seems to take on a different tone than the last.
So, what brand tip can a small business learn from this? Simple, don’t be afraid to reinvent yourself a little.
Times change, tastes change and to still be relevant in your space, sometimes you need to take another look at your branding. Don’t be afraid to tweak your logos or your brand voice every once in a while.
Over the last few years, Taylor has been steadily re-recording and re-releasing her albums as “Taylor’s Version”. So, most of her fan base now proudly owns two copies of each of her albums. Albums with the exact same discographies (well, with some minor changes here and there.)
Taylor is teaching us a lesson about the value of repurposing old content. If something is good, why not put it back out there for the world to see? Small businesses can do the same thing. Maybe you have a blog post that performed really well a few years ago but is now buried under more recent content. Pull that baby back out and freshen it up a little before showing it to your customers again.
You can do this with any sort of content you have, not just blogs. Repost Facebook videos if you’ve gained new followers or share older YouTube clips to your Instagram story. The possibilities are truly endless. Studies show that 73% of consumers enjoy nostalgia branding, so there’s no doubt that your customers will enjoy it just as much as Taylor’s fans enjoy her re-released music.
From partnerships with major brands like Coca-Cola and Apple to creating songs with other influential artists, Taylor understands the importance of working with quality collaborators.
Take for example the single from her newest album The Tortured Poets Department. She chose to first release the song “Fortnight” which featured Post Malone, another artist who has grown immensely in popularity over the last few years.
Digital marketing for small businesses has seen the same need for collaboration in the form of influencer marketing. Partnering with micro-influencers can do a few things for your brand. It gets your business in front of a larger audience, establishes trust (61% of customers say they trust social media influencers to recommend products) and helps promote your values by partnering with influencers who share the same ones.
Speaking of values, this is another of the many ways Taylor has gained popularity with her fans. They love what she stands for and share the same values.
Throughout her career, she has found her political voice by endorsing specific candidates as well her supporting the LGBTQ+ community and beyond. This is what her fans love to see because they can connect with her about these shared values.
Your small business should do this too. 64% of people in a study who said they had a brand relationship stated values as the primary reason. Make sure you’re aware of where your values lie and make them clear to your audience and customers. Take that a step further by actually making a positive impact. Run campaigns where part of your proceeds go to organizations you support or donate directly to causes in your community.
All this to say that Taylor Swift isn’t just a popular artist, she truly is a marketer. And just because she has huge global reach doesn’t mean you as a small-business owner can’t take a few pages out of her playbook to establish your branding.
Whether you’re just starting out and looking to create a brand-new identity or you’re a long-standing business looking to reinvent itself, you can benefit from these branding tips that Taylor has already been successful with.
If you’re looking to really dive into your branding and get established online, RevLocal is here for you. We offer services for social media management, website design and more to aid in your digital marketing. Reach out to us for a free consultation today.
Mideya Kinney, Junior Content Writer
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