Thread by @AudienseCo

.@taylorswift13 shook up the music industry w/ her masterful marketing campaign for the album Red (Taylor’s Version).
“How did she do that?”
2 key things:
- Branding
- A deep understanding of her audience
The good news?
Any brand can adopt the same principles.
Let’s dig in!
🧵

On Wed, Nov 10th, 2021, @taylorswift13 entered the top 10 of @SpotifyUSA daily chart, reaching No. 9… for a song she recorded in 2010!
At the time of this writing, #Enchanted has:
🔴5 million streams on Spotify (week of Nov 18-24, ‘21)
🔴500k+ usages in TikTok videos.

You can’t communicate effectively with your audience unless you understand them.

We’re not talking about creating generic “Gen Z Sam” or “Millennial Mary” #BuyerPersonas.

Brand success relies on crafting messages that resonate with your audience.

You should be aware and hang out on the social platforms your audience uses.

A study conducted by @PulsarPlatform and @Twitter found that a 10% increase in brand conversation can lead to up to a 3% increase in sales.

adweek.com/media/twitter-…

Having a grasp of your audience also helps you understand their values and what topics matter to them.

@taylorswift13 understands this, and that’s why you’ll see her hanging out on Twitter and Instagram — platforms used by the majority of her audience.

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1459023801480474632

Your audience isn’t a monolith.

It’s essential to have different segments for each customer group.

You can then create messaging for each group or segment, thereby offering them a unique experience.

bit.ly/3jYVyiV

.@taylorswift13 appeals to her audience’s interest by leaving clues & Easter eggs about her upcoming albums on social media.
Before the release of #Fearless (Taylor’s Version), she capitalized certain words that spelt out APRIL 9TH, the album release date.

https://twitter.com/tswiftnz/status/1359855160139292672

You’re doing your marketing campaign a disservice by lumping all of your audience into one category.

Instead, use data to truly understand your audience and communicate in a manner that resonates with each segment.

Who makes up @taylorswift13’s global audience?

A quick report from Audiense shows that:

65.49% are female, 34.51% are male.
16.91% btw 13-17
39.17% btw 18-24
22.99% btw 25-34
11.11% btw 35-44
9.72% everybody else.

In terms of demographics, that’s a nice balance.

While most of Taylor’s audience lives in the United States, there’s still a significant number of them that live in places like Brazil and Mexico.

How did @taylorswift13 and her team make good use of this data?
When she collaborated with @Starbucks to promote the Red (Taylor’s Version) album, she didn’t limit the campaign to the US.

The promotion went as far as Mexico and other countries where her fans live.

.@taylorswift13’s audience is likely to use social media platforms like WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and others.

And she knows this.

.@taylorswift13 knows where her audience lives.

That’s why you’ll see her hanging out on Twitter and Instagram.

Here on Instagram, Taylor thanks and celebrates with her followers after #AllTooWell hit No. 1 on #BillboardHot100.

.@taylorswift13 and her team capitalized on her audience’s use of social media to push the Red album release.

Take this Tweet for example:

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/1429827296060391432

.@taylorswift13 created a viral sensation on TikTok when she let her fans know all songs were available as sounds and encouraged them to use them by saying, “I can’t wait to see what you create.”

Considering that many people in her audience are interested in fitness and sports, it made sense for @taylorswift13 to partner with @onepeloton (a fitness brand) to promote her album re-release.

Here’s the Instagram post from @onepeloton, announcing the partnership with @taylorswift13 — something many #Swifties (what Taylor’s superfans like to call themselves) were excited about.

Define your niches.

It would be easy to say @taylorswift13’s primary audience is middle-aged women.

But that oversimplification only does harm to marketing efforts.

You need data to truly understand the audience segments.

Here’s what the data tells us:

Divide and conquer each core audience segment.

To build hype and engagement for each of her core audience segments, @taylorswift13 created targeted marketing campaigns.

She catered to her various niches/audiences and that strengthened the launch of her re-recorded albums.

One audience segmentation method is demographic targeting.

You group your audience based on their age, gender, and location.

Since @taylorswift13’s audience has a wide demographic range, she created different content pieces that resonated with each segment.

Gen Z
@taylorswift13 created a short film for #AllTooWell (10-min version) starring @SadieSink of @Stranger_Things & @dylanobrien of @MTVteenwolf.
Millennials & ⬆️
She appeared on late-night shows like @nbcsnl and The @FallonTonight starring @jimmyfallon.

https://twitter.com/TheSwiftSociety/status/1461173138625019906

.@taylorswift13 excels at interest-based targeting.

Take the fashion and beauty category.

Searches for “Taylor Swift red scarf meaning” spiked by 1,400% after wearing the scarf in the album art for #AllTooWell

“What red lipstick does Taylor Swift wear” increased by 800%.

.@taylorswift13 partners with her famous friends, like
@blakelively, who directed the #IBetYouThinkAboutMe (Taylor’s version)” video.
These collaborations help her extend her content to new audiences.
Find partners who fit your vibe to reach a broader audience more efficiently.

.@taylorswift13 has mastered TikTok.

#Wildest Dreams (1989 version) — 7,000 TikTok videos made.

New re-recorded “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” — 70,000 TikTok videos w/ 2 billion views!

Takeaways:

➡️ Use data to understand your core audience’s demographics & interests.

➡️ Engage with your audience on the social media platforms they use.

➡️ Break down audience segments into smaller niches and create tailor-made and unique experiences.

.@taylorswift13 is a walking marketing masterclass who deeply understands her audience.

See how her team leveraged that understanding to create one of the best promotional campaigns for an album the music industry has ever seen.

bit.ly/3HXYOXf