Happy 33rd birthday to the Queen herself, Taylor Swift! We couldn’t let this moment pass by without acknowledging this powerhouse in some way. It is no secret that she knows how to write incredible songs, but she also knows a thing or two about messaging and communications in a promotional sense. Now this isn’t to say she doesn’t have a brilliant team helping her, so kudos to them too, but we know Swift is the mastermind behind many of the campaigns that come to life.
Create unique social media campaigns
Swift has utilized social media in every way possible, from announcing albums to sharing heartfelt messages with fans. Leading up to her most recent album launch, the Midnights singer took to TikTok to share the track titles by pulling a ball out of a bingo machine, deeming it “Midnights Mayhem With Me.” These videos have garnered over 83 million views on the platform alone and were cross shared on Instagram as well. She knows how to build up excitement and people tuned in day after day to see what the next song title was. While your company or organization may not have a dedicated following like Swift, you too can share fun countdowns leading up to your annual gala or announce award recipients. Don’t be afraid to think out of the box to use social media in creative ways to interact with your followers and share content that you think will get people excited about the work you are doing.
Harness the power of traditional media
Swift is not one to shy away from the power of making announcements via traditional media. She announced her upcoming tour on “Good Morning America” first, showing that there is still merit to exclusivity when sharing big news. Swift does a traditional media tour flawlessly, sharing the news with a large, national outlet first and then giving interviews to her top priority outlets after the announcement has been made. Exclusivity can be a great tactic to use when you have a big story to share and want a key media outlet to tell the story. There are also times when offering the story or event to as many media outlets as possible at the same time makes sense, such as when an artist is painting a large public mural at a specific time. This can garner coverage from several outlets at the same time. As public relations professionals, we urge everyone to use the local and national media to get your story out there. While Swift may be a unicorn in this situation and “Good Morning America” was dealt the upper hand, if the small organization you represent has a timely, visual, feel-good story to promote you don’t have to be Taylor Swift to get it placed.
🚨 FIRST ON @GMA: @taylorswift13 is going back on tour! 🚨
— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 1, 2022
Check out all the info on her "Eras" tour here: https://t.co/ESCtIe5at0#Eras#MidnightsTaylorSwift #MidnightsTS
#TaylorSwift pic.twitter.com/M5xbcraipv
Cultivate partnerships and connections that truly make sense
Swift excels at partnerships. The commercials she stars in for tour sponsor Capital One are memorable. Her song, “Cardigan” was the inspiration for an ad that claimed opening a Capital One card is as simple as picking out an outfit in a closet full of the same cardigan. The connection between her music and the card was genius and emphasizes how partnerships should be mutually beneficial for both parties. The fans who become cardholders received presale access for concert tickets. Another way Swift has utilized partnerships is by having the sales from some of her songs go to a cause she supports. Her song, “It’s Nice To Have A Friend,” featured a composition by students at the Regent Park School of Music and acted as a fundraiser for music education. This is a good thing for nonprofits and socially responsible companies to keep in mind. Make sure the partnership makes sense for your organization and there is something in it for you that will help advance your mission or benefit those who use your services.
Know your audience, and carefully craft your message
Obviously, we have to discuss the Ticketmaster debacle. We know Swift has an insane number of fans, and she knows it too. To prepare for the volume of fans trying to get tickets to The Eras Tour, she set up the Taylor Swift Verified Fan program through Ticketmaster. The lucky few (myself not included), who were chosen as a Verified Fan had early access to purchase tickets. The goal was for as many of those fans as possible to be able to get tickets before bots could access the sale. What fans and Ticketmaster weren’t prepared for was for tickets to sell out during the presale and for it to basically be the “Hunger Games” to get tickets even for those with special access. The lesson for nonprofits and all communications professionals is how Swift and her team handled this crisis afterward. The Swift team crafted a message and shared via social to acknowledge fans first, and then explain that she had been assured the platform could handle to volume of interest in advance of the sale. She perfectly crafts this note, knowing who her audience is and making it known to fans that they are her top priority. Although Ticketmaster did apologize, they have offered no long-term solution to avoid this happening in the future.
This superstar is so much more than meets the eye, and we can all learn a thing or two from her when it comes to communicating with audiences across platforms.
