There has been a lot of buzz on social media this week about Taylor Swift and Kanye and Kim were barely mentioned. It was only a week ago, on Friday, August 18 that her Swifties went nuts with speculation when she wiped all of her accounts clean and they went black.
What could it possibly mean? Was she leaving music…or was this just the entrée to something bigger – new music! Now before you chuckle and wonder if I’m a Swiftie, I can quickly let you know I like her music, but I’m not a fangirl. For days the Swifties tweeted and hashtagged every idea and conspiracy theory…and like the eclipse cometh…so did more angst. Ugggg….another cryptic message, this time in the form of a snake. On Monday, Taylor teased a 10 second video showing glimpses of a snake that got 3.3 million views and provided no answers. But thanks to the viral allure and trending nature of the story, traditional newspapers, magazines and celebrity news sites were also covering the story adding to the news value of the now trending social media blackout.
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By Wednesday, the waiting was over. Her new album cover, release date and single were dropped, and the majority of the questions were answered. November is still a long ways away and Swifties are still pondering what the music will be like, who it will be about and what stories she will tell, but the first telltale signs of life show that the lights are back on in the Taylor Swift media zone.
Ask yourself… was this a media stunt or a carefully curated brand message. Our answer is… it was both.
We are in a new era of brand management that often starts online. From a President who uses Twitter to share his opinions and policy positions, to employers who stalk future employees social media for insights into their character and brands like Red Bull who deliver “own content”, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that a music icon like Taylor Swift had a content strategy for social media that went beyond a 140 character tweet that said new music coming soon.
Taylor has long been one of the most powerful influencers on social media using it to connect directly with her fans in authentic ways. Often responding herself, not waiting for a content team to respond with the usual standard messages. Social media continues to show us the unbridled power it wields to deliver information and content thanks to the reach of key influencers. It’s unlikely that traditional media would have reached so many Swifties in so little time – let alone helped non-Swifties even realize that Taylor Swift had new music dropping until they heard it on the radio. In this case, social media also showed us the power to control the message, content, and speed of delivery in a way traditional media and reporting does not.
What this content marketing strategy showed us is the power for viral reach. Taylor Swifts new music was not the only story this week…her social media stunt also captured a host of headlines creating amplified buzz for what we now know was a forthcoming album.
It’s funny how the universe has a way of reminding us about like things. Today as I was pondering the social significance of the Taylor Swift marketing exploits, I was also further reminded of the power of viral social marketing when I logged into Facebook and was shown my “memories” from three years ago which happened to be a video of my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Remember that?
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During the summer of 2014, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge activated celebrities, sports stars, politicians and regular people. Media research has calculated that more than 17 million people participated in the challenge and more than $115 million dollars was raised for ALS research. This social media event drove online and traditional media mentions that were off the charts – and even one year after the campaign, ALS mentions remained up over 50% from similar time periods, proving that not only the fundraising portion, but also the awareness portion of this campaign worked.
The ALS Challenge was a big idea…but it was also a powerful conversation starter that spurred both traditional media and social media conversations and created mass market appeal for the issue just like the Taylor Swift social media stunt created social media and mass media reach.
The cool thing about the ALS Challenge was the resulting awareness of the general population, and not just those intimately affected. Thanks to not only the fundraising, but even the viral impact of the ice bucket challenge, during the summer of 2016 researchers had a major scientific breakthrough on the disease which received widespread media coverage that would not have existed without the previous awareness efforts.
Taylor Swift isn’t in the business of global research or lifesaving endeavors, but she is a brand and her business is music, and she needs to sell albums and downloads. The more buzz she can create, the better. It’s important to remember that we are all in the brand and awareness business and social media gives us a powerful tool to cultivate our brand and our message against a measured result whether it be fundraising, awareness, sales or downloads.
Want to talk more about your online brand? Drop us an email at Melinda@fulltiltmarketing.net to schedule your free consultation.
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