What Taylor Swift’s Red Release Can Teach You About Marketing

On Nov. 12, pop singer and marketing powerhouse Taylor Swift released a rerecorded version of her 2012 album “Red.”?

The move was her latest in efforts to reclaim rights to her earlier music, a battle over masters that afflicts many other artists in the music industry.?

It was a big day. Taylor broke two Spotify records and her music totaled 122.9 million streams in 24 hours— three-quarters of which came directly from “Red (Taylor's Version).”?

The accompanying short film “All Too Well,” a signature track on the album, is at nearly 40 million views on YouTube at the time of this writing.?

Her album is also having resounding effects within the music industry.?

“Universal, the largest record label in the world, has in recent contracts reportedly doubled the time it bars artists from re-recording their music, according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal,” according to Business Insider.

It was a big day for T-Swift fans, too. You see, “Red” is a nostalgic album. It’s full of stories our 21-year-old selves all relate to. It’s one of those magical masterpieces that freezes time, transports you into flashbacks and echos of memories, and embraces you like a warm (red) scarf on a chilly fall day.?

The longtime Taylor fan in me had an emotional weekend, reveling in the sentiment of it all and remembering what it felt like to dance to these songs 10 years ago. The marketer in me was hella impressed.?

She’s long been known for her business and marketing prowess. And with the buzz and impact of this release, I couldn’t help but zero in. I’ve identified six lessons marketers can learn from Taylor's recent release — whether you like her music or not.?

Serve your audience

Taylor is vocal about the special relationship she has with her fans. She’s known for surprising them at birthday parties or proms, staying late to sign autographs, and hosting digital hangouts.?

During her appearance last week on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, she shared more insight into this unique relationship.?

“I really do feel like I know [my fans] really well. I go online and I look at what they think about things. I really care about their opinions and theories … I think I know what they are wanting,” she said.?

Imagine that. Thinking about what your audience wants and how it aligns with your own goals.?

As a marketer, are you serving up what your audience wants from you? Do you even know what that is??

We should all know our audiences as well as Taylor knows her fans, and take care of them at the end of the day.?

Experiment with Easter eggs

If you don’t already know, Taylor has been dropping Easter eggs — hidden messages — in her work for years.

Her secret messages began in the CD version of her albums. She would capitalize certain letters, and if you strung them all together, they would reveal a message. Giving you a clue about who inspired songs on the album, or it might be foreshadowing something to come in the future.?

These got a little out of hand last year when she published five albums, multiple music videos, and a documentary. Easter eggs galore!?

This got to a point where, when she realized how much fans were catching on and developing their own theories, she would plot just how deep or how far into the future she could go.?

How can marketers apply the same level of cleverness? Perhaps not in the same way as Taylor, but no one wants to be boring. Why not experiment with witty ways of spicing up your content and keeping your audience on their toes??

Can you drop hints about a big event in your email newsletters? Perhaps turn it into a guessing game on social media? Can you try hidden messages in print materials or guides??

Delight and surprise

Releasing an album and short film on Friday wasn’t enough.

On Sunday, Taylor dropped a teaser to a surprise music video for “I bet you think about me,” also featured on the “Red” album.?

This was already a delightful surprise, but the cherry on top was it was directed by actress and Taylor BFF Blake Lively.?

And after this article was written, she did it AGAIN. On Nov 17., she shared on Instagram that she recorded another version of "All Too Well" — this time a "Sad Girl Autumn Version."

The ‘ole “surprise and delight” marketing advice may feel tired at times, but it always rings true, doesn’t it? Why shouldn’t we delight our audiences? And who doesn’t love an aptly planned surprise??

From gifts of appreciation to sending swag to charitable campaigns to refreshing copy — the options are limitless. At Chili Piper, for example, we like to surprise and delight people with our burning red hot sauce — and people love it.?

As marketers, I think we should always be thinking about how we can surprise and delight.?

Think multi-format?

Album. Short film. Surprise music video. Late-night TV interviews. Epic merch store. And who knows what else she has up her sleeve.?

Talk about a lot of marketing channels. This is a short one because it’s obvious.?

Not everything we do as marketers makes sense to be executed across multiple channels and formats. But for most things? Yes. Repurpose content, promote it creatively across channels, and have fun with it.?

Go all-in on storytelling

Bops like “Shake it off,” aside, Taylor is a songwriter first and foremost, according to her and well, me and fans alike.?

While I admit some of her earlier work is lyrically juvenile (but I mean, she was 18) records like “folklore” and “evermore” really shone a light on her prowess with words.?

From weaving real-life events into beautiful stories you can picture in your head to breathing life into fictional stories meant to inspire and make you feel — and we can’t forget about the secret messages strewn throughout.

Some core lessons we can take from her storytelling:?

• The magic is in the details?
• Give a sense of perspective?
• Lean into metaphors and idioms (when appropriate and on-brand, of course)?

Be genuine?

You can call Taylor a lot of things. And music, of course, is subjective. But one thing you can’t deny is her authenticity.?

Perhaps that’s subjective to an extent, too, but her lyrics speak for themselves.?

It takes courage and vulnerability to pour your experiences and heart and pain into words, string them together with a melody, and then put them out into the world for strangers to devour and judge.?

By that argument, all musicians and artists possess a certain level of admirable vulnerability that should inspire all marketers.?

I’m not saying you should dump your personal life into your marketing materials. But to an extent, just be you. Be human. Do what feels authentic to your brand and the human experience.?

After all, there is a human on the other side of everything. do. Connect with them. When you do this well, you can’t help but be genuine. And that’ll win every time.?