WHY MILEY CYRUS IS A TIKTOK MARKETING GENIUS

By Ashleigh Hatchard

With over 100M plays in a week, #mileycyrus’ Flowers has officially set a new Spotify streaming record. It’s no surprise really if you’ve been following its marketing.

Rather than using a standard social platform promo route – like launching a viral dance trend, for instance – Cyrus’ team have revolutionised how to promote a new track on #TikTok.

So how have her marketing team done it?

1. They targeted one platform. All focus and attention has gone on TikTok, which, as a platform, prioritises discovery, entertainment and music. It was a no-brainer, really.

2. They created a conversation mill. Between decoding Taylor Swift lyrics to the rise of pop-culture kings #Deuxmoi, it’s never been this cool to be a sleuth. Knowing fans ferociously pour over lyrics to learn about an artist’s personal life, Miley dropped clues about her past relationships for fans to hunt out. It doesn’t matter if the stories and rumours are true, it all fuels conversation online, which means there’s no incentive for Miley to confirm or deny the gossip.

3. They amplified with #UGC. The ‘Smilers’ (AKA Miley’s most loyal fans) have built a groundswell of free marketing by creating content that’s been impossible to miss. They been uncovering ‘Easter eggs’ throughout the lyrics and using TikTok’s native video editing and layering software to prove their fan theories about what the lyrics and video means. The more we see them unpack the video or hear the track, the more it earworms into popularity.

4. They built in content drops. Rather than giving everything away all at once, Miley’s team have teased fans with soundbites and clips. This has added to the cacophony of #flowers content, refuelling the conversation with each drop.

Between Matt Healy and 1975’s UGC-driven concert content and Miley’s new campaign, TikTok music marketing is changing. The shift in focus is something that can be replicated across sectors with #influencermarketing?and if you want to know how, drop me a line at [email protected].