How to Improve Your Brand Strategy (Taylor’s Version)
Few artists have achieved Taylor Swift’s level of influence in the entertainment industry. With the upcoming release of her new album on Oct. 3rd, she continues to demonstrate these skills with her branding. Beyond her own knowledge, Swift has a trusted team that helps to create a branded image like no other.
Below are 3 approaches that have worked for Swift and can bring valuable lessons to your branding strategy:
Authentic Storytelling as a Core Value
Swift and her team excel at the art of being authentic, a quality drawing audiences by fostering relatability and trust. She lets fans get a glimpse of her life and the work through her music, sharing behind the scenes content and interviews. By inviting them into her world, Swift keeps fans engaged, helping to drive more traffic to her content.
While your brand may not be sharing information about your life or music being written, authenticity can still be a core in your story. You can share updates on big projects, promote real stories and show behind the scenes highlights into your brand. Leveraging user-generated content is valuable for showcasing real-life experiences. Over time, this approach builds greater consumer trust in your brand.
Strategic Content Placement
One of the biggest branding strategies that Swift and her team utilize is the content placement of what they call “Easter eggs.” These are subtle hints that tie back to her music, a project she has done or something that Swift is getting ready to announce. Her easter eggs are placed as a way to keep fans engaged to come back for more.
You may not use Easter eggs exactly as Swift does, you can still create a strategic content distribution plan. If you have an upcoming announcement, you can drop hints with numbers, phrases or visuals that can help to create hints for your audience. Likewise, when launching a new initiative, you could subtly add the name into any content or media appearances. Make sure you understand your audience’s desires to ensure you produce engaging content while aligned with your brand values to drive awareness.
Audience-Focused Engagement
Swift and her team also have succeeded at creating audience engagement, through social media campaigns, interactions with her fan headquarters account, and Swift herself interacting on her personal channels. This engagement helps her fans feel valued and a part of a larger community.
While your brand’s audience engagement may look different, one lesson from Swift’s model remains: fans value interaction and feeling heard. Something as simple as a like, comment or repost can strengthen engagement and boost overall consumer satisfaction.
For every brand, your image and strategies will be crafted differently. By “tailoring” your strategy, you are setting your brand up to results more “swiftly”.
For more information on increasing your brand, be sure to check out LaLew’s services page to find out how we can help you.