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Taylor Swift hits right notes with mobile strategy for new album

Leading up to the release of her newest album today, country crossover Taylor Swift partnered with multiple mobile-driven brands to keep her social followers on their toes and build anticipation for the new music.

Campaigns with brands such as Diet Coke, iHeartRadio and the Ellen DeGeneres Show have driven extensive outreach to the artist?s fans and buzz for the new album. Given the demographic makeup of Ms. Swift?s audience, who greatly value their smartphones, she is wise to appeal to them by leveraging mobile.

?Taylor Swift has 12 million followers on Instagram and 45.7 million followers on Twitter,? said Jay Hawkinson, senior vice president of emerging products at SIM Partners, Chicago. ?Musical artists use social media to take advantage of their following through promotions and, in Taylor Swift's case, by building excitement and connections. 

?She?s built connections by randomly selecting followers into her home, and is building excitement through teasing the new album via Instagram and Twitter images,? he said.

Leveraging other top brands
On Oct. 30, Diet Coke will present Ms. Swift co-hosting On Air with Ryan Seacrest for the show?s entire four-hour broadcast live from New York City and will share exclusive details about 1989.


To bring fans closer to the experience, Diet Coke is hosting the Ultimate 1989 Fan Party Live from iHeartRadio?s New York City studios during the broadcast.

Later in the week when she guest hosts the iHeartRadio Countdown with Romeo, she will also be a featured guest on iHeartRadio Countdown with Mario Lopez and Weekend Top 30 with Hollywood Hamilton on Nov. 1 and 2. 

Ms. Swift and Diet Coke are giving four listeners the chance to see one of her upcoming performances through a sweepstakes running on-air, online and via iHeartRadio. The sweepstakes, which began Oct. 24, is accessible at iHeartRadio.com/dietcoke.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which frequently has Ms. Swift as a visitor, began posting updates on Instagram one week out for her next visit to discuss the new album.

The show posted edited creations of Ms. Swift?s previous albums to incorporate Ms. DeGeneres for comic relief and cause anticipation for that particular episode. The show's Instagram account has 6.6 million followers. 


These social efforts serve as innovative reminders that keep followers interested.

Personal branding
Over the past few weeks, Ms. Swift has released three singles from her 1989 album, such as Shake It Off, Out of the Woods and Welcome to New York.

With mere hours remaining before the release of Out of the Woods, Ms. Swift posted a number of photos on Instagram depicting the wilderness and trails. She updated her followers by hashtagging the song, iTunes and the time of release. 


She posted a photo of herself on a balcony overlooking the scenic view of New York City upon the release of her single Welcome to New York.

Ms. Swift has also given hints for the other songs on the album. By posting lines of lyrics of particular songs in creatively written ways, she also includes which number track they are and refers to hashtag #1989lyrics. Last week, she also posted the entire track list of the album.


Ms. Swift, who has 12 million followers on Instagram and 45.6 million followers on Twitter, also has her followers on the edge of their seats as they await more updates from the star.

Her posts on social are very natural and effortless, while mobile has become a natural sidekick for today?s stars. 


?I do believe Taylor Swift is one of the leaders in mobile strategy among musical artists,? Mr. Hawkinson said. ?Many artists use their social channels to build their own brand, reputation, etc., through connecting with their followers, such as Selena Gomez?s recent #ShareYourBeauty hashtag on Instagram.?

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York