As a social media marketer and Taylor Swift stan, I’m constantly in awe of her community management mastery.
Social is at the center of how she and Taylor Nation—her fan engagement and hype team—connect with fans and share clues about what could be coming up next in the world of Taylor Swift. Taylor is an international pop icon for reasons beyond Grammy wins, masterful songwriting and award winning tours. She understands how to use social to connect with her fans on a deeper level that keeps them invested beyond album releases.
Hear me out…
Since Taylor started her career, she’s been fan driven. She started engaging with her growing fan base on Tumblr early in her career and continues to interact with some of her most loyal fans there. The responsive reputation Taylor built with her fans on Tumblr carried over on Twitter and, most recently, TikTok. Not only does Taylor follow her community, she actively listens to them. Whether that means helping one of her fans attend university or releasing her re-recording of “Wildest Dreams (Taylor’s Version)” early because fans had the song trending on TikTok, Swifties know that she and her team always keep an ear to the ground.
https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorswift/video/7008876381815803142
Taylor understands how to meet her fans where they are. Though she has a presence on most major social networks, she keeps her engagement focused on where her diehards are most active. You don’t need to be everywhere or the first to an emerging network. Listen to where your audience wants to engage with you and follow their lead. That’s where you’ll build the most loyal customer relationships.
Part of maintaining a devoted customer base is making them feel like they play a role in your brand’s journey. Taylor is an expert at this. You’ve probably heard about the “Easter eggs” or clues she leaves for her followers through social posts, lyrics and interactions. Let me tell you, this is what the Taylor Swift experience is all about. Everything she does on social media makes fans feel like it’s a secret message made just for them. Sometimes our theories are correct—like when fans were convinced that this butterfly mural in Nashville was a clue for the Lover album release (and then Taylor made a surprise appearance).
Welp it was real. pic.twitter.com/TfSrAaZumC
— d. patrick rodgers (@dpatrickrodgers) April 25, 2019
