Have you noticed that the world of awesome marketing strategy is changing? And rapidly. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Mass audiences are fragmenting into small segments. Developing a point of difference is harder than ever. These awesome marketing strategies case studies will show you how though.
Marketing strategies case studies … Taylor Swift
Are you a fan of the singer/songwriter Taylor Swift? I certainly am. And I am even a bigger fan of the innovative Taylor Swift brand. Marketing lessons from Taylor Swift are a great output for all of us.
Remember that consumers engage with people, not brands.
Unless you live under a rock, you know that Taylor Swift is a very talented star. Not since Eminem’s global domination of “The Eminem Show” in 2002 has a music artist sold more copies of records.
And as background that is with more than a decade of declining music sales and album profits.
But for many fans of Swift, this doesn’t come as a surprise. She’s been quietly building up to this moment with a career that has consistently delivered her brand directly to audiences for more than a decade.
For any digital marketer, there is a lot to Swift’s approach that can inspire the direction for your brands. Here are many tips to consider.
Her transparency builds familiarity and trust
Swift is a master of social media, from famously lecturing her record company about MySpace when she was 15 years old, to dominating Tumblr this year with her open and honest relationship with her fans.
But it’s not just that she’s dedicated to these channels. It’s her tone. She feels so real, so authentic to her fans. Namely, she doesn’t act like the biggest pop star in the world.
She acts like your best friend, someone who gets you, someone real who you can talk to. Marketers need to learn from this tone. On social media, your brand needs to feel friendly and approachable
Familiarity and trust
Swift is a master of social media. It’s her engaging style. She feels so real, so authentic to her fans. Namely, she doesn’t act like the biggest pop star in the world.
On social media, your brand needs to feel friendly and approachable. Brand equity is built through familiarity and trust.
No brand has more consistently executed this than Taylor Swift.
Uniqueness
Establishing a brand identity requires something distinctive. For instance, Apple has become known worldwide for their innovative products and minimalistic, aesthetic appeal.
Creating an identity like Taylor Swift doesn’t demand an extraordinary talent. It simply needs to have one special thing that separates it from the competition.
In reality, it’s possible to be “a one trick pony” as long as that trick is really good.
Once a company figures out what that is, it can concentrate on it and should gain recognition in time.
Competitiveness
Gaining an edge in today’s business or entertainment world isn’t easy. For an entertainment brand to make a name for itself, team members should thrive on competition and constantly strive to improve.
When it comes to the major players in any industry, none simply sit back and hope that their consumers will do the work for them.
Instead, they tend to be the movers and shakers who work tirelessly toward building and optimizing their brand, going above and beyond consumer expectations.
The result tends to be alike the Taylor Swift brand that is continually on the cutting edge.
Understands social media marketing
Taylor Swift ’s social media presence is truly incredible. And she’s everywhere — Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Line — she has all the channels covered.
But what she and her team understand is that these are unique tools. They don’t broadcast the same post through all social media channels; they use each one differently.
Across every social channel she uses, she is astutely aware of how those channels should be used and how fans on those channels interact with each other.
Her social media marketing is distinct, relevant, and just plain right in every place.
All brands need to start recognizing that their one-size-fits-all social media approach is out of touch in this hyper-personalized, increasingly fractured, digital world.
Marketing strategies case studies … Birchbox
We like to write about invention; creativity, innovation, and business adaptability (see our article Innovative Business Ideas … Creativity, Invention, or Innovation?). We believe that the more adaptable and innovative the business, the greater the probability of success.
So we like to share new business ideas that illustrate adaptability and innovation.
Enter the startup Birchbox business model. Birchbox is the leading discovery commerce platform and is redefining the retail process by offering consumers a unique and personalized way to discover, learn about, and shop the best beauty, grooming, and lifestyle products on the market.
Birchbox is a 360-degree process: experiment, learn and decide. A process we believe works quite well.
Birchbox is reporting 800,000 subscribers and is a next-generation beauty magazine, where the ‘pages’ are made out of product samples, not paper. Rather than take out advertising space, advertisers buy up space in the box, allowing subscribers to discover and trial their new products; supporting editorial is bundled into the box.
In other words, Birchbox is ‘native advertising’ with the advertising the sample products. Talk about content marketing innovation; this is a great example. Quite possibly the future of content marketing?
Content marketing, the use of publishing channels as opposed to advertising channels to achieve marketing goals, for consumer products typically falls into one of two buckets – the ‘content spectacular’ (think Red Bull’s space-diving), or ‘native advertising’ – sponsored/advertorial content in media publications
It is in the third vision of content marketing – where content is baked into the product experience – where Birchbox sits. The product, not the ad, is the content – and it is delivered in a way that is exciting, shareable, and share-worthy.
How the Birchbox business works:
The Birchbox
Each month, you receive a selection of samples that the company staff has tried (and retried) themselves. The source samples from both well-known brands and emerging gems. The women’s subscription includes everything from skincare to makeup, as well as fun non-beauty extras.
The men’s subscription delivers top-tier grooming products in addition to lifestyle accessories ranging from hip socks to tech accessories.
The Content
The product content helps you get the most out of your samples. The Birchbox magazine is a source of inspiration, advice, and information. It shows you how to master techniques and upgrade your daily routine with articles, expert interviews, and videos.
The Shop
When you are ready for more of the products you sampled, you can purchase full-size versions directly from the Birchbox Shop.
The shop has a generous loyalty program that rewards you every time you shop, refer friends and give feedback on your monthly samples.
You can redeem Birchbox Points and save on any full-size or gift purchase.
The company’s now sharing stats that suggest this business model is showing a success. Birchbox says its e-commerce sales are on track to triple this year, with more than one-half of Birchbox’s monthly subscribers going on to make purchases from the company’s e-commerce store.
There are also full-size e-commerce orders that come from non-subscribers. About 15 percent of the company’s orders come from customers who don’t get the monthly box of sample products.
The company has been around since 2010 when co-founded with two Harvard Business School alumni. They were looking for a way to help women discover new cosmetic products and started shipping boxes of samples for about $10 per month.
They have since expanded into men’s products with a slightly more expensive subscription service full of lifestyle goods and grooming products.
Marketing strategies case studies … Seth Godin
Do you have a list of your favorite marketing influencers? We certainly do, and Set Godin leads the list. A while back we posted a blog entitled Stimulate Thinking and Learning by Selecting the Best Mentors.
Seth Godin marketing lessons learned to make him a favorite author of mine. As the article describes, he is also a silent mentor. He mentors through his writings and presentations.
Yes … he does stimulate a lot of thinking and learning, but he also has a great knack for entertaining while he teaches.
I am obviously a big fan. He is a great entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. He is also a brilliant marketer. Over the years I’ve read many of Seth’s 11 books, listened to his interviews and have even watched several of his presentations on Ted.
Before we continue, let me ask you a question.
What works best for marketing strategy design in your business? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and post it in the comments section? Be the one who starts a conversation.
With the advent of the Internet, the number of marketing options available to both budding and experienced entrepreneurs has become staggering.
Related post: How to Get Small Business Press Coverage
So in today’s blog we will share and discuss our favorite eleven marketing lessons from him:
Building Repeat Customers: 11 Easy Fixes for Customer Growth
Marketplace conversations
Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations, the ones that create the basis for your word of mouth marketing.
Here is an example we always come back to:
Fleur, a florist shop in Chicago, puts a bucket full of bright balloons by the door of their shop both inside and out, with a handwritten sign that says: “Take a balloon.” That’s all. No logos, no catch. It is just a small action to make people smile.
Inside the store, it makes a pretty display, and outside the store, people are likely to ask where you got the balloon.
That’s a simple, fun way to get a conversation started without a marketing message. A bucket full of balloons is a bucket full of the word of mouth memories waiting to happen. It doesn’t have to be branded or a part of a larger campaign — in fact, the simpler you make it, the better.
Remarkable products
Remarkable products and services get discussed more often. Marketing starts with having products and services that are better than the competition, making them remarkable and worthy of being discussed by your customers.
Keeping promises
Making promises and keeping them … is a great way to build a brand. This is one of our ‘first and foremost’ branding lessons. Emphasis on making as well as keeping is required.
Your best customers
Your best customers are worth … far more than your average customers. It starts with knowing who your customers are, then knowing the best of the group.
Marketing expense
You’re viewing marketing as an expense especially if you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget. Good marketers realize that marketing is an investment.
Stories and storytelling
Good marketers’ best way of conveying their messages is by telling stories.
