2 Min Read
Marketing Lessons from Taylor Swift and her Eras Tour
It’s a not-so “Cruel Summer” for employees of Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour.
As the singer closed out the first U.S. leg of her record-breaking tour last week in Los Angeles, she surprised crew members with a thank you in the form of hefty bonus checks reportedly totaling $55 million.
The singer’s tour has been in the news all summer long for breaking revenue records – and even seismic records – and creating enormous economic impact in the cities she’s visited. The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia credited her in May becoming the strongest month for hotel revenue in the city since the onset of the pandemic.
The Eras Tour has solidified Swift’s stance as one of the most powerful women in music. (She also recently surpassed Barbara Streisand for the most #1 albums from a female artist.)
It was All by Design
There are several marketing lessons to learn from Taylor Swift and The Eras Tour.
By designing her setlist around all 10 of her albums, she’s effectively marketed her entire catalog, not just her most recent. All of her albums have seen increased streams since the start of the tour – up 79% at week 10 of the tour.
The “eras” theme of the tour aligns with another priority for her brand – the re-recordings of her first six albums. The latest, “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version),” was announced and released during the tour with all songs charting on the Billboard Hot 100.
The entire tour is a lesson in understanding your audience and maintaining a strong brand persona. Swift has cultivated a deep relationship with her fans throughout her career with her open candor in her lyrics and by treating them like friends. She makes each stop of the tour feel special for those in attendance that night by performing two surprise songs that are hardly ever the same.
Swift has stayed in tune with her fan’s reactions throughout the tour – even commenting on TikToks – showing that she is just as invested in them as they are in her.