Four Business Lessons From The Summer of Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift is the most famous celebrity in the world. The headlines from the summer of Taylor are staggering: $2.2 billion in ticket sales, $4.6 billion in consumer spending, $100 million in presales for a movie that premieres this week and finally a 400% increase in Travis Kelce jersey sales. (Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Helped the US Economy — We Need Her Stateside (businessinsider.com).

Taylor Swift is an immensely talented woman. But talent alone does not lead to this type of success. Calvin Coolidge famously said, “Nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.”

Here are four reasons why Taylor Swift is a superstar and how you can implement these strategies into your career or business:

1) Her music is relatable. She artfully writes about the human experience of growing up, falling in love, breaking up, being a woman and more. Her songs are personal and vulnerable stories. People remember good stories because they are memorable and evoke emotion. I attended the concert in Santa Clara, and it felt like a 3.5-hour group therapy session. People of all ages were laughing, crying and connecting with each other. It was a cathartic experience for many.

Story telling is critical when building a brand. It’s an important tool to engage your audience, build trust, and make a lasting impression. A good story can differentiate your business from competitors and create life-long customers.

2) The Eras Tour is a 3.5 hour tour de force of singing, dancing, pyrotechnics and more. It must be physically and mentally draining to put on this nightly performance. I do not believe any Swiftie felt they got anything less than her best on any given night.

It reminds me of an old story about the great Joe DiMaggio. When asked why he always hustled regardless of the score, he responded, “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time. I owe him my best.”

The best performers understand that maximum effort and dedication to the craft is their job. Fans were spending thousands of dollars to see Taylor live. The fans deserved her best.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean perfect. DiMaggio failed 67.5% of the times he stepped to the plate. Your customers don’t expect perfection, but they do expect and deserve your best effort every time. When they see the care, the effort, and the dedication, they will accept a mistake from time to time.

3) Swifties are the most dedicated and loyal fan base in the entertainment industry – they are raving fans. Raving fans are so loyal and engaged that they cannot stop telling everyone about it. If you have a social media account of any kind, you have been inundated with videos, pictures, and memes about Taylor Swift.

Raving fans become advocates for your business. These ambassadors believe the service and experience they receive is so good that they will brag about it on social media and tell their friends and family. It takes a company-wide commitment to provide exceptional customer service and exceed the expectations of the customer to create raving fans. The results will far exceed the effort.

4) I enjoyed the concert this summer in Santa Clara. It was great to spend the evening with my kids seeing a world-class performer at the top of her game. I officially became a Swiftie when I heard about the bonuses she gave to the crew and performers that were responsible for making the Eras Tour one of the most successful in history. (Taylor Swift: Truck Company Owner Calls Eras Bonuses ‘Life Changing’ – Rolling Stone.).

The amount of the bonuses was life-changing for the unsung heroes of the multi-billion-dollar empire. But I was most impressed by the insistence of Taylor to include a hand-written thank you note to each recipient. This added personal touch shows me that she genuinely wanted everyone to know how important they were to the success of the tour. This action creates raving employees. I see businesses miss the opportunity to connect and say a meaningful thank you to employees all the time. Even businesses that give generous bonuses and genuinely care about their employees fail to maximize the opportunity to make the employee feel truly valued. A personalized message from an owner to an employee, at any level in the organization, is a powerful message. Employees come first in successful businesses – do not miss an opportunity to honor them for a job well done.

My favorite Taylor Swift song

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