Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 2 weeks, you’ve heard about “1989″, Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated new album. In its first week, it has sold nearly 1.3 million copies– breaking not only her personal sales records, but was the highest sales week in music history since 2002. It was also the first album to go platinum this year.

While her popularity and talent has taken her very far, she owes a great deal of her success to her digital marketing and social media strategy in promoting this album. I have been closely following her promotions for quite some time, and have been very impressed by the innovative tactics she’s used in promoting her new album.

Social Media

Taylor understands exactly how to build a social presence- from creating worldwide trending topics such as #TS1989 and #taylurking, to creating a Tumblr page about a month before her album launch (and maintaining it with unique, channel-specific, heartfelt content!).

The physical copy of her album contains 13 polaroids, each with hand-written lyrics, which she released one by one leading up to the album launch. And after the launch, she tweeted out song lyrics along with photos of fans who have sent her photos of themselves with her CD. It’s that kind of personal touch that builds loyalty and resonates with followers.

Strong Connections

Taylor is very well-connected in the industry, and has cultivated genuine friendships with many other big celebrities, many of which have showed their love and support for 1989 through social media- further helping her build her credibility, extended her reach beyond her own fans, and generate more hype.

Showing Appreciation

Perhaps the most creative aspect of her campaign were her “1989 Secret Sessions”– in which she invited 89 fans to her home (in five different locations), and they got to listen to her album in its entirety months before the launch.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for these fans, during which they got to meet and hang out with Taylor, take photos with her- and she even baked treats for them! It was a unique and personal way of showing her appreciation and thanking her fans, one that many marketers can make an example of.