The pop girlies are having a moment this year. Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Charli XCX can all teach us a thing or two about effective PR campaigns.
But the one star everyone can’t stop talking about is Taylor Swift.
Since coming to fame with the release of Love Story back in 2008, Taylor Swift has consistently been topping the charts for the past 16 years. Now, in 2024, her sell-out Eras tour has been credited with boosting local economies across the world, with the term ‘Swiftonomics’ even being devised to refer to her economic influence on various sectors.
There are countless things that education PR professionals can learn from Taylor Swift about her influence, reach, and storytelling ability, but here are the top six:
1. ‘The Story Of Us’: The importance of storytelling
Since her country days (think Tim McGraw, Picture to Burn, Our Song), storytelling has been a key part of Swift’s song writing brand. Swift connects with her audience by sharing personal experiences and emotions in her songs, but she also writes songs about others (Clara Bow, The Last Great American Dynasty, etc.)
In education PR, communications professionals can similarly tell inspiring stories about their students and alumni, showcasing real-life successes, challenges and achievements to make the narrative relatable and engaging. People want to hear about people, so ensure your pitches have a human-centric focus when pitching to journalists.
2. ‘Shake It Off’: Rejection isn’t personal
When you’re pitching to journalists, sometimes the haters gonna hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. Rejection, while tough, is often a significant aspect of getting your story noticed.
Just because one journalist doesn’t see your pitch fitting into their editorial plans, or it’s not quite what they need, it doesn’t mean the story isn’t compelling. Rejection isn’t personal – even Taylor Swift has faced her fair share of setbacks. So try to Shake It Off.
3. ‘This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things’: Problem-solve effectively
Taylor Swift has navigated various controversies and challenges throughout her life. For example, when Scooter Braun’s company acquired Big Machine Label Group, acquiring the master recordings of Swift’s first six albums, Swift quickly announced her plans to re-record her old music.
Taylor’s swift and innovative approach to problem-solving is something that education PRs take note of. Instead of simply accepting the problem, she developed a more creative solution by re-recording her old albums. She quickly took control of the narrative, addressing the issues before they could escalate. It’s an excellent example of crisis management handled well.
4. ‘Make the friendship bracelets’: Build a community
If there’s one thing Ms Swift is good at, it’s engaging with her fans. ‘Swifties’ can often be found donned in homemade friendship bracelets that feature their favourite Taylor Swift lyric, reference or song title. By interacting with her fans and encouraging them to make friendship bracelets and dress up for her concerts, she has created a powerful community and a sense of inclusion.
When it comes to higher education, PRs can help to create an equally powerful community of students and alumni. Helping to organise and publicise events, showcasing successful students and alumni in the media and celebrating alumni start-ups will make the institution’s community feel more connected.
5. ‘The old Taylor can’t come to the phone right now’: Reinvent your image
Taylor Swift’s ability to continually reinvent her image has kept her relevant and engaging across different ‘eras’ of her career.
Much like Swift, PR professionals should have a realistic view of their company’s reputation – where their company’s brand currently is, and where they want it to be. This strategy of reinvention can be incredibly useful for educational PR professionals looking to keep their communication strategies fresh and effective. In a rapidly changing world, staying static can make an institution seem outdated.
6. Bonus tracks: Listen to what people want from your brand
Taylor Swift has built a reputation for closely listening to her fans and engaging with them in meaningful ways. She is known for hiding ‘Easter eggs’ and clues in her music videos, social media posts, and album artwork, encouraging her fans to decode hidden messages and feel involved in her creative process. She listens to fan feedback and incorporates it into her music. For example, releasing additional bonus tracks on her albums after her fans called for them on social media.
Similarly, educational PRs can tailor their pitches to address the specific interests and concerns of various stakeholders, whether they are prospective students, current students, parents, alumni, or community members. Does your institution’s faculty have exciting research they want to shout about? Are there events going on that the media should know about? On the other hand, consider what journalists are looking for.
Finding this balance is an important part of helping to build your institution’s brand image.
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Reputation (Taylor’s Version)
As you can see, education PR and Taylor Swift have a lot more in common than you might’ve first thought.
At BlueSky Education, we’re all about boosting an institution’s Reputation, and we know there are more than 1989 ways to do so.
If your institution would benefit from PR and media relations support, Speak Now and contact BlueSky Education today.
Chloë was previously Content Editor for QS Top Universities and QS Top MBA, Chloë produced over 400 articles during her four years at the world’s largest international higher education network. With additional experience writing for trade media, she is also formally qualified with a Level 5 Diploma in Journalism from the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ).
