Marketing 101 with Beyoncé

While many think of Beyoncé as a singer and entertainer, she is also an entrepreneur and marketing genius! Not only is she a Grammy-winning artist, but she is also co-owner of Tidal, an investor of WTRMLN WTR and co-founder of the activewear brand Ivy Park. In the past several years, Beyoncé has shown useful marketing tactics that many could benefit from.

Surprise Marketing

Although many artists tend to promote their upcoming album three months in advance, Beyoncé strayed from this. Unlike other musicians, she did something different. The day before her Super Bowl performance in 2016, Beyoncé released her lead single from her Lemonade album with no warning. Accompanying the song was a visual video. Prior to this, Beyoncé had been on a hiatus for almost three years. The anticipation was already building up. She didn’t give her fans any sort of warning or promotion. She broke a lot of the rules and norms in the music industry doing so. And it paid off for her.

By doing all of this, Beyoncé has changed the marketing game. She took advantage of the anticipation and the surprise factor to capitalize her impact. Not only this, but it made people care even more when she released her single. It seems human nature to yearn something they like or love after going a period without it. Beyoncé understood this and was able to generate buzz with her surprise single and video.

Timing

Along with everything stated above, Beyoncé’s timing of releasing music added to her impact. In a time with racial issues rising, Beyoncé dropped a single serving as an empowerment anthem for Black people, specifically Black women. This aside, Beyoncé announced the Formation World Tour moments after her Super Bowl performance. Without an announcement of an album, this sent fans going crazy. Speculations raised that she would release her highly-anticipated album before her tour. Although this was true, Beyoncé did not give a release date. In fact, Beyoncé released her album, Lemonade, a week before her tour. This album sparked major conversation about Black culture and the rising racism. Not only that, but it was a look into Beyoncé’s marriage with Jay-Z; the cheating allegations of Jay-Z, the impact on their marriage, the journey to forgiveness. She used this album as her outlet on all of these issues.

What does this teach us? Timing is key when marketing. Beyoncé knew she’d have a huge audience during the Super Bowl, so she capitalized on this. She was also aware  of the political climate and social issues occurring. On top of this, she knew that her marriage was being looked at because of the cheating speculations. Using this to her advantage, she was able to create mass excitement when she released he album.

Exclusivity

The Beyhive (Beyoncé’s fandom) is one of the biggest fan communities in the world. Beyoncé acknowledges this, and often gives them early access to tickets and merchandise. Recently, she’s used Tidal as a way to give fans early access to her announced tours. This often makes fans feel like VIP. Also, when releasing Lemonade, she partnered with HBO to showcase an exclusive visual of her album. This made fans feel like they were part of an exclusive club.

Here, Beyoncé taught us that membership is crucial for companies and brands. People like to feel they are part of something that’s important to them. When you offer a membership, it is important to cater to your members. Letting them know that they matter or what you’re doing is crucial. Offering VIP access to your events, merchandise , or anything that you might offer them will keep the exclusivity feeling to your members.

Through her marketing strategies, Beyoncé showcases how she’s become as impactful and successful as she is. She takes advantage of surprises, timing and exclusivity. Along with this, she uses her access to media, specifically social media, to create and continue hype and excitement. We hope these marketing tactics were helpful. Let us know what you think!

Image Sources: TBWA Concept

By Fernando Lopez