Spotify Wrapped is a Marketing Masterclass

December 5, 2022

Now that 2022 is close to an end, Spotify Wrapped related content is overtaking the web!

Spotify provides each user with their total minutes listened, top artists, favorite songs and more at the end of each year. I think the most interesting stat is what percentage of all listeners there are for a particular artist. This can help with bragging rights if you are in the top 1% of listeners for your friend group’s favorite artist.

People are sharing their Spotify Wrapped results with friends on social media, while some are creating their own versions of 2022 summaries with a Spotify Wrapped vibe.

User generated content, in response to and inspired by Spotify Wrapped, is being created world-wide. According to HubSpot, “Today’s consumers are influenced greatly by family, friends, and what they read and see online. People no longer share the good, the bad, and the ugly of brands exclusively at the water cooler — they share it with everyone they’re connected with online, which can include hundreds, thousands, or maybe even millions of people” (Hubspot, 2021).

Individuals, influencers, celebrities and organizations in different time zones, cultures and countries, who speak different languages are all on the same page. This world wide response reveals that Spotify has accomplished universal communication and influence through a branded marketing campaign.

What makes this campaign even better is that the hype is organic, trendy and relevant.

This campaign also doesn’t call for expensive paid advertisements. The data used for Spotify Wrapped comes from the Spotify App and it’s shared with their users annually. This end-of-year summary also highlights artists by showing their total number of streams, listeners, total number of hours that their music has been consumed and countries reached.

Over the course of 7 years, this end of year summary has created earned media opportunities and built brand awareness for Spotify. Earned media can consist of tv news segments, newspaper articles, social media shares, customer reviews, and word of mouth (HubSpot, 2021). Although earned media is created by third parties, Spotify’s earned media is effective because it creates a buzz for the app/brand. All Spotify related posts, content, shares, videos, references, or reviews that aren’t paid for are earned media for Spotify.

There are so many different streaming platforms these days.

In this extremely competitive market, Spotify is showing the power of earned media. 9to5Mac reported that up to 12.5% of Apple Music users have felt left out during the Spotify wrapped season, and are willing to make the switch to Spotify.

So, how do you make connections with your target audience to influence earned media like Spotify? “Create cool content, interact with people, and delight your customers — and you can bet they’ll spread the word” (Hubspot, 2021).

Need help creating a marketing campaign that your clients will share? Give us a call.

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