With more than 15 singles currently ranked in the UK Top 40, no pop star on the planet is bigger than Ed Sheeran. The red-headed 26-year-old has an unassuming look and personality, but he has turned pop convention upside down by becoming a global superstar.
Sheeran’s formula for success is one any aspiring pop singer would love to duplicate. While his cultural appeal is rooted firmly in his apparent authenticity, pop star personas are carefully cultivated to maximise their marketability. As a result, there are many lessons marketers can take from Ed Sheeran’s music career. Here’s how to borrow some of his mojo.
Experiment with Many Types of Content
Ed Sheeran is well-known as an acoustic singer-songwriter. But he keeps racking up hits because of his constant experimentation. He isn’t afraid to incorporate a wide range of genres, styles and other influences, ranging from electronica on one end to traditional Celtic fiddle on the other.
Sheeran has managed to maintain his own voice and style while juggling these varied influences. This is an obvious strategy marketers should try to emulate: Content marketing should take many different forms, extending beyond blog posts to include infographics, videos and more. And content shouldn’t focus solely on one audience, but instead explore opportunities to reach new, relevant audiences.
Collaborate with Influencers
Sheeran frequently collaborates with artists outside of the folk and acoustic genres, which keeps his music fresh and interesting while helping Sheeran connect fans of other music genres. Some of his most popular collaborations have included as diverse as Elton John, One Direction, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and The Game.
Working with big names offers two big benefits: It can elevate the quality of your content, and it can boost your content’s reach and even help it go viral. For marketers, collaboration takes the form of influencer marketing, which uses strategically chosen influencers to help create and promote your brand’s content.
Repeat the Chorus Line
Although Ed’s songs vary widely in their genre and stylistic influences, each one is filled with repetition. It’s not due to a lack of creativity: Rather, Sheeran is using repetition to guarantee that those songs are catchy and immediately familiar to his audience.
Content marketers wouldn’t be smart to repeat sentences multiple times in the same blog post. But they shouldn’t be afraid of repeating their messaging on multiple channels, even multiple times on a single channel.
It takes time and repetition to build familiarity with your audience.
Be Your Authentic Self
The marketing activity that surrounds Ed Sheeran may be a well-oiled machine, but the singer has risen from obscurity to fame by embracing his individuality. Between his shaggy hair and his soft demeanour, the singer comes across as shy and bookish rather than a superstar. Yet this reinforces his message to fans that they should embrace who and what they are.
Marketers would be smart to emulate this tone, promoting their brand’s authenticity through behind-the-scenes content, employee messaging and advocacy, and content highlighting the organisation’s commitment to charitable causes.
Your brand isn’t a logo to hide behind—it should serve as a symbol for your brand’s larger mission. Now might be a great time to rally your team for a brainstorming session. Bring together diverse minds to drum up ideas for innovative content while keeping in mind your brand messaging and highlighting what makes your company unique.
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