Data Storytelling and User-Generated Content Campaigns

Why wait for Christmas presents when you can tear into your Spotify Wrapped data?

Every December, the Spotify app allows users to share their most-listened-to songs, artists, and genres of the year. Known as Spotify Wrapped, it’s the campaign that has kept on giving since 2016.

Spotify recognizes the need to make the data people love into a social media moment with their annual campaign. Our feeds have been stacked with people’s wraps, brand memes, and endless comparisons between Spotify and Apple Music over the last few weeks. It’s safe to say the campaign is invaluable in positioning Spotify as the elite Millennial and Gen Z music streaming platform.

Beyond Spotify Wrapped being a fun way to look back over your year in music, it continues to teach us valuable lessons each time it dominates the social media landscape.

Don’t People Hate Having Their Behaviors Tracked by Marketers?

The difference with Spotify Wrapped is that customers are at the heart of the campaign every year. It’s like an in-depth personality test and horoscope reading hand-delivered to your inbox. All users have to do is listen to their regularly scheduled playlists. However, by the end of the year, the data tells a story.

You listened to a Taylor Swift breakup song 34 times on August 19? Do you want to talk about it?

Data can be fun if it provides value for both parties. Visual representations of data help users understand the story of their listening better than an itemized list of their top artists and songs.

A Master Class in UGC Marketing

With its bold and eye-catching graphics that change every year, Spotify Wrapped feels like a wave of camaraderie hits everyone (and their feeds) at once. Spotify has created a highly successful user-generated content campaign by making the graphics easy to share with others.

One UGC lesson that can’t be forgotten is that the graphics become perfect templates for memes. Everyone can adopt Spotify Wrapped-like data and transform it into a chuckle for their followers.

What were your brand’s top five moments this year? How many minutes did you spend in meetings that could have been an email? What was the top food cuisine catered for staff lunches? The possibilities (and memes) are endless.

Furthermore, Spotify Wrapped creates FOMO for everyone who doesn’t use the platform. There’s a heated debate about which platform is better overall, but once a year, the argument is silenced by the sheer quantity of shared posts from Spotify users. To compete, Apple Music has started releasing an Apple Music Replay at the end of each year to highlight users’ top artists. However, the Apple Music Replay remains a mostly web experience, so it misses the mark on shareability and UGC opportunities.

Top Takeaways for Your Brand

1. Use data to your advantage.

If you’ve got it, use it. Whether you’re sharing insights and successes or frustrations and flops, people want authenticity from your brand. Utilizing the Spotify Wrapped formula is a fun way to connect with your customers and let your data tell a story.

2. Create connections with your audience.

Make your audience feel like they’re a part of the story. Remember, data tracking can be construed as an invasion of privacy. However, since most of us have accepted constant tracking in our digital lives, keeping data reports personalized and focused on positives is essential.

3. Make things easy to share.

Making things aesthetically pleasing for mobile-friendly experiences is an easy way to encourage customers to share your content. Even a simple download, copy link, or share button can help create a frictionless experience for your customers and lower barriers that could keep them from sharing.

4. Make your brand bold, different, and memorable.

Knowing your brand voice and identity is invaluable to your marketing strategy. If you need help making a splash with your branding and connecting with your audience, consider partnering with Jajo to help your brand build believers.

Jajo offers a data-based digital and social media management strategy and creates experiences to promote your brand and keep your audience engaged. Who knows? We could help your brand become the new Spotify. Schedule your consultation today.