This is Beyoncé’s world and we’re all just living in it.
Singer Beyoncé Knowles released her self-titled visual album at midnight EST on December 13. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal except that as of 11:59 p.m. EST on December 12, nobody knew it was coming. To borrow from another pop star, Beyoncé came in like a wrecking ball.
As soon as word of the surprise release hit the Web, Beyoncé was dominating all forms of social media. At one point, Beyoncé-related topics occupied 6 of the 10 nationwide Twitter trends. Less than 12 hours after the release, her 17 30-second video previews had racked up more than 2 million views on her YouTube page. An Instagram video released by Beyoncé to announce the release rang up more than 465,000 likes and 35,000 comments in its first 12 hours.
According to industry sources, the album, featuring 14 songs and 17 videos, sold more than 80,000 copies in the first three hours after its release. In case you were wondering, that’s roughly 444 copies a minute.
For comparison’s sake, her last album sold 310,000 copies in its first week – with the help of a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign.
Let’s be honest: for anyone other than Beyoncé, this “no marketing” marketing technique likely wouldn’t work.
But what this album release teaches us is the overwhelming importance of having an established community online and on social media. Beyoncé released announcement videos on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. After that, her fans went to work.
You may not have 53 million Facebook fans, but that doesn’t mean you can’t build and keep a powerful, loyal community. Reward your fans with meaningful content, personal touches and humor, and one day they’ll reward you with support.
Want to learn how to Run the World, or at least the Internet, like Beyoncé? Listen up! We’d love to have a conversation about using the Irreplaceable tool of social media for your business. Give Matt Ferraguto, our client services director, a call at 919-858-6914 or shoot us an email.
