Flawless Digital Presences: The Saweetie Case Study
Saweetie kept feeding into the college-girl-next-door image until it manifested organically, making her a viral sensation.
Saweetie’s presence has been near-inescapable. Viral hits like “Tap In” and “My Type” have covered every corner of the Internet and helped her amass millions of listeners and streams across major platforms, but she hasn’t released a studio album since her big break in 2018.
In an age where trends and people alike fade as quickly as they’re introduced, Saweetie’s meteoric rise and continued relevance is a lesson in cultivating an immersive brand beyond music.
DISTINGUISH YOURSELF
“Branding” is an overused word, but for good reason. Creating a recognizable brand is not to be confused with sticking to a formula. It’s possible to constantly innovate while staying true to key aesthetics and principles that make you unique.
For Saweetie, it started early and organically after her hit single “ICY GRL” went viral. The rapper quickly took hold of the “icy” label and ran, creating everything from bedazzled chains with the phrase on it to her own Icy University, an immersive online experience with courses on female empowerment and making money.
Icy University courses:
Treat branding like a nickname: it’s not always something you can give yourself. Take note of the aspects of your artistry that resonate most with your audience, and incorporate that into your branding efforts. This can be anything from a visual style to a catchphrase. No matter what form it comes in, independent artists can benefit from finding something that sets them apart and shows audiences, and industry professionals, a rare confidence in artistry that makes everything else easier to build off of.
DIVERSIFY YOUR SOCIALS
Most artist discovery within recent years has been entirely digital.
In an interview with Forbes, Saweetie explained, “I got into the music industry through social media, there's a lot of debates whether it’s good for you or bad for you. I mean there are some cons but for a business front, social media has catapulted my music career.”
It started with freestyle videos regularly posted on Instagram over classic beats like Monica’s “So Gone.” Her freestyle over Khia’s iconic 2001 hit “My Neck, My Back” attracted the attention of Max Gousse, who eventually became her manager.
Saweetie used the newfound attention as an opportunity to:
Spend time engaging with videos of fans dancing and rapping along to her single
Highlight positive press for her music
Dig further into a now-recognizable aesthetic that combines early 2000s glamour with high fashion
This, along with the strategic marketing of her ICY branding and personality made her a sought-after figure for brand sponsorships - evidenced by her collaboration with Jack Daniels.
Instead of inundating timelines with similar video assets to promote a project (or tagging industry professionals in every post as a promotional tactic), Saweetie kept feeding into the college-girl-next-door image until it manifested organically, making her a viral sensation. Her music found second homes in a variety of TikTok challenges, creating thousands of mini-music videos that brought important elements of her brand to life.
Independent artists should focus on developing their craft, treating social media as an outlet for creativity, collaboration, and connection. Industry professionals should be able to see clean, cohesive social media pages across all platforms. Study your favorite artists’ social presences, and don’t get too caught up in the numbers. Instead, focus on converting casual listeners into fans.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Too often, independent artists follow up viral success with a record deal and a full-length project that feels rushed. It’s not always clear what the best foot forward is to capitalize on your first experience with serious buzz. However, Saweetie has managed to navigate the process with a level of calculation that all independent artists can take a page from.
Saweetie released “ICY GRL,” her Khia freestyle, nearly a year before her first EP, High Maintenance. In the months before the release of the EP, she methodically tended to her brand across digital channels. Saweetie’s focus on building her digital presence allowed her to build and sustain hype for a project, rather than moving so quickly that buzz fizzled out.
One of the biggest benefits of being an independent artist is that you have control over your deadlines and schedule. Set a timeline for yourself that spaces out your releases of singles, EPs, and even albums in a way that will bring your audience and new fans alike on an engaging journey. In between the releases you plan, find ways to deliver meaningful content to your fans that not only keeps them engaged, but introduces them to the brand they’ll come to know you for for the long haul