Steal Spotify Wrapped's thunder (here's exactly how) 🌩️

How to piggyback on Spotify's annual viral moment

Oct 25, 2024

Very soon—probably around December 4th—the internet will explode with one thing: “Spotify Wrapped 2024”.

It’s that time of year when everyone shares their screenshots everywhere with top songs, artists, and podcasts.

But here’s the thing: You don't have to be Spotify to join this party. 🧠 You can hijack this massive trend to generate buzz by creating a viral Wrapped-style campaign.

Welcome to my playbook 👇

1) 🎯 Pick your “Wrapped” style

There are 3 different tactics you can apply here (choose one):

1️⃣ Personal wrapped

Give each user a customized “Year in Review” based on their activity—with shareable images.

Examples: Apple Music Replay, Duolingo Year in Review, Goodreads Year in Books, Tinder Year in Swipe, Todoist Year in Review, Instacart Year in Review.

2️⃣ Industry wrapped

Share insights about your industry as a whole. Those insights must come from data you collected yourself (i.e. through research) or big data analysis of your users (i.e. product analytics).
Example: Wiz Cloud Security Wrapped.

3️⃣ Funny wrapped

No real data? No worries — you can be funny here.
Examples: Merriam-Webster Wrapped, Jack in the Box Wrapped, Ryanair Wrapped, Netflix Wrapped, Hubspot Wrapped.

2) 📊 Make it about data only you can share

Your Wrapped should share insights or quirky data that only YOU can reveal. What trends, surprises, or fun facts came from your product/users/research this year?

🎁 Bonus article: How successful companies find data to share.

It’s also important to create a story around the data:

What does the data say about your users’ personalities?
How does this data relate to real-world events that happened this year?

I love how Spotify makes it all about the personality (in a flattering way): 👇

3) 🎨 Be ready to mimic Spotify’s style (quickly)

Spotify Wrapped’s design changes every year, and it’s always bold & quirky. To catch attention in social feeds — your Wrapped needs to match theirs. Here’s how to prepare in advance:

📩 Step 1: Start collecting your data nuggets today.
👨🏻‍🎨 Step 2: On December 4th, when Spotify Wrapped is likely to drop, have your designers on standby.
🎭 Step 3: Mimic Spotify’s new design style as closely as possible.
💨 Step 4: Launch your own Wrapped on December 5th to ride the wave of attention. The quicker you get it out with the same design, the better.

4) 🌧️ Orchestrate a 100% viral launch

To maximize buzz, you need a snowball effect. Here’s how to do it:

1) 🏔️ Get your team on board:

Launch internally first: When your Wrapped goes live, share it internally and encourage employees to post about it on their personal social accounts—not just resharing the brand’s post.
Run an employee competition: Run a contest for employees like “most creative caption wins”.
🎁 Bonus article: How to activate your employees on social media

2) ⛷️ Activate your top users early:

Give a sneak peek to your top 5-10 most engaged customers. Show them the content a week before launch, ask for feedback, and request their help in sharing when it goes live. They’ll feel important → so they’ll do it.

3) 📲 Join the buzz where it’s happening:

Comment on Spotify’s Wrapped posts: Use your brand’s account and your execs’ accounts.
Find influencers’ Wrapped posts: If thought leaders in your industry share their real Spotify Wrapped results, jump in with a nice comment and link to your own Wrapped campaign.
Monitor the official hashtag: Find relevant #SpotifyWrapped / #Wrapped posts and comment there too.

📅 Why December 4th? Here’s my prediction…

I’m estimating that Spotify Wrapped 2024 will drop on December 4th, because it typically releases on the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving. Here’s a look at past release dates:

2023: November 29
2022: November 30
2021: December 1
2020: December 2
2019: December 5
2018: December 6
2017: December 6

Mark your calendar, get your designers ready, and prepare to hijack the biggest RTM opportunity of the year. 🌀

See you next week ✌️

Tom

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