How Selena Gomez’s album release is a masterclass in TikTok strategy

We all know Selena Gomez is a musical genius.

But what she accomplished with producer Benny Blanco on the duo's recent album release provides a blueprint of what a disruptive social marketing campaign looks like in the age of TikTok and short-form video.  

Gomez recently unveiled I Said I Love You First, a collaborative album between her and her fiancé Blanco. The couple announced they were engaged in December, which took social media by storm. 

A few months later, they debuted their new album with a knockout TikTok campaign. This campaign had it all: Breadcrumbs, challenges, hidden content, new social features and more. Here’s an overview of the winning tactics in Gomez and Blanco’s strategic use of TikTok that amplified a cultural moment.

Lean into new features

When a social platform launches a new feature, they have a high incentive to get a large number of people to use it quickly. So naturally a very smart move is to lean into that new feature. That’s exactly what Gomez did with Fan Spotlight, a new TikTok feature that allows artists to showcase their favorite fan videos on their music tab. For the album launch, fans using #ISaidILoveYouFirst could be featured on her music tab, showcasing the most creative interpretations of their new tracks. 

Gamify exclusive content

The more interactive a campaign the better, and Gomez pulled out all the stops on this one. Through interactive challenges, fans were able to unlock exclusive content, including a clip from an unreleased song and music video. Those who fully engaged in the experience could also earn a custom album-themed profile frame. 

Fans could additionally get official album merch through TikTok Shop, which they integrated into the challenges. Given how big of a focus Shop is for TikTok (they set an ambitious growth target of nearly 100% for 2025), connecting to commerce is a smart idea for any brand. 

Get creators in on the action

A smart strategist will tell you that when you launch a campaign, don’t just work with creators on content—have creators on the sideline that you partner with react to the content. Gomez incentivised creator engagement by featuring creators on her fan spotlight when using the album hashtag, meaning those creators could reach an enormous audience to help scale their own reach and following. Every creator wants access to a Gomez-size audience, so this was a big incentive to be part of the conversation. 

There’s no question this album was a major launch and cultural moment, but let’s take a closer look at the actual performance in numbers of the TikTok campaign. 

1. Their album announcement video accumulated 24.4 million views and 3 million likes.
2. A single clip featuring Benny doing Selena’s makeup while playing “Call Me When You Break Up” attracted 52.9 million views and 5.2 million likes.
3. A clip of Selena singing along to the track “Call Me When You Break Up” generated 31.6 million views and 4 million likes.

Do I think people would have gone crazy for this album regardless of the promotion? Yes. Gomez is a global superstar. But what they did here guaranteed engagement not just from her fans, but the entire TikTok community.

This playbook has all the elements: custom social content, breadcrumbs to follow, experiences to unlock and more. Let the music industry be a guide to how social content drives culture online and offline. 

It was only a couple of months ago a TikTok-commissioned Luminate study revealed that 84% of songs entering the Billboard Global 200 in 2024 achieved viral status on TikTok before charting. Music, movies and products are all gaining popularity on social media before they become high-demand brands by the general public. 

The lesson here: The social arena is increasingly where winners of any category are bred, and the brands who get social right are seeing big dividends. Doing something new and unique certainly helps, but it’s also about being curiosity-first and knowing your audience. Gomez and Blanco’s album promotion across TikTok is another example of music artists breaking through the cultural zeitgeist while staying true to their consumers.