Auto

How to Market Music: An Effective 3-Step Music Marketing Formula That Works

How to market your music more effectively

Knowing how to market your music is without a doubt the most important thing you can do for your music business and your music career in general. You know it’s something that needs to be handled and if you don’t put in the effort to learn how to market your music more effectively, then you should know that at the very least nothing serious will ever happen in your career in the music business.

The first thing to ask yourself is if you are currently managing the most basic elements of an effective music marketing campaign.

What I mean by this?

To get started, it’s important to assess where you are right now and determine if you know and understand exactly what the building blocks of an effective music marketing campaign are. Let’s face it, if you’re planning to make a name for yourself in the music industry, it’s important to realize that you’ll be investing a lot of your time and money into your music career. If you are certain that your absolute goal is to mold your musical talents into a true “music business” and you have no doubts about the career you have chosen… then you want to be as efficient and productive as you possibly can be.

Most independent bands and musicians, whether rock, hip hop, folk, or any other genre, tend to only work on one or two of the three essential requirements of effective music marketing. For example, most musicians are great at connecting with an audience. With Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube in the mix, communications have become stupidly simple for today’s musician.

On the other hand, soliciting the sale is sometimes handled effectively, but tends to be approached haphazardly and without a formula or the necessary accompanying awareness campaigns. This lackluster approach tends to cloud the efforts of even the hardest working bands and musicians in the industry. Unfortunately, applying just one or even two of these key components without the third essential element in a music marketing campaign will not yield the maximum return for the time invested. This is not the way to market music effectively.

Don’t get me wrong, getting your name out there and engaging in conversation with fans can be great, even self-rewarding and definitely better than doing nothing at all, but imagine how much more effective it would be if you were to work on all of these essential aspects of marketing your music business armed with a formula and a specific purpose.

The solution to ineffective music marketing

The bottom line is that when you break down the ins and outs of how to market your music effectively, it becomes clear that as a musician, it’s important to discipline yourself to focus on the elements that are most productive for growing your music business. Broken down into an easy-to-follow process, these elements of music marketing and music promotion essentially consist of a 3-step formula:

Step #1 – Create awareness: Find an audience that appreciates your musical style, your sound and your identity. Take the necessary steps to communicate your musical message to them. Everything you do should raise awareness of you and your music at all times. Approach this with precision and a firm direction and the foundation of your music business will be solidified for years to come.

Step #2 – Connect with your audience: I mentioned earlier how stupidly simple it is to connect with fans today. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and many other online “hangouts” make this process a breeze. Once you’ve laid the initial groundwork and let your audience know exactly what you have to offer, work on maintaining those important ongoing relationships with your fans, the media, and all the important music industry contacts you gather over the course of the year. road. Your fans and contacts want to know that you are real. That you care about them. That you are here for a long time. Making connections with them and keeping them involved in your growth process will ensure this happens for you.

Step #3 – Sell your stuff (Ask for the sale): This is essential. If you don’t have products to sell… you DON’T have a music business. Working to create a steady and consistent cash flow for your music business is critical to your long-term success. Entice fans to spend their money and buy your stuff and the rest of your music marketing processes will flow and flourish much more easily.

Yes! Easier said than done

I recognize that it’s easier to talk about these things than to make them happen in your career, but that’s what music business is all about, so incorporating these processes into your music business campaign is a must, or it just won’t last. long enough to make a dent in the world of music.

And that’s not what we want for your music career… is it?

Again, it might seem easy enough to put these things down on paper, but the truth is that most bands and musicians will find a hundred and one ways to mess this up.

You’ll spend too much time building awareness and connecting with your audience, but then you won’t solicit the sale. Or you will ask the dirty way often and forget to connect with your people. I mentioned earlier that it’s great to get all hype, get busy and go out and do a lot of music marketing, but if you’re not touching on all three elements of this process of how to market music, then you’re missing the boat and what’s more important… your fans won’t “feel” your vibe. They just won’t connect with you on a deeper level. No connection, no sales, and no sales, you don’t have a music business.

Don’t fall into the trap of the music marketing business

You have seen them. They are everywhere. Silly press releases that musicians love to send these days. These press releases are posted and delivered to my inbox daily with headlines like: “Johnny Come Lately, 123 How To Rock & Roll Band’s Latest Album Release”. Go ahead… admit it. You’ve probably felt something like this yourself at one time or another.

Unfortunately, there are a few problems with this spray-and-pray technique that will become apparent when you compare a headline like this to my 3-step process. See the press release that handles the “Build Awareness” aspect and even touches lightly on the “Sell Your Stuff” step, but it doesn’t connect and my friend is a no no. He is 100% selfish and will unfortunately fail every time it is used.

The fans and the media see through this. All the gang wants is the money. For some unknown reason, the band expects us to go to the link included in their press release and click the buy button. But where is the connection? What about the awareness we need BEFORE they ask for the sale?

Think about it. Have you ever bought an album, or anything, without some sort of emotional connection? Most likely you haven’t. If you think you have… think again. I’m sure you’ll reflect and realize that a connection of some kind was definitely involved in your purchase. Musicians who make this unforgivable marketing mistake should be ashamed of themselves. If this is the only way you promote and market your music, give yourself an hour or so to track the results.

I’m willing to bet what you find isn’t very encouraging.

Are you leaving money on the table?

Now let’s see the other side. What about the musicians who connect with us in a masterful way but never ask for the sale? You’ve experienced it, and honestly, you probably love them. You like their music, you love their stage presence, and you love hearing from them. But when you want to support them and show them your love… you just don’t know where to turn. They never tell you where you can buy their stuff.

Not a great formula for success, right?

If you’re not asking for the sale, you’re failing your fans. Fans who love bands love to buy band “stuff.” You can’t drop the ball on this. Without generating cash flow, you simply will not be successful in the music business. It’s too expensive to work in a music business with no cash flow. The fun runs out very quickly when the money keeps flowing out, but never comes back in. Don’t be that band, don’t be that musician.

How to make the 3-step music marketing formula work for you

I realize that you may not have much time in your life. You may be working 9 to 5 right now or maybe your touring schedule is crazy. Regardless of your current situation, it’s important to take the time to implement these 3 activities into your music business promotions. Start by cutting back on one hour of TV every day and use that time to raise awareness of your music.

Find out where your fans hang out and get active with them. Let them know what you are doing. Create some behind-the-scenes videos on your studio recording sessions and your road trips in the van on your way to your next concert. Let the fans know who you are. Let them see you in real life situations. This creates rapport and connection while also creating awareness…double whammy.

What do you do when you get to the bathroom? Personal question, I know, but stay with me for a while. Why not take your smartphone with you next time and instead of reading the latest updates on Facebook, post something relevant on your fan page? Answer one or two of your fans’ questions on your timeline or tweet them for all to see. Why not share or retweet a fan post? In other words, connect with your audience every day for at least 15-20 minutes. Find the time one way or another.

We can all find 20 minutes in a day if we REALLY want to.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *