Tag Archives: marketing

Social Media Promotion
Books-Resources, Products, Resources

Social Media Promotion for Musicians: The Manual for Marketing Yourself, Your Band, and Your Music Online

Social Media PromotionThis update to Bobby Owsinski’s Social Media Promotion for Musicians will teach you how to use social media to effectively promote yourself and your music. It reveals a host of online insider tips and techniques to help you gain more fans and followers, increase your views and streams, and grow your ticket and merchandise sales. Not only does it show you how to effectively increase your online presence, but it also provides tips for maximizing your online exposure, saving time in social media posting, using each platform (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter) most efficiently, boosting your streams and views, developing a brand, maximizing engagement, and more.

Social Media Promotion for Musicians: The Manual for Marketing

phone call
Music Business

Marketing 101: A Good Old-Fashion Phone Call

phone callIn the modern day many people will more readily send an email than physically call a person. Emails, social media, and other communication is great way to get in touch with people, but sometimes the most successful way is a good old-fashion phone call.  A well-developed telephone technique is crucial to the success of the client contact process. Potential clients can sense when you don’t feel confident, even when that conversation is over the phone.

If you lack confidence or if you are shy, you should consider getting advice on how to put forward a strong verbal presentation over the telephone. Many books have been written on the subject, and they are not just for telephone salespeople. Anyone who uses the telephone to drum up business must work on their technique.

Speaking slowly and clearly and learning a “script,” especially when you are cold-calling clients, are some of the techniques worth knowing. Another is how to follow up on cold calls. Yet another is how to leave a message on voice mail that will be memorable, which is a technique a little like a 30-second elevator pitch without the business card.

Some musicians don’t think it’s respectable to call a client themselves. They believe that clients have less respect for musicians who represent themselves than for musicians who are represented by an agent. Therefore, some musicians prefer to have an agent who will call clients on their behalf.

However, you should consider that TV commercials where the owner of the car dealership or mattress emporium represents him or herself are rated higher and more effective than commercials that don’t have an owner present. This was part of the secret behind the rise of the Wendy’s restaurant chain, under the charismatic leadership of Dave Thomas, who often appeared in national TV ads.

Following this logic, clients may well be more convinced of your skills as a musician and bandleader if they talk to you in person, rather than through an agent. Plus, one of the benefits of representing yourself is that you at least know how you are being presented.

Telephone calls are still one of the least expensive and most effective ways of self-promotion. If your phone technique is good, and you present yourself and your band in a memorable way, clients will recall you when you phone again.

For example, Hal Galper of Local 802 (New York City) remembers the time he sat on a panel at the International Association of Jazz Educators’ convention in Atlanta, Georgia. His name was mentioned often on the panel, and many of his clients were present. At one point the moderator asked, “Is there anyone here who has not received a phone call from Hal Galper?” Everyone laughed, and amazingly only one person said, “I haven’t.” Galper arranged to chat with this person after the panel was over. “It pays to have a good phone rap,” he reminds other working musicians.

7 Tips for Using Word of Mouth Marketing
Recent News

7 Tips for Using Word of Mouth Marketing: The Original Social Media

7-tips-for-word-of-mouthWord of mouth marketing (WOMM), or peer-to-peer marketing, is genuine, emotional conversations people have with their friends about your gigs and music. Creating this type of “buzz” is particularly effective for building a following in your local area. Think of WOMM as the original social media.

Unfortunately, few artists use WOMM as effectively as they could. The problem is that they become too focused on collecting fans, instead of connecting with fans. Having 10,000 fans who at one time liked a video you posted, is not nearly as effective as having 100 really passionate local fans who drive others to attend your shows.

Here are 7 tips for using Word of Mouth Marketing effectively:

  1. Make sure your music stands out. Engage with the audience and get them talking. Be a presence in their lives by keeping them up-to-date with your life both on and off stage. Strive to be exciting, outrageous, and exceptional, both on stage and online. Take time to interact with everyone who posts something about your band or comments on your social media site.
  2. Provide your fans with different ways to talk about your band and share their experiences with friends. Encourage them to post on your social media sites, and take lots of show photos that they can comment on. Provide them with hashtags to use. Ask them questions about your set list and latest gig to get a conversation started.
  3. Building a strong fan base that goes beyond “likes” requires a strategy and some insight about what type of fans your music attracts. What other things do they tend to be passionate about? A good WOMM strategy is credible, social, repeatable, measurable, and respectful. Never deceive your audience/listeners by claiming to be something you are not.
  4. Make your communications special and memorable. Use “trigger words” like “sneak preview,” “exclusive footage,” “new release,” and “never before heard.” Surf the Internet for other phrases that seem to generate interest and write them down to use similar phrasing in the future.
  5. Hold short-term contests and tease them with upcoming info to get them to follow you more closely. Ideas include: “Indianapolis gig will be announced on Monday,” “win a free music download,” or “like this post to be entered in a drawing for a backstage pass (or VIP seating.” Alternatively, send them a link to a free song download on your site and say, “If you like what you hear, please pass it along to a friend.”
  6. Humor, sex, or shock appeal can stimulate and accelerate natural conversations among fans. Do you remember the funny “United Breaks Guitars” song and video posted by Dave Carroll of Local 571 (Halifax, NS)? Alternatively, use Photoshop to put yourself on stage with a celebrity, or make some other interesting, funny, and unbelievable photos to post.
  7. Utilize journalists and other people involved in your local music scene to help spread the word. Send them press releases and keep them informed about your latest releases and major gigs. Develop a press kit with your bio and interesting stories about your band.

 

Music Marketing for the DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack on a Low Budget
Books-Resources, Products

Music Marketing for the DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack on a Low Budget

Music Marketing for the DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack on a Low BudgetMusic Marketing for the DIY Musician is a proactive, step-by-step guide to producing a low-budget plan for marketing your music. New technologies make it more possible than ever for musicians to attract attention independently and leverage their own success. This book will help you see your music as a business where you can employ some of the same tools used by top companies, while always staying true to your artistic integrity. Author Bobby Borg shares his experiences from 25 years as a musician and entrepreneur, as well as research involving thousands of independent artists and marketing experts.

Music Marketing for the DIY Musician: Creating and Executing a Plan of Attack on a Low Budget, by Bobby Borg, Hal Leonard Corporation, www.halleonard.com.