Marketing Tips For Musicians : A {Non-Generic} Guide For Promoting Your Music Online.

This article here was written by Daniel Hartnett a music marketing blogger. Daniel shares his music promotion tips on his blog www.thecorporatethiefbeats.com with other musicians. If you want to connect with Daniel you can find him @corporatethief or on his Youtube Channel Here.

There is a lot of generic music marketing information out there online.

You may have already come across this on your path, looking for idea’s to promote your music.

Some of the following tips are the same old methods that you come across on common music marketing blogs.

•  Just create great music and people will discover you.

• Join Facebook Groups and Promote your music there.

• Get involved in online music forms and promote your music there.

• Write a blog post and make a video.

• {My Favourite Generic Music Promo Tip} Promote your music on Social Media.

If you’ve had it with these old “how to promote your music” methods read on.

New media is continually discovered online, even with the same tools we use today.

Social media sites are constantly evolving and many musicians aren’t thinking like marketers when they promote their music.

This is not a game where the most talented musicians will win. There are tons of average online musicians making a ton of money from their music.

These musicians have cracked the marketing code of how to use online tools to make money with their music.

Here’s the good part….

You can do it too.

With a strong confident mindset, you too can achieve the same results that other successful online musicians have gained.

Step 1 Start Promoting Your Music With Live Video On Youtube and Facebook.

So many musicians are neglecting this new media.

If you keep doing the same old music marketing methods you are just going to get the same old boring results.   

Live video is an amazing way to bond with new fans. It is also a much deeper way of converting a casual listener to a hardcore fan.

Casual Listener vs Hardcore Fan…

When you change a casual listener to a hardcore fan by connecting with them using live video, you bring this new fan on your journey throughout your music career.

A die hard fan will not only buy your music on Itunes.

• They will buy your merchandise
  
• They will go to your shows or pay for Youtube live / Facebook live events
  
• They will fund your crowdfunding campaigns or Fan Funding campaigns
  
• They will share your music with their friends online.

These are the types of hardcore fans that you need to fund your music career. Marketing experts call this the Lifetime Value Of The Customer.

It might seem to be a bit salesy, when you just think of the monetary value of a die hard fan.

And I can empathize with that.

Musicians need to sell stuff to keep their music careers going.

It’s as a simple as that.

So if you want to inject some emotion and treat your fans with more respect, give them more time with you. This what most fans want.

And you can do this with Facebook and Youtube Live.

Let’s face it.

Fans don’t need to buy your music CD’s or music on Itunes. Most of the time they can listen to a low quality recording on Youtube.

Which is True.

The reason main reason fans buy music is to support the musician.

To give back to your fans here are two video tutorials on how to use Online Broadcasting Studio {OBS} to stream live to Youtube and Facebook.

Facebook Live Stream Video Tutorial

How To Promote Your Music With Youtube Live Stream Tutorial

The links above are video tutorials to show you how to stream live to Youtube and Facebook.

The main thing you need is a good upload speed from your internet service provider.

If you have at least between 1mbps and 2mbps you can stream at 360p or 480p which is a good enough quality to stream live to your fans.

Why Bother Stream Live When I Can Just Upload A Video?

Good question and a fair point.

The main reason you need to start streaming live is that you get to interact with your fans.

Keeping your main fans close will keep your music career funded for a long time to come.

Here you can showcase new songs, answer questions and plug your tour dates :-).

Live Stream Benefits …..

One reason many people feel that live streaming is so powerful, is that Youtube ranks your videos much higher in their search results.

Much higher compared to that of any standard uploaded video.

Youtube also gives more attention to a live video by nudging your existing subscriber base with an email stating that you are live on Youtube.

The initial surge of promotion for a live video will ensure the video gets viewership, and social shares. {Don’t be afraid to ask in the live stream for your fans to share your live stream}

Building the buzz factor….

With Facebook it’s pretty much the same promotional benefits. Live streams are found on Facebook search more often.

One the major advantages is that your video gets much more organic reach from your existing Facebook fans.

So you can reach your Facebook audience without having to boost your posts.

You might want to try this….

I also added a golden nugget of information in the video tutorials above where you can share a pre-recorded video on a livestream to Youtube or Facebook.

Why would want to do this?

I have noticed that a lot of DJ’s have jumped on the Facebook / Youtube Live bandwagon already. Most DJ’s beatmakers have learned how to promote their mixtapes with this new form of live social media.

A prerecorded live video will give you much more control of the stream quality, also it gives your fans the ability to preview your new music, and new music videos.

You can still chat live with your fans via the comments boxes on these platforms.

Step 2 Retargeting Previous Website Visitors

Many musicians reading this post will say that they have already paid for advertising on social media and found it not very effective.

Social media advertising isn’t built for selling to fans directly.

You need to use social media advertising to drive your fans to subscribe to your email list. If you have difficulty with email marketing I created a post on email marketing for musicians. This is my ten step guide to get started with email the right way.

Social advertising should only be used as a fan acquisition tool. You can bond with your fans using your email newsletters once you get them on your email list.

Then later, once you have built up report with fans, you can plug your music merchandise, and concert tickets.

Many musicians are buying social media advertising and sending all their hard earned money to Itunes or Spotify just to earn a few pennies on streams.

When musicians make this mistake they leave no room for profit because, they never acquired the fans contact details.

Itunes and Spotify don’t share the details of who listened to your music or who purchased your music.

How Can Musicians Make Social Media Ads Work?

Using combination of two methods.

Each Social media site Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Google all have ad platforms that enable you to RETARGET fans that previously visited your website.

Within the ad platform for each social networking site {And in Google Adwords For Google / Youtube} they give you a code called a RETARGETING PIXEL.

This little snippet of code from each social network can be added to the header of your website.

I have highlighted 3 video tutorials that will show you how to do this  

Facebook Retargeting Tutorial

Twitter Retargeting Tutorial

Youtube / Google Adwords Retargeting Tutorial

If you find adding website code a little too daunting, try getting a virtual assistant to help you using sites like freelancer or upwork.com

Now every time someone visits your band's website from whatever site they came from, they will be tracked by cookies on their internet browsers.

Yeah this sounds a bit too Edward Snowden but ….

This is how all the big companies are promoting and marketing products on the internet. It’s one of the biggest and cheapest ways to promote anything because of the initial interest of that person.

Basically you are building up a list of new potential fans to target with social advertisements at a later date.

When you are ready to set up a retargeting advertising campaign to promote your concert or album, don’t just send all these new potential fans to Itunes or Spotify.

What you need to do is set up a basic email optin landing page that where your new fans can subscribe to your email newsletter.

Think outside the box……

Try and create a compelling email opt-in bribe, like un-released demo’s or a private Youtube Live acoustic set. Just don’t bore them with a generic email opt in message like

“SIGN UP FOR EMAIL UPDATES”

Now that you have acquired a new fans email, you can continue to contact them again and again.

When they sign up to your email newsletter, don’t just plug your merchandise right away. This is the time you develop report with your potential fan.

 

When you feel that you have built up enough report, then you try and plug your new album.

Just to be on the safe side ..…..

To make this all social retargeting legit and legal. You should create a privacy page on your website. You can Google standard privacy templates here. You can also notify new visitors using a tool like a website Hello Bar.

STEP 3 Start a Crowdfunding Fan Funding Subscription Campaign.

Most music marketing blogs will tell you that you should start a crowdfunding campaign with sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

This method has its rewards and its place in music promotion. The main negative is that it has an end point.

Once the crowdfunding campaign has ended, that’s all folks.

Most musicians don’t want it to end.

Crowdfunding campaigns aren’t easy to set up. They take a ton of work to get the ball rolling.

The crowdfunding strategy is great if you just want to start an idea or create an album.

The longevity of crowdfunding can last a couple of months at best.

• What are you supposed to do then ?
• What if you didn’t meet your monetary goal?
• What if you just don’t have a big enough following to undertake a crowdfunding campaign?

For the average musician these are pain points that will linger in their minds. Holding them back from looking to their fans to support their music careers.

Lucky enough their is better solution….

With a website like Patreon you can grow with your new fans. You can start with no following.

Then you can continue to reward loyal subscribers with your content.

With Patreon the way it works is very similar to that of a crowdfunding campaign but there is no end point. The fans that subscribe are here to fund your music for as long as they stay subscribed.

As long as you keep creating engaging content like video interviews, Youtube / Facebook Live sessions, Showcase demo recordings , live QA’s, your new fans will continue to support you.

Patreon does this in two monetary subscription methods.

Fans can either to subscribe for $5 or $10 or $20 amount per month to access your private subscribers only content.

Or Fans can subscribe per video that you release on Patreon each month.

So you release 4 videos a month and Fan X  subscribes at $5 per video you make $20 a month from Fan X.

Yes it can be difficult to get started….

But you have to start somewhere and sometime. What makes Patreon so interesting is that it makes it easy for you to get started.

It also has a community in different niches to find new fans too.

Patreon allows you to grow with your new subscribers. This gives you accountability.

Having accountability will give you more motivation to keep delivering content to the fans you already have.

When your fans are funding your work month to month, this takes a huge financial strain off your mind. Freeing up your time to create amazing music that they want to hear.

You can build different Patreon reward levels to entice new casual listeners to join your new tribe.

Example :  

• Fan Joins at $1 a month will get  Access To Your Patreon Community
• Fan Joins at $5 a month will get  Access To Youtube / Facebook Live Sessions
• Fan Joins at $20 a month will get Access Private QA Sessions a 20% OFF The Band's Merchandise Store

These are just some simple examples, it’s up to you to find what rewards your fans want and what they are willing to pay for these rewards.

How to find out what my Fans really want?

The best way you can find out this is by having a free live Questions and Answers with your fans over Skype or Google hangout.

Emailing your existing fans a simple question survey will also give you a better understanding of the type of content your fans will fund you with?

When you first get started with Patreon, look at the more successful musicians on there. See what they are doing right.

Copy what successful musicians are doing just to get the ball rolling. When you finally get some subscribers start tweaking your Patreon profile to what you fans really want.

 

Now it’s your turn to get started.

These are non-generic music marketing strategies that any musician can start today.

Even musicians or bands with a small following can undertake these idea’s and start implementing these methods.

There is no room for excuses. If you want to start promoting your band or new song in a much more efficient way now is your chance.

If you feel that you have gained good insight from these music marketing tactics share them with your followers.  

Stop wasting time with Facebook forums and do something much more productive for your music promotional efforts.