6 Keys To Unlock An Enticing Story For Music Marketing And Brand Building
Most artists focus on making great music but ignore one of the most important parts of promoting it - music marketing. Going back in time, musicians used to quickly sell their music through the physical albums they released, whereas now they have to develop their own promotional methods so that the wider community can get attention and buy their albums digitally and legally.
As of today, the number of independent musicians in the market have been increasing, which means independent promotion has also been rising in popularity. Therefore, it is essential to know how to promote and have effective marketing strategies for your musical works.
Independent musicians are a fast-growing segment of the music business. To become one and get noticed, having an effective marketing strategy is a must. You need to plan everything from making music and creating music videos, to album launches and your music marketing tactics. Here are 6 keys to help improve your music marketing.
1. Build Your Brand Foundation
Building your brand foundation helps you figure out who you are and what you stand for as an artist, thinking about who your audience is and who would connect with you. This is the most important layer to music marketing these days. Without this nothing else sits properly. Music promotion isn't a simple task, and without a solid foundation, nothing will work.
You can start with writing down your type of music, list down your most important aspects, and how you would like to see your music represented visually. In this process, you will find your identity and build the right career path. Don't skip this stage in a rush to chase arbitrary numbers and metrics. It doesn't work, especially if you don't have a solid brand first.
2. Do Music Collaboration
Music collaboration is one of the best strategies to catch the attention of audiences. Not only allows you to increase traffic but also helps you build connections that will have a great impact in the future.
Contacting producers on the same level as you isn’t difficult, especially if you are just starting to build your music career. However, contacting more famous artists will be much more effective in advancing your career.
Many famous musicians have made collaborations, for example, are "Walk This Way" by Run-DMC and Aerosmith, "While My Guitar Soft Weeps" by The Beatles, Eric Clapton, "My Universe" by BTS and Coldplay, and many more.
3. Encourage Actions
Many musicians produce music so that people can listen to their music, leading to increased fans and album sales. Once people like your music, they would be more likely to share it with their family, friends, or their relatives.
With social media you can encourage people to act more, for example, the #InMyFeelingsChallenge or better known as the “Keke Challenge” - Drake promoted his song by inviting his fans to make a dance. These types of challenges interested fans in following and listening to the songs that were being promoted. As a result, many people connected with the song and increased the fan count.
4. Create Engaging Content on Social Media
In this day and age, fans not only demand good work but also have the desire to know more about their idol. Many artists are now making short videos of how they record, or showcase behind the scenes content while touring to share their daily lives. This human side also often makes artists more likable.
Therefore, one of the things brands can do is to become “human”, for example by displaying behind-the-scenes content like what these musicians do. That way, people feel they have an affinity with the related brand.
5. Youtube Optimization
When we think of video-sharing platforms, YouTube immediately comes to mind. It is considered the second largest search engine after Google. If you’re not on YouTube, consider creating a channel for your music and optimize it for better results.
What types of videos should you share on your YouTube channel? There are tons of fantastic YouTube video ideas you can use as a musician, including animated video production, music covers, lyric videos, singing lessons, and more.
Please take note that music visualization helps you to post your songs along with attractive visuals to give your audience a better listening experience. Adding tailor-made thumbnails, and organizing your music videos in playlists can go a long way in creating an engaging channel that consistently brings in new viewers and fans.
6. Music Promotion Through Paid Advertising
Nowadays, almost everyone uses social media and spends most of their time on the internet. So, it makes social media become one of the most prominent music marketing strategies. This can help you promote your music to potential fans, increase fan engagement, and possibly make your upcoming song go viral.
However, it takes a big effort to promote your music with organic traffic. Alternatively, most social media platforms provide paid advertising options to help creators increase traffic effectively.
Paid advertising helps you to increase your music marketing efforts and have a wider reach of audiences. Some of the best tools for your ad campaigns are Google Ads, Facebook Business Manager, and YouTube Ads. If you are looking for a music marketing agency to help promote your music, consider EAR Reach for your next release campaign.
Takeaway
The music industry has always been very competitive. However, this does not mean that you won’t succeed. If you have a dream and are ready to work hard at your craft, it may be the time to develop and implement the right marketing strategy for your music. It is just about the time and passion to show the world about your amazing works, and find your fair share of dedicated fans.
Guest Post Writer: Megan Tobias
