Music Marketing [dot] com

5 Steps for Musicians to Dominate Facebook (or ANY Social Media)

1. Be Approachable

Being successful on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media outlet is a lot like being successful in a bar—If you want people to talk to you, you need to be approachable. Showing your "human side" will help. An easy way for musicians to do this is to post candid photos and videos of "non-music" activities.

Examples…

• your tour bus at a drive-thru window 
• your van on the side of the road with a flat tire 
• hanging out backstage 
• your 5-star hotel room 
• your 1-star hotel room

2. Give Value

Don’t just bombard people with marketing messages of where you’re playing, where your album is for sale, or requests to “vote” for you in some contest. Instead, let people know where they can get a free download of your music, where they can get photos of your current tour, or be part of your upcoming music video.

Here is a bumper sticker by children's artist Mr. Billy that does this well...

3. Start a Conversation

Social media isn’t a one-way street, so don’t just talk to people, talk with them. To do this:

• ask questions
• focus on interaction, not revenue

Another example from Mr. Billy...

4. Think Beyond Text

Break up text messages with audio and video. A picture is worth 1000 words.

5. Ask For It!

Don’t expect the person reading your message to read your mind also. If you want somebody to “like” it, respond to it, or share it with a friend, tell them!

And here is the bottom line about how to do it…

Give more of yourself, put the necessary time in, and make you communication "personal" by sharing aspects of your personal life. Doing these things, you have a great opportunity to stand out. If you’re not willing to do these things though, you have a better chance as ever of getting lost.

Welcome to the Music Business... You're Fucked.

Martin Atkins is best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke. He is also the founder of Invisible Records.

Two things you should know...

1. Martin is getting ready to release a new book called  "Band: Smart - Succeeding in the Music Business on Your Own Terms." It has not only his advice, but advice from dozens of other music industry experts, including me.

2. He has a Kickstarter campaign for it, which includes some cool bonuses you might be interested in, including one-on-one consultation time with Martin. Other bonuses including music and collectables from Invisible Records, a "Welcome to the Music Businesss... You're Fucked." t-shirt, and more.

If you're looking for solid advice to help take your music business career to the next level, whether you go for the one-on-one time with Martin or just the book, this is a great way to do it. It's also a great example of how you can get creative and have fun with a Kickstarter campaign. 

Your Email Marketing (and How to Improve It)

This is a guest video/post from Chris Rockett at Music Marketing Classroom.

Notes from the video...

Email Marketing in a Nutshell

• Get fans on the email list, entertain them on a regular basis, and then link to something they can buy.
• Start off with low priced products (downloadable songs, for example) and move people up the ladder to higher priced items.

When to Send Your Emails?

• Use your email service provider to schedule your emails to go out at 4:30am, so that you’re there when people first check their messages in the morning.
• If you want to send two emails per week Tuesday and Thursday are good because Monday is a busy email day and people are a little bit distracted on Friday.

Ideas for Your Subject Line

• Use odd looking numbers - “Why did this video get 53,345 views?”
• Ask a question - “Did You See This?”
• Stack the value with brackets - “My Guitar Got Set On Fire! [Video Inside]"
• If you send two messages in a week send the second with the same subject line as a reply - “RE: Why did this video get 53,345 views?”
• Use the words YOU and YOUR in the subject line - “Your FREE Tickets...”
• Old favorites: Try out “Thank You” and “I’m in love...”

Increasing the Clickthrough Rate in Your Emails

• Keep your emails short and sweet - people may get bored and hit delete if you send something massive.
• Make each email about one topic to keep your fans focused on the message.
• Make sure that you include a PS because people sometimes skip the rest of the message and just read that.
• Have three links per email. One after the first line, one in the middle and the last one after the PS.
• Including an image in your email that looks like a video increases the chance of a click.
• If you want to send people to a blog post then consider pasting the text into the email itself.

Creating Customer Happiness

• Instantly send fans an email after they pay with detailed instructions on how to get their thing. Make it “Homer Simpson” simple and give them your email address to contact you if they have any problems. (Also consider making a ScreenR video to show then how to access the product)
• Surprise and delight your fans with bonuses and freebies they did not expect. (Remember the FRENCH CHEF!!!)
• Set up Survey Monkey to get an idea of how your fans found their experience with you and continue to create more and more happiness.

You Are Not Selling Music

What people buy and what they say they buy are, almost always, two different things. For example, nobody just buys a new car. When somebody gets a new car, he is buying:

• Status 
• Ease 
• Sex Appeal 
• An Ego Boost

A new car is actually a “middleman” standing in the way. If there is an easier way to get these things, or if the person already has them, there is no need for the car.

By this same token, nobody simply buys music. Most of the time, they are purchasing the feeling they get while listening to that music. For example, the relaxation they feel when listening to some gentle New Age music or the rebelliousness they feel when listening to a gangsta rapper’s opinion of the police.

Music is a soundtrack to our lives. It’s what’s playing in the background when we’re doing other things, because it helps to facilitate these other things.

Archie Bell said it best...

"Just think, no more dancing
no, no, no people dancing to the beat
They’d be no birdy to wake you in the morning
with a sweet, sweet melody"

Music is what adds value to everything else we do in life. You could still dance without music, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun. And although birds can be very beautiful just to look at, the songs they sing add an entirely different element to that beauty, since they involve another sense.

That is the power of music. It adds a sonic element to everything else we have going on, which makes everyday experiences even more powerful. When you know this is what you’re selling, your marketing efforts will become even more powerful as well.

For a great, non-music example of this concept (although the music in the background adds to what I'm talking about), look at the commercial below to see how Google is selling its products. It's not about email, spreadsheets, maps, online video, and the ability to translate text into different languages, it's about the basic human need of connection.