It’s pretty much a sad fact that the general public will not go and see a band they’ve never heard of before, so we need to build the hype beforehand and get our listeners involved in what our brand and USP (Unique Selling Point) is.
There is actually a hundred and one different ways to do this, some examples of this are actually in this blog on a few posts I’ve written about marketing metal bands, however our biggest ally in marketing is word of mouth. It’s cheap and it offers validation to the recipient.
For example, how many times have we seen a trailer for a film and thought it looked OK, until a friend tells you it’s the best film he’s seen all year; this is then further validated when another friend tells you the same.Now, the term "viral marketing" is being thrown around the music industry more and more these days and for very good reason, it's one of the most effective ways of building your audience Ive taken some good ideas from varous potholes in the net to give you some ideas, check em out!
Using the Built-in Trust Factor
When friends tell friends about something that they like, a buzz begins. They usually trust each other with information about new things that each discover and music is no different from a great burger place, a great tv show, or movie. The fact that a friend says, "you should listen to this band" makes it a lot more likely that you'll want to listen to a new band rather than, "Hey! You should listen to our music!" (Coming directly from the band through their marketing, I don’t know about you but I get thousands of these via Myspace). This is often how people find out about new music.
Matter of fact, viral marketing (word-of-mouth) is one of the main ways we hear about "great things". When you think about how much advertising of poor products are directed out you daily, it's no wonder the trust-factor simply does not exist when we initially hear about something new coming from the mouth of the advertiser (in your case, you, or your band). This is why it is so important that you encourage positive word-of-mouth and do your best to stop bad word-of-mouth. Make sure that you always do things in an honest way...it's that powerful!
Guerilla Marketing for Musicians
Marketing yourself by viral, or word-of-mouth means, is inexpensive because it is usually so easy to implement. Doing the right thing (integrity) and going out of your way to make your fans' experience with you amazing, while creating great music, will ensure that your fans help spread the word about you and your band!
Make Your Music Viral
Here are some great ways to get word-of-mouth circulating about you and your music:
- Post videos of your band on YouTube playing covers & original material.
- Get your music on MySpace and other social networking sites.
- Include a "forward this to a friend" link on your site and email communications.
- Encorage fans to tag themselves on your photos at shows on pages like Facebook
- Encourage your fans to bring their friends to your next show!
- Offer two-for-one deals on ticket sales.
Simple Things You Can Do To Put You High in Your Fans Minds
- Sign autographs at all of your shows.
- Encorage drinking games and invlove fans in your gig by bringing them up on stage.
- Offer autographed headshots for free.
- Perform at benefits (non-profit events) simply for the good publicity.
- Send free mp3 music downloads to your fans on your mailing list. Encourage them to pass the file on!
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