Marketing in the digital age
The age of the internet has revolutionized the way marketing is done. The ability to create a relationship with millions of fans around the world is at your fingertips. Utilizing this powerful tool will help you build a successful fanbase by raising brand awareness. Thanks to social media, there are a wide variety of tools and resources available to help achieve this. Before deciding what tools to use to market your brand, understand that you’ll need to believe in your product wholeheartedly. It can be rather difficult to market something you don’t believe in. If you don’t have the confidence to spread the word about your own music, you’ll be putting a cap on your own growth and overall level of success. So, spend some time coming up with a marketing plan and the steps you’ll need to take to successfully implement it. Not every route you take will end in success, but be persistent. A successful brand is one that is multifaceted, so create depth in your brand by marketing using a diverse set of tactics, from a variety of sources. The idea of marketing may feel daunting at first, but just start doing. You’ll learn to pick up different pieces of the puzzle along the way. Whatever road you take, remember to keep these concepts in mind.
Be Yourself
People want authenticity. It might seem easier to take the same path as the artists you look up to do, but you’ll only ever be creating a brand that is a version of theirs. You want to be the one people are following. Share your personality with the world and be open to new experiences. Remember, the brands you look up to the most were all in your shoes at one point. The most successful ones understood how to build their own process by walking their own line. Be yourself. People respect and appreciate hard work. Your efforts won’t go unnoticed forever.
Quality
A quality brand takes time to build. Your music may not initially be able to compete with the top talent, which makes marketing your brand all that much more important. Good marketing can still sell an amateur product when done correctly. Spend time creating unique and quality social media posts. Ideally, you should be posting at least once a day on some form of media. However, if you feel that you can only make 3 quality posts, do that instead of pushing 5 or 6 below average posts to begin. You can follow the motto of quality over quantity to begin. Just make sure to try a variety of content pieces that cover different angles. Over time, you’ll find your own rhythm and naturally start producing more content at a higher quality.
Build trust
Establishing trust is one of the most important pieces of any relationship whether virtual or real. When you’re formulating your marketing strategy, make sure that it’s straightforward and honest. There’s a difference between being clever and being shady. The latter will shine a negative light on your brand and ultimately stunt your growth. There are several tactics that can help show you’re legit at what you do. Marketing a live webinar that shows off your craft, or even just a hangout to show off your personality and get to know your fans can be a great strategy. Once you’ve established trust with some of your fans, testimonials are another way to help build trust with a prospective audience. Additionally, if you’ve been networking properly, you can try cobranding a product with another artist or brand. You’ll be marketing yourself to a whole new audience that has already established trust with the cobrand, reducing the workload.
Consistency
Consistency is key. Whether you’re producing 2 posts a week or 7, make sure you are consistent in what you are doing. It helps build brand equity as well as trust with your fans. Over time, your following may begin to expect certain content from you, maybe even depend on you. That doesn’t mean you can’t change up your strategy occasionally, but it does mean that you need to have a plan and stick by it. It takes time to build a successful brand, but by being consistent you’re putting yourself in a position to achieve success. Keep pushing your brand, don’t give up. And most importantly, believe in your product.
Exposure
Exposure involves finding alternative routes to put yourself in front of a potential audience that may not have had the opportunity to see you before. You should be utilizing multiple avenues to reach your current and potential audiences. As mentioned before, working with other brands or influencers is a great way to gain additional exposure beyond the scope of your own social media pages. You’ll gain access to new fanbases and learn new marketing tactics. It will also help establish you as a trusted artist brand, which we know is important in implementing a successful marketing campaign. Make sure to put yourself in front of as many faces as possible without oversaturating your potential following. Note however that it will take some time to find your own balance.
As you can see, marketing is a powerful tool and plays an integral role in creating a successful brand. There are a lot of talented artists out there, so it will be extremely important for you to capitalize on your marketing strategy. Take a step back every once in a while to analyze your current plan and see if it still aligns with your overall goals. Don’t hesitate to adjust, readjust, or rebuild. You’ll inevitably fail at some things you do but that will only guide you to the route that’s most successful for you. Carve your own strategy and take advantage of the way the internet has revolutionized the ability to target marketing towards whoever you want. Your marketing strategy can be as complex or basic as you want it to be. Don’t get overwhelmed by the number of approaches that can be made to create a successful brand. Trust your process and find what works for you.