Ok, so maybe you've noticed that the post before this one and this post used to be one post. Now they're two. I realized that there were two subjects in the old entry, and that that was unecessary and confusing. So, here we are.
Anyway, I've been learning a lot about music marketing.
During CBR’s restructuring (I talk about it in the previous post), we began developing a new marketing strategy that, I think, could be useful for our artists as well.
I think that artists would agree that there is a struggle for new business, whether it is finding new venues, fans, or media. I feel your pain. Because we're in the process of developing a new marketing strategy, we decided to work on ours while we helped out our artists. We changed up our contracts and made up our minds to ask our potential music clients to work with us on a pretty detailed marketing plan before we signed anything with them.
Surprisingly, the new requirement to have a marketing plan in place before asking our company to invest in a new artist’s music has gone over pretty well. Most artists we’ve worked with thus far with this new strategy have been pleased as punch to put together a plan for their band to succeed. I thought the extra paperwork might turn some people off, but it turns out that people want to do the work; they just need a little nudge in the right direction. After all, it is difficult to, with little or no experience, develop an outline for then fill in the details of a marketing plan.
Luckily, actually coming up with new, fresh ideas for marketing your music is not as hard as you may think. First of all, the marketing techniques you use do not have to be totally original, just so long as they meet your standards as a creative person.
Look at your everyday habits. What do you do all day? What about your music is special and interesting? Do your habits and those special, unique aspects of your music touch at any point? Do you know anyone who works at a business that would advertise for you or otherwise support your music? What sites interest you online, and how can you get on them? Where do you hang out? Can you promote your band or advertise your music there?
Beyond all of these questions, which may or may not be helping you, there is a need to figure out some basic stuff about your scene, your music, your customer, your strategies, and your money before you really proceed seriously in the music industry. It is nearly impossible to be successful, whether it is in music or any other business, without some kind of plan. How are you going to fund yourself? What are your goals? Why are you here? And, most importantly, why should anyone care?
Well, you need, at the very least, a marketing plan.
The components of a CBR Marketing Plan are this:
- Market situation, including a customer profile (your fans, venues, and media) and descriptions of changes affecting your customers (fans, venues, media), competitors (fellow bands), and business climate (super-simplified example: the music industry is crumbling, but local business for indie rock is booming).
- A Customer Profile should include:
- Geographic data
- Demographic data
- Psychographic data
- Decide what your goals as a band in the business world are, then expand, slice, and dice your business goals into marketing goals, then further divvy up your marketing goals into smaller, easily-achievable objectives. Thinking of your business goals as top-tier, and your marketing objectives as culminating in marketing goals that facilitate your business goals will help. Well, I don’t know, did that help?
- Create your band’s positioning statement and brand:
- Your position is your niche that your band and only your band fills in your customer’s minds. To gain a market position, you first define how your band and its products (i.e. merchandise, live shows, music) and services are unique, and then you use marketing communications to convey that your band provides a unique solution in your market area. Remember, in the words of Simon Sinek, "people don't buy what you do, they buy why you do it"!
- Write a positioning statement:
- Positioning Statement = Your band or product name + what makes your band or product unique and different + your market description
- (ex. iPod / is the digital music player / for people who want 5,000 songs at their fingertips everywhere they go.)
- OR
- Positioning Statement, Simon Sinek-Style = Why buy it (whatever “it” is) + how it benefits the consumer + what it is
- (ex. If your life needs a soundtrack, / then you need a digital music player that holds a song for every moment. / Trust iPod.)
- Your brand is a set of beliefs that customers associate with your name. You build a brand by projecting a consistent look, tone, quality, and message every time you communicate with your customers (fans, media, venues). What are your colors, fonts, buzz words, images, logos, or other visual and buzz cues for your customers to associate with your brand?
- Develop marketing strategies for your band. There are four major elements of marketing strategies used every day in the business world: product, place (distribution), pricing, and promotions. Every marketing action falls under one of the four P’s. Clever, eh?
- Decide on a marketing budget. How much money have you got to spend? Cool. Now divide it into portions. What do you absolutely have to spend money on to promote yourself as a band? What do you want to spend money on? What can wait? This should be decently self-explanatory. If not, let me know, and I’ll try to help you out.
- Now, go do it! You spent all this time on a plan, and I spent all this time writing out an outline! Go put your hard work into action!
- Also, pay attention to what works and what doesn’t with your current plan. Make changes over time, and work on a long-range plan. Make goals for the future, and create objectives to achieve those goals.
That seems very long and drawn-out, I know. I’d be surprised if you got through the first half of it. But seriously, a marketing plan is going to change your life. I promise. CBR’s Marketing Plan is making our lives easier.
I’m not saying that it won’t be hard work, but nothing great ever came easily.
Also, I thought it would be helpful to give you guys the Artist Assessment Form for your personal use. Let me know if you think of anything to add, or a question that is redundant!
PS. I want to say thank you to Bob Baker, Dr. Steve Peterson, Peter E. Jaret, and Barbara Findlay Schenck for all the guidance their books have provided as I trip blindly along this road to success.
My name is Casey Robbins, and I am the Vice President of Theironics LLC and Manager of a label called Cardboard Box Records. As we've only been around for about two months (as of January 2010) and are still learning vast amounts about the music industry as a whole, I thought it might be useful and interesting to have a blog documenting our adventures into the business of music. I hope that you can learn something from these posts, and that you or someone you know with lots of talent, patience, and drive starts up a label in your area. Honestly, its the most amazing thing I've ever done, and I know you'll feel the same. 