Getting Fans and Turning Fans to Friends via The Internet
Marketing
Chapter 2
You’re a musician, you already know about Marketing. It’s where you tell people about your show, where it is, and how awesome your set is gonna be, right?
If it were that simple, we would all be rock stars.
Marketing in business terms is “The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer.” Your goods/services are your music and merch and your customers are your fans. So in music terms, Marketing is getting your music to your fans, but who are your fans? Hopefully they are your friends and family, the people who love you and support you no matter what you do. They would be your beginning fan base and that is a great thing to start with, but if you want to go anywhere, you are going to need to expand beyond that group. How you are going to that is your Marketing.
First place you need to stop is your friends. Talk to all of them about what you are doing, and how much their support would mean to you. If they already support you, thank them and tell them how awesome they are. Call them, talk to them in person, do not send a mass message on social media like Facebook, because it will lose its sincerity. Yes, this will take time, but having a dedicated fan base is a powerful tool. With a diehard fan base, you have more draw to shows, and more draw to shows means being able to book bigger and better venues, which gets you more exposure and more fans, which grows your fan base. See the cycle in that? You need to have fans that are your friends, because you are going to need their help in the future, and if they are there from the beginning that gives them a sense of involvement you can’t beat. Once you have talked to your friends and gotten their support, where do you go from there?
You move on to social media. You need to get your Brand out there, and give yourself a presence on the web. Do you have a Facebook Bandpage, or a personal website? Not a MySpace, because MySpace is dead and usually generates less feedback than the effort put into it. If you do not have a web portal of some point, this is where you need one. Facebook is a good place to start; make a band page. If you are feeling adventurous and want to make a personal website, there are many places that host free websites. My personal favorite is webs.com, because of how customized you can make it with little to no knowledge of website design. Whichever you decide there are things you need to do to get it off the ground. Make sure there is at least one decent demo on your site, it doesn’t have to be your best song, but if you grimace when you hear it, do not put it up online. Direct all your friends to your site, ask them to like your page and leave a comment on your wall, perhaps challenge them to post a fun memory of your music. Also, ask them to suggest your music to friends that they think will like your music. This will generate activity on your page and allow you to get in contact with people who you don’t know personally with your music. Once you get 25 likes on a Facebook BandPage, you can select a custom URL. Make it something memorable but also linked to your band. This would be a great time to think about making a webcast or video blog once every two weeks or so, just to give your fans a chance to see what you are up to when you aren’t playing a show. The more you talk to them and get them talking about you, the more likely you are to see them at a show.
Here are some tips on how you should interact with any fans, not just new fans on the internet. Facebook is my primary example because it is such a wonderful tool and I use it primarily, but these apply to websites just as well.
- Make your band page a place for new releases, peeks behind the scene and just general news about the band. Get your fans involved; ask them what they did with their weekend or what their favorite Saturday night hotspot is. Communicate with them; don’t talk at them, talk with them.
- Don’t just get online to ask about shows, get on for at least an hour a day commenting, making conversation. Be more than just a band, be a friend.
- If someone likes your page, thank them personally on their page. Even do a shout out if you feel so inclined. Nothing makes someone feel more welcomed than “Welcome INSERT NAME, we appreciate your support and you are now even more awesome than you were before”
- When you contact fans, make sure it is about THEM, not you. A fan is going to be more receptive if you make the interaction about them, it makes them feel like your value them as a person and not just a faceless fan. Which you should because without fans, you are nothing. A good way to lead them into a show request is to ask them if they are free that night. Have a conversation, don’t just be an advertisement.
- Make yourself approachable. Be there for your fans and friends when they ask you something online or say something, get back to them as soon as possible. You don’t want to wait days to know if they are coming to the show, don’t make them wait days to know how much the cover is.
- Don’t use Facebook to spam your friends about shows by sending the same form message. Make it personal, take the extra five minutes to ask about something you know going into their life. It will make a difference in their response to you. This makes you more human.
- NEVER use a band contact as your Farmville workhorse… you will lose more contacts than you will ever grow virtual flowers.
- When updating do the following: have a sense of humor, ask them questions in your updates, get them to give you a response. Social Media mantra is this: Listen! Engage! Share!
- DO SHOUTOUTS! Nothing makes fans feel more awesome than knowing the band just told their entire fan base that they are epic. Just make sure you don’t shout out to the same person all the time, you don’t want to turn fans off with obvious favoritism. Do Fan of the Week, do Best Fanpic of the Show, remind your fans that they are important.
- If a fan gives you a great idea and you use it, make sure you credit them. If you don’t use it, let them know why and thank them anyways.
- Host contests with prizes your fans will want. Make the prize a beer on the band, or something crazy creative like a picture with them and the band as your profile picture for the week.
- Ask for help. If there is something you need help with and can’t figure out on your page, ask your fans, they want to feel like they are involved and knowing they helped you encourages that.
- Remember that you should treat your fans like you treat your friends, and if you do this, they will come to regard you a friend which is valuable in a business driven by how many people can you get into a show.
Once you have the band page figured out and you are interacting with friends/fans online regularly, you should think about a meet and greet. My favorite way to do this is to get a couple of bands together, find a local park and have a BBQ with an acoustic set. Invite the fans of all the bands to come and bring one item of food and drink. This is a great networking opportunity and lets you have face time with your fans. This is also a great time to try out new merch if you have it, or offer up new merch ideas to get a pulse for what your fans want.
That is only one way to do a meet and greet, but there are several others. Meet and Greets with just your fans gives you a chance to strengthen your friendships with them, and meet and greets with multiple bands gives you more exposure. It is all in how you want to do it.I do however want to stress safety on this point; you should be wary about deciding to throw it at your house or a band mates house if you are inviting people you don’t know well. Doing it in a public place makes it safer for everyone attending and your personal property.
Now armed with some social media etiquette, how to get new fans and some ideas for meeting your fans face to face, you are one step close to being a Marketing Master.
Show up to class next week and don’t forget to bring your notes.
obadvice101 