When a band starts out, they often make mistakes that spell the end for them. They don't do marketing, and they expect their talent to carry them to success. It's not that the music isn't good enough. But not many people want to take a risk on untried talent. So for a while the band has to be its own promoter, manager, and marketing staff all in one. The best way to save time and money and still make the music they love is through marketing automation and dedication. Effective time management and the ability to rapidly adapt to their fan base are vital for bands. Marketing automation software has loads of potential for the music industry but particularly for small bands who need to self-promote.
Imagine that you're a new indie group, just starting out. You have a small fan base, and are big enough to start playing some small venues in your area. You're having trouble connecting with fans. Now consider that you have the ability to send out automatic marketing emails to your fan mailing list. Tell them about shows, promote new songs and update fans on cool available merchandise.
Using the same marketing automation solution, SimplyCast 360, you can plan and promote events, update social media and even send out text message contests. In addition, by collecting the marketing information of fans on your mailing list, you can input all that data into contact management software. Track what your fans are doing with your messages so you know what they like and what they don't.
Here are five ways that you can use SimplyCast 360, created by a leader in marketing automation solutions. We provide tools to businesses, organizations and individuals in 175 countries around the world, and we will improve your fan experience.
1. Maintain and manage a social media music page.
Social media is where people talk, and you need good word of mouth marketing to grow. Sites like Facebook and Twitter allow people to share word of your talent to friends all around their area in a matter of moments. Social media also allows you to interact personally with your fan base, creating more engagement. You can automate general postings for gigs, merchandise, and new releases. This allows your time to be freed up for replying to comments and making personal posts.
2. Add a monthly email newsletter to your marketing.
Your fans engage with you, and they're interested to know what you're working on and other exciting news. An email newsletter enables you to promote events and share news about growth, special programs like fan clubs or street crew, and personal news about band members. This kind of engagement helps fans connect with your ban. It also gives fans advance notice of shows that the public doesn't know about yet, giving them an edge when you start going to ticket venues. Emails can be set to go out automatically, so you just put in the month's content and let it go.
3. Plan out your indie music events and create tickets.
SimplyCast 360 has an Event element that can be used to input vital venue data. Include how much seating room it has, the total capacity and more. Build the tickets for the event right there in the Element. This helps automate and expedite the process of building the event. Then automate emails triggered by the list of potential volunteers you have, to coordinate set up, tear down and other volunteer duties at the event. Host your own events instead of always relying on others for your shows, saving you money.
4. Keep your finger on the pulse of your music fan base with surveys.
Every marketing team knows that not every strategy will work. Marketing is a lot of trial and error because your fans decide how successful you are in the end. So keep track of how effective a marketing strategy is by including surveys in your marketing plan. Surveys allow you to check in with your fans about your latest musical release, your last email newsletter or your latest concert. Get fans engaged in helping you develop as a band and a marketing specialist. Use surveys to learn what your fans right and where you can improve.
5. Sort and message your contacts based on their response to your marketing.
So, you have fan interaction that you gained through your marketing software, and your music is becoming better known through your marketing efforts. Some of your fans, though, are dissatisfied with the messages they are receiving. Some of the information they receive isn't relevant to them. By applying tags in our Contact Manager and altering the signup process for your mailing list, you can use decisions in SimplyCast 360 to filter out specific groups. Then send fans a modified version of your main message with only information relevant to them. Personalized messages target your marketing so that fans are more likely to respond positively.
By opening up further marketing opportunities that most new indie groups or indie music artists don't consider, and automating much of the process, you gain more time to interact with your fans and play your music. SimplyCast 360 is very affordable compared to single-channel automation products that only send email or provide similar services. You save money that can be spent on further promoting your music.
Check out what else marketing automation can do for you. See what other ideas we can share with you to help you succeed in the indie music business.
