Marketing 101 Ep. 2: Making a Plan
A “marketing plan” is just silly business-speak for figuring out where your fans are, and getting your work in front of them in the most direct way possible.
It’s something that is super unique to you, because your story is unique. What works for me might not work for you. Honesty, and being genuine is really the most important thing here: we’re not trying to be used-car salesmen or sound sleazy, we’re just trying to tell people what we’re up to!
Marketing is not advertising! Advertising is just one component of an overall marketing strategy. Advertising is probably a waste of money for you right now. Why?
Are internet ads a good fit for me?
Internet ads are not a good fit for most people, especially if you are just starting out.
You can very easily go give any social media platform or Google $20, and get a bunch of random people and bots liking your posts. But likes from random people don’t pay the bills. Likes have no real value, beyond the short endorphin rush you experience when you see them. Likes (and monthly listener counts) feed the platform, not you.
Do not confuse "like" with "engage". It takes no real effort to like something. You want to have lots of fans who take their support of your work much further than a like. In return, you get options and creative freedom.
Before any type of paid ad strategy even has the chance at being effective, you need something that’s compelling and engaging for the traffic you’re getting from ads to land on. Maybe that’s a Youtube series, maybe it’s a blog, maybe it’s a podcast, but content is king: if you don’t have the compelling content to show people, ads will not be effective for you.
So, I usually recommend focusing on generating compelling content first: maybe that’s your artwork, a blog, a Youtube channel, or whatever other format you choose. Social media is technically content, but it’s also ephemeral: when we’re talking about marketing content that’s effective and efficient, we want to be focusing on platforms where we can post evergreen content.
Evergreen content is content that continues to work for us over time, and doesn’t get lost after being scrolled through once in a feed. Think something searchable: a blog post, a podcast, a video. More on that when we get into the specifics of content marketing in future episodes in this series.
Defining your audience
The first step in getting a focused marketing plan together is defining your audience as specifically as possible.
Who is your audience? Are they like you, or not? How old? Political beliefs? What kind of job? What kind of imagery do they find inspiring? Do they have a pronoun preference? Do they attend music festivals? Etc, etc. The idea is to have a clear picture of exactly who would be really into what you’re doing. If your audience is mostly people like you, that’s totally fine, but also don’t assume that everyone is into the same things that you’re into.
The clearer this picture of your audience is, the more focused and effective your marketing efforts can be. And that means you can spend less time on it-efficient and effective!
Be real, be unique, and do something interesting and different! We’re trying to connect with people here, and being genuine and honest is always the best policy. This usually means doing real stuff in the real world, through collaborations with like-minded friends.
Joint shows, house shows, video shoots, demo sessions, open recording sessions, live streams, music videos, supporting other bands on tour with housing, working with local graphic designers, collaborative merch, collab recording projects, local community music podcasts, etc.
Pick what you like out of this list or use it as a starting point.
What marketing channels should I be actively working on?
At the start, I suggest picking 1-3 items and doing them very, very, very well. Most people try to do everything and be everywhere, which leads to subpar quality in all those places. Subpar quality doesn’t build a strong audience anywhere.
Just because everyone else is starting a podcast/TikTok right now doesn’t mean that’s for you. It’s only a good choice if you have something truly unique to offer, and are super excited about doing a great job on that platform for the long term. Not trying to discourage-if you’re stoked, go for it, just think it through: what can I commit to doing a great job at for at least a year, and potentially 3-5 years?
Starting something and then burning out after 6 months will lead to frustration. Consistency long term is a huge barrier for most people.
Hint: this is a big reason why I place these thoughts in a blog and Instagram story format vs. YouTube or Twitch, or some other platform.
I don’t have the time right now, or the creative energy, to commit to doing a great job producing a YouTube vid or podcast episode every single week, consistently.
Condensing these thoughts into these short-form stories is quicker, is a better fit for me, and isn’t really being done this way in the Instagram story space so much, so it’s a good choice for me right now.
It’s also a good intro format to my long-form, full length book on these subjects called DIY Music: A Practical Field Guide which you should totally buy right here. See, promo!
What works for you might be something totally different!
Examples of interesting marketing ideas
Here’s a few ideas to get you started thinking in the right direction:
1) A series of short, 30 second videos associated with a series of single releases, shot in a very distinctive visual style of your choice.
2) A two-part short zine release associated with an album drop, that features interesting visual artwork by your friends in a bunch of different styles.
Come up with a few of your own!
And don’t forget to support us on Patreon! Members keep the lights on around here!
