Viral Marketing For Musicians and Bands

Question: How can we get our fans to encourage their friends to come to our shows, or even listen to our music?

Answer: The term "viral marketing" is being thrown around the music industry and for very good reason, it's one of the most effective ways of building your audience!

Built-in Trust Factor

When friends tell friends about something that they like, a buzz begins. They usually trust each other with information about new things that each discover and music is no different from a great burger place, a great tv show, or movie. The fact that a friend says, "you should listen to this band" makes it a lot more likely that you'll want to listen to a new band rather than, "Hey! You should listen to our music!" (coming directly from the band through their marketing). This is often how people find out about new music. Matter of fact, viral marketing (word-of-mouth) is one of the main ways we hear about "great things". When you think about how much advertising of poor products are directed out you daily, it's no wonder the trust-factor simply does not exist when we initally hear about something new coming from the mouth of the advertiser (in your case, you, or your band). This is why it is so important that you enourage positive word-of-mouth and do your best to stop bad word-of-mouth. Make sure that you always do things in an honest way...it's that powerful!

Guerilla Marketing for Musicians

Marketing yourself by viral, or word-of-mouth means, is inexpensive because it is usually so easy to implement. Doing the right thing (integrity) and going out of your way to make your fans' experience with you amazing, while creating great music, will ensure that your fans help spread the word about you and your band!

Make Your Music Viral

Here are some great ways to get word-of-mouth circulating about you and your music:

• Post videos of your band on YouTube.
• Get your music on MySpace and other social networking sites.
• Include a "forward this to a friend" link on your site and email communications.
• Encourage your fans to bring their friends to your next show!
• Offer two-for-one deals on ticket sales.

 

Simple Things You Can Do To Put You High In Your Fans' Minds'

• Sign autographs at all of your shows
• Offer autographed headshots for free.
• Perform at benefits (non-profit events) simply for the good publicity.
• Send free mp3 music downloads to your fans on your mailing list. Encourage them to pass the file on!