The music comes first. How successful a marketing campaign ultimately rests on the strength of the music. However, we also understand that making the music is only half the battle and the industry can be a tricky place to navigate. But releasing music doesn’t need to be stressful. Gone are the days where artists were reliant on a record label, and the power is back with the creators!

Which area of music marketing do you find most challenging? Not sure of the difference between an EPK and a DSP? 

We are currently offering free consultancy sessions for artists that would like some general guidance on their music career, or who just need a little direction. We can help advise on long-term planning and strategy in the coming months. Contact us at freeconsultancy@laidbaremusic.com to set up a free session. 

And in the meantime, here’s 9 tips for you to consider when marketing yourself in 2021:

1. Don’t go chasing new audiences without nurturing your existing fans. 

All artists should be aiming to grow their core audience and not be chasing Streams, Likes and Follows for the sake of it. With any new fan, your first thought should be about how best to keep them and ensure they’re an invested follower going forward. Creating thoughtful content and engaging with your audience is a critical way to achieve this.

2. Online community management - use your social media properly!

This might seem like an obvious point, but you’d be surprised how many artists don’t engage with their following on social media. Respond to messages and comments on your posts promptly! Build a connection with your following and make those fans that engage with you feel valued. 

Don’t forget to tell your story: who are you? What's your background? Commenting and engaging with others will lay the foundations for your online community, and make it more likely that people will keep coming back. Don’t worry about the number of followers you have, it’s much more important to create a community of invested ‘fans’.

3. Thinking about PR? Think carefully…

The industry is changing. The way that people consume and discover music is different and so PR, in its traditional form, is becoming more and more redundant in the new musical age. Blindly handing over money to a PR company and ‘hoping for the best’ is a luxury most independent musicians can’t afford. We’ve been hearing about far too many underwhelming PR campaigns that have struggled to promote the music effectively, with vague feedback from agencies along the lines of “sorry, but your single just didn’t connect”. 

Formerly, people would look to blogs and magazines to find new music. However, recent trends point to this being a thing of the past with readership numbers down across the board compared to previous years. The likelihood of someone stumbling upon an artist in an article and becoming a fan is a lot less than in past years. 

Even artists who receive strong coverage in reputable publications don’t necessarily see a spike in streams, follows or merch sales. That’s because modern PR helps to serve what we call ‘vanity metrics’ i.e. it may look good but probably doesn’t mean much long term.

As an independent artist who needs to make every penny count, we recommend thinking carefully before committing to a PR campaign when there are other more reliable methods of getting your music in front of actual potential fans. 

Contact us for more information!

4. Should I boost my post?

Be careful not to assume the ‘Boost Post’ function on social media to be an effective digital marketing method. While it can help to get ‘eyes’ on a post, it is not an efficient and worthwhile cost. Delve into Facebook Business Manager, this is where the real digital marketing work is done. You can be a lot more specific with your targeting, ensuring that you’re pinpointing those who are most likely to become actual ‘fans’. To really see results, it might be worth considering this next point…

5. Collaborate with your peers.

Collaborating with other artists is easier now than ever but we still don’t see enough of it! Not only is it a great way to share ideas and get your creative juices flowing, it’s also an extremely effective way of tapping into other audiences. Create a playlist of people that inspire you and give them a shout out on social media. Add your own music in too so that people will begin to find you through other artists you admire.

Ask them to feature your music on their next video or post? Or collaborate with one of your fellow musicians to cover a current song. This can be a really fun way of building a path of discovery.

6. Set up a mailing list.

In this new digital age, the musician’s Mailing List (think beer-stained clipboards in dingy Blues bars) probably falls into the realms of outdated practises like the pitch-pipe guitar tuner or uploading a new demo to MySpace. That would be wrong, as it remains one of the most effective marketing tools at your disposal.

Use a site like MailChimp to set it up and keep people interested by sharing exclusive content or information with them. Share behind the scenes footage or early release tickets, and when the big day arrives you will have a dedicated group of people waiting to receive your Release Day Newsletter. It’s so much more reliable than any social media platform!

7. Use Reels and IGTV.

We don’t know about you but we love a bit of visual content, and love when we get to learn a bit more about an artist. A lot of us can be guilty of shying away from functions like Reels and IGTV but they’re really useful ways of getting creative and showing your natural side. They’re still pretty new and Instagram actively pushes these videos out there to encourage more people to use them. You could just post a quick ‘about me’ video or a ‘behind the scenes’ reel for making a track. Whatever you decide to do, have fun and create something that shows off what you’re about. 

8. Invest in Campaign Management.

Digital marketing can take a lot of planning and testing to find what works best. If have the time, learn about it - it’s such a powerful tool at your disposal. If you have the budget, consider bringing in a team that can help you get the most out of your spending - you may end up saving yourself money as a result. Building a digital campaign is much more in-depth than Boosting Posts and can take months to develop. By bringing in support you will save yourself a lot of time and stress and, most importantly, make sure you’re using your budget efficiently. 

9. Think about tangibility.

There are obvious drawbacks with thinking about merchandise too early in a musician’s career. It can be a huge investment if you haven’t got a large following, but there are still plenty of ways to get creative with it. If selling vinyl interests you, there are companies that will press on demand (Link).

It is also worth getting creative, perhaps by making lyric books or selling a few pieces of your track/album artwork. Sites such as Bandcamp make this really accessible and if you’re not ready to sell, why not start a giveaway competition? This can be a really fun way of getting people to promote your music. Ask your fans to share your track on their social media and tag their mates to be in with a chance of winning something unique.

We’re always happy to lend a listening ear at Laid Bare. We’re always happy to help you scope out both your short term plans or long term strategy, in case you need any support! If you’d like to talk to us you can reach out by emailing gillie@laidbaremusic.com. We’d love to hear from you!