Poster by Wild Grace Design
KEY POINT – Marketing / Promotion Strategies for Branding You as an Artist
Shotgun vs Rifle Marketing – casting a wide net vs targeting your market
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This segment on marketing / promotion / branding strategies for musicians should be called, “Don’t Do What I Did”. The reason being that what I used to do was more like a “Fly by the seat of your pants” strategy.
“Hey world – I have a big basket of music with songs for women. The music includes Christian, patriotic and children’s songs, to name a few. In addition I also have funny songs, inspiring songs, educational songs, historical songs. Here they are!
Which one interests you?
Pick one, pick two! Everything is here in my big basket of songs.”
What I learned years later was that I had been using the shotgun approach instead of the rifle marketing strategy for promotion and branding as a musician.
You Might Also Like:
Miss Emily: Taking It To The Next Level
Jana Pruden: Connecting With Journalists
Andy Sparling: Big Band Music
Shotgun Marketing
Shotgun Marketing is marketing to as many people as possible. Throw it out to world like a big net. See if you can catch a few people who might be interested in your product or service – or in the case for musicians, their music.
Big businesses can usually afford to use this technique to find more buyers who they can then target and convert into brand loyalty.
A Shotgun marketing and promotion approach for musicians branding themselves might include putting up posters randomly all over town about an upcoming show. Then, hoping someone interested in their kind of music might see the promotional poster & come to the show.
Experience usually shows that this method will most likely have a low return especially if the musician is not very well known yet.
Small businesses want to be more selective with their advertising dollars.
They want to target a specific demographic rather than use the big net approach. Musicians who haven’t yet reached national or international fame, much like small businesses, are better off starting with the Rifle Marketing approach.
Rifle Marketing
Rifle Marketing targets your audience more precisely. Instead of mass advertising, you identify the publications & places that attract the kind of fans interested in what you are selling – your music.
Figure out who your fans are, where they gather and put up posters/flyers where your fans and potential fans will see it. Find out where they are on social media and connect with them where they hang out.
Suggested reading:
1. Splash Copywriters (A Whopping 163 Types of Marketing Described and Demystified)
2. Power Home Biz (Shotgun vs Rifle Approach to Marketing Your Home Business)
3. DIY Musician (this cdbaby website is chocker-full of great ideas for musicians – a must explore)
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BIO
JAMS Canada (Jeanette Arsenault Music Services) has set out her mission: “Helping Musicians Help Themselves” by offering consulting, resources & administrative support services.
Jeanette has over 30 years of experience as a singer/songwriter/performing/recording artist. She has independently released 8 albums, performed for the Canadian Olympic Team in Salt Lake City (2002) & again in Athens Greece (2004) and also opened the 37th World Congress of the Business & Professional Women International (BPW, 2011) and has produced/organized/performed in numerous benefit concerts/fundraisers/variety shows,
JAMS Canada can help you focus on what you want most – more gigs, more fans, more money.
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Some contributors also responded with videos – please subscribe to our JAMS Canada YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-CmaB7MV0r1ehhveBPmBEg
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