Connecting with fans is imperative in today’s music industry. It’s that connection that can give them a reason to buy and support your music. Utilizing social media and having a strong online presence makes connecting with fans much more achievable. Below are some good case studies of bands that found success through an online campaign. I encourage musicians to review these examples and pay attention to the elements that made them successful. Then think about how to implement those strategies into your own marketing plans.
1) Arcade Fire – Interactive Music Video Using Google Street View
Arcade Fire utilized HTML5 to create an interactive music video for “We Used to Wait.” Users are prompted to enter the address of their childhood home at the start of the video. While watching the video, scenes from your old neighborhood are pulled in using Google street view. The elements of new technology, interactivity, nostalgia, experimentation, and personalization all aided in making this video a huge hit. Think about those factors for your next campaign.
2) Josh Freese – Topspin and Miniature Golf
The one size fits all product days are gone. Having something for the casual fan to the super fan is a great way to be able to sell more and put additional money in your pocket. One way to utilize this method is through Topspin, an online funding platform for artists, musicians, inventors, filmmakers, etc. Josh Freese decided to try out Topspin to help fund an upcoming album. The thing I like about what he did was the creative “product” offerings that fit his personality, including:
See the full list of packages and items Josh made available, which ranged from $7-$75,000. Check out Topspin to see how you can use it creatively to fund your next project. Just remember to do something that fits your band’s personality. If you make it the right fit and support it correctly, it can work.
3) Amanda Palmer – Turning the Power of Twitter into $11,000 in 2 Hours
Amanda Palmer is widely known for her social media expertise. Advertising Age said, “Palmer is more sophisticated than almost anyone on the internet — musician, brand or otherwise — when it comes to gathering her audience around her and keeping the conversation going.”
On a boring Friday night, Amanda managed to rake in $11,000 in just two hours. It all started with her tweeting about how she was alone, again, on a Friday night sitting in front of her computer. Others started chiming in and began claiming how “we are all losers.” Dialog continued and grew at a rapid pace. A faux organization was started called, “The Losers of Friday Night on their Computers.” Amanda created the hashtag #LOFNOTC and thousands joined the conversation.
A follower suggested the group create a t-shirt. Amanda quickly decided to run with it. She took a sharpie and made a t-shirt design. A website was thrown up that night with the t-shirts available for $25 a piece. 2 hours later… $11,000.
What can you learn for this example?
4) Matthew Ebel – Subscription Site for the Super Fan
Boston-based singer Matthew Ebel says 26.3% of his income is from 40 hard core fans. You may recognize his name from articles about his ties to the 1,000 True Fan theory/model. One of the ways Matthew caters to his super fans is through a subscription based website.
The packages range from $5/month to $15/month, as well as annual options. He offers a wide range of perks are including members-only parties, VIP seating at shows, access to new music as soon as he creates it, new live concert recordings every month, broken apart tracks ready for remixing, behind-the-scene sketches, drafts, and ideas, and many more. View the full list of packages and perks here.
5) The Poison Control Center – Tumblr Tour Blog
The Poison Control Center have an awesome tour blog. The band uses Tumblr, a simple and free blogging platform, to regularly update their fans from the road. After each show they share pictures, videos, and posts about their experiences, even down to thanking the sound guy, door person, bartender, and of course the fans. They do it right by updating frequently, providing a wide variety of content, and always remaining authentic.
6) Gossip Grows on Trees – Building Your Email List with a Fortune Cookie
Email is one of the best ways to directly reach your fans, but sometimes it can be difficult to grow your subscription list. Gossip Grows on Trees from North Carolina executed a creative way to gain more email addresses at live shows.
They created a download web page that gave visitors a free music download in exchange for their email. At shows they walked around and handed out custom fortune cookies with the URL of the download page and a short message from the band. This gave the band an opportunity to spark conversation and develop relationships with fans. Plus, a lot more people visited the download page and provided their email address because they were approached in a memorable way.
All of these online music marketing case studies have a common theme of musicians connecting with fans. It isn’t enough to put your music out there and hope people will gravitate towards it. You have to be willing to push it out there and utilizing online mediums is a key element.
If you know of a successful online music marketing case study, please share it in the comments.
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Jill Haverkamp is the co-owner of music marketing company On Pitch in Des Moines, Iowa. This post originally appeared on the On Pitch blog.