Creating A Buzz For An Album/EP Release

OK this is going to be a quick one.

I’m going to tell you 3 cool ways that can help fuel an album/EP release using your Facebook/fanbase. You should know by now the sheer power of social media marketing, and a few good online promotion tactics in place prior to your release can really make that important difference.

Remember this was thrown together quickly, so I have only included 3 tips, however, in the next few weeks I will be compiling a much larger list of online tactics that you can use to help get your music heard. Anyway, here is what I think is cool at the moment:

1. Prize Draw

The first 100/1,000/10,000 fans to purchase the album/EP will be entered into a prize draw to win a signed T-shirt (Yours/Band Memebers) or a unique money-can’t-buy piece of merch (also signed). The winner is then drawn a week/month after the single has been released, with the winner being announced on your Facebook page.

2. Prize for Best Photo

Announce over Facebook that the fan that takes the best photo of themselves with your album/EP (physical CD) will win a signed piece of merch. This not only means that the fan must buy a copy of your album/EP, but it also has a massive impact on Facebook as fans rush to upload photos of themselves with the hope to win the prize.

As fans upload their photos of themselves with the album/EP, it spreads around each of their social graphs, spreading the news of your release to people who otherwise would not have heard.

3. Online ‘Street’ Team – Viral Opportunity

Whether you’re a band or a solo artist, your fans are not only your best friends, but also your strongest weapon in getting news about your latest release spread around the Internet. Encourage them to share the news on their Facebook & Twitter, ask them to upload them holding banners saying how much they love the band, ANYTHING to get your name out to as many people as possible.

You may have 20,000 fans on Facebook, but if each of them uploaded a photo of them with a banner saying “I love (EP name) (Your name) are the best” as a status, which also tags you in that post, then that single photo/status will go out to all of their fans.

Let’s do the math:

Your Fans(Reach): 20,000

Average Facebook user Friend amount: 130 (Average fan has a lot more..)

If every fan posted a photo/status tagging you & plugging your release:

20,000 x 130

= 2,600,000 Fan Social-Graph Reach

Thats 2,580,000 more fans than your original fan base of 20,000. You should never just focus on your fans, you need to focus on friends of fans as well.

Let’s face it, it’s all about going viral. There have been so many success stories. If it spreads successfully then your name would reach so many more people than usual, meaning your album/EP would also reach more people.

Another added bonus is the potential addition to the fan-base. Say your fans have an average age between 16-21, then the majority of their friends will be of that age, meaning another perfect target audience for your single.

Also the added incentive of a fan receiving a shout-out on Facebook or a Re-tweet on Twitter will really drive the fans to be more active.

I hope this quick article helps improve your online marketing approach to your next release in the future, if so, let me know in the comments below!!

Thanks guys!

    James Cattermole