Using the Internet to market and promote your music is one of the most affordable ways to establish and build a following. The abundance of free tools and music-based social networks has made music marketing more accessible than ever for musicians around the globe. Rather than investing boatloads of cash into advertising, PR, and radio promotion, instead musicians invest their time. Through social networking and direct-to-fan engagement musicians can achieve remarkable results with online marketing.
The question that often comes up is how do you know if your online marketing is working? Also, how do you know where your marketing is the most effective?
ROI (“return on investment”) is a performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. In the case of music marketing online, your time is your main investment. Tracking the results of your music marketing efforts online is crucial to figuring out where your time is being wasted and where it is best spent so that you can amend your actions accordingly.
Below I have listed 38 metrics for measuring ROI and 7 tools to measure with. Use this information wisely =)
Metrics:
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Number of subscribers on your mailing list
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YouTube plays
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YouTube uploads of your songs by other users
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Blog mentions or reviews of your music
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Backlinks (blogs and websites linking to your website or blog)
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Mixtape/album downloads
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Individual track downloads
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P2P downloads and sharing of your music
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BitTorrent downloads, seeds, and sharing of your music
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Last.fm friends
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PureVolume plays
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Facebook fans
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Plays on podcasts
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Plays on Internet radio stations
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Use of your music by DJs in online broadcasts or in night clubs
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Your songs featured on digital mixtapes by well-known DJs
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Online plays streamed longer than 30 seconds (on various music social networks)
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International audience: number of countries where people are engaging with your content (plays, downloads, reads, shares, subscriptions, etc)
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ReTweets of your content (songs, mixtapes, articles)
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100+ concentration of fans in a specific region (touring becomes viable in that region)
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Digital singles sales
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Album sales
- Remixes of your music
- Attendance numbers for your live concerts broadcast on ustream.TV or similar networks
- Attendance numbers for your concerts in-person
- Number of credible professionals in entertainment, journalism, marketing, and other related industries who support your music (maintain a collection of quotes from these individuals)
- Customer and client testimonials
- Comments about your music on multiple social networks (positive or negative)
- Myspace plays, profile views, and friends
Use these web 2.0 tools to measure social engagement, identify fans, find hot markets, and gauge your band’s online presence and popularity:
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About the author:
Dexter Bryant Jr. [d.BRYJ] is a Dance Rock producer and singer/songwriter. His primary areas of study are music business 2.0, music marketing, digital marketing, new media, and music publishing. Dexter helps companies expand their brand presence online and he’s currently the Digital Marketing Director of Dynasty Music Entertainment and DbryJ Music Media Group. Learn more @
http://hitmusicacademy.wordpress.com/