While I was on one of my twitter tours, looking for some local artists that I can connect with, I realized how difficult it is to find what some artists were about on social media networks. To be fair, I use to have the same problem until I did some reading. This reading pointed me to brand management and marketing. Below are 5 tips that could help you build, sustain and/or improve your current brand.
1.Know your story and stick to it
Everyone likes a story. Everyone loves a story they can relate to. So give the people what they want! Whether it's ridiculously funny, serious or sobby, know the story and keep to it. The story should accurately describe your whole brand, you and your music. Do not “spice” it or "modify" it too much. To get the just of my story click here.
2.Standardize your social media accounts
As I was twitter touring, I realised that many artists don't have similar social media accounts. For example:
The twitter was something like @housetbt123 Reverbnation was something like @theZodiacmerchant Facebook page was @1234ILikeChicken
Firstly this doesn't make sense and secondly, it makes it harder for someone to find you on other social media networks.
Make everything the same name. I use to use Skill but that became a problem so I beefed it up to SkillMusicSA. Not only is it unique to my brand but also descriptive of my business and my location, SA.
Tip: Location comes in handy when you are talking to people from outside your country. People like “foreign”.
3.Communicate creatively
This is one way to stand out from the haystack. If you're going to post something, make sure it's not something generic or spam-like. As a musician, you have your creativity as your number one weapon, use it! Remember that creativity doesn't stop with the music, utilize it in your marketing efforts.
4.Consistency
This one came when I was talking to a friend after Heartach3. Avoid self-contradicting songs. In other words, avoid pulling R Kelly vibes unless you're R Kelly of course.
Consistency goes into your marketing efforts too. Keep on keeping on and get rid of the excuses. This is the only way to get to the huge dream you have.
5.Continuously Improve Your Product(music)
This is linked to consistency but this one should be the most natural one, work on improving your music. This is not just behind the PC or keyboard or guitar etc. but work on performance too. Recording your practises sessions will help to critique your overall performance. If you're satisfied with your practise material you can use them as marketing tools.
I kept the tips financially independent so that you can start implementing them on a zero budget. If you would like to talk about a particular point above or just talk about branding in general, give me a shout on whatsapp @ 0835709602 or email me info@skillmusicsa.com
Skill