Marketing, promotion and branding are key elements for artists to be heard. Yes of course it is about the songs and the music but before the songs and the music are heard, people need to hear about you or hear of you to go take that listen. Ok, this is some captain obvious information. Setting up your branding, your promotion and your marketing is an essential part of making that happen but when you take the steps of unprofessional and downright stupid self hype, you look like just that; stupid.
They say any promotion is good promotion, but in the day where there is so much out there, it is time to look stronger and much more effective. I am pointing this specifically at the people that put up those anonymous ads where they hype their own group while trying to make it look like they’re a fan when everyone knows it’s them and to many people, they just look stupid for it. Craigslist is a perfect example to see some of these.
I can not tell you how many times I have run across ads where people write things like, I just saw this band and they are incredible, one of the best I have ever seen, man these guys are gong all the way to the top! My favorite part is when they accidently use their existing accounts and the email instead of being anonymous is actually one of the bands emails.
Now flat out direct advertising and asking people to check out your new song or tell us what you think of our album and even adding some reviews is a much better way to go. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a band and then decided to go set up an advertisement on a site like craigslist or another networking site. I can’t recall the last time I did.
Take the honest approach. Don’t use stupid self-hype to try to promote your self. Use stronger promoting, marketing and branding to get yourself out there. Stop selling yourself as someone else and concentrate on attracting people to you and your music honestly. Come off with a strong air of assertiveness and confidence but at the same time don’t go out to claim you are the greatest thing in the world. You set the bar really high for one and for two you are making yourself look dumb in front of a lot of people. Under promise and then over deliver, that way if someone thinks you are the greatest of all time, they are making that decision for themselves and they will be sure to forwarding on your music through their own networking sites and to their circles instead of some anonymous ad that everyone knows is actually coming from the band.
Your fans and future fans are smarter than you think and they are being solicited with more music than you think. Everyone is out there pushing them selves so when you put your self out there a little stronger, a little more honest, a little more professional and standing out with all those elements, you will attract a lot more attention and bring more people to listen to you. It is ok to shout your name from the rooftops, just don’t pretend to be someone else doing the shouting.
© 2010 Loren Weisman
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