Your fans are the reason you can live a life in music. They are the reason you wake up every morning excited to perform, record, or create. Additionally, your fans can act as a formidable marketing team if they share your music with their friends. Building great fan experiences into your marketing plan is a great way to get them talking and make them feel appreciated.
This article was originally posted on Cyber PR by Corie Kellman. She highlights some of the amazing experiences she has personally encountered as a music fan. With a little tweaking, these concepts can be easily incorporated into your marketing plan.
1. During Your Live Show, Make the Connection to Your Real Fans
If you guys follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you have no doubts that I am secure and comfortable about being a fan of Taylor Swift.
Naturally, I had to check out one of her three sold out shows last week at Bridgestone Arena. At most large arena shows it’s very difficult to make fans feel special or connect on a personal level, as there are tens of thousands of faces hidden and the performer generally can’t see past the bright spotlights on the stage more than the first few rows.
Within the first three minutes of the show, Taylor passed her hat off to a fan in the general admission pit after her first song completed. As she coasted up and down from stage to stage, she gave fans high-fives and tossed out guitar picks. It was a great attempt to make a large show feel a little more intimate.
2. Make Your Success a Success for Your Fans As Well
Last month, Country star, Jake Owen announced a free block party show via Twitter to his fans to celebrate his number one single. These number one parties are a bit of a tradition here in the Nashville country scene; driving up and down music row you will see banners celebrating singer-songwriter accolades. Different to those typically seen here in town, Owen wanted to share the success with his fans, not just his industry team. 20,000 fans gathered in front of BMI for the free show and this party went down in history as the largest number one party Nashville has ever seen.
3. Empower Your Fans to Share Online and Off
Leaving Nashville Sunday night last month, a friend and I visited the merch table a week leading up to the Wild Feathers official album release, where they had CDs available for their fans early. I prefer to purchase vinyl and stream digitally, and since the album wouldn’t be available on vinyl for another week, I left the event with just a poster. My friend, however, LOVES CDs. . . seriously LOVES THEM. As she sat in her car and opened the album to pop into her CD player, she called me stressing not to pull out yet. When she opened the CD, there were two, one “to keep” and one “to share”.
The idea was GENIUS! She came to the show on my recommendation and now she could share with a friend. It is a small offering from the band AND works out in their favor if when it lands in a potential new fan’s hand.
To see the other two experiences, check out the full article on the Cyber PR blog.
