Online Branding for Musicians How to – Why Branding Your Band Is Essential
Before I begin writing this article, I’d like to say that most artists and musicians are sometimes intimidated with the word BRAND. A lot, or even most, have no idea what it means or what it is, and most importantly how crucial it can be to setting themself apart from all of the thousands of other acts out there; and being the band that ultimately achieves success.
First, let me point out that building your digital brand is not as complicated as you might think. As a matter of fact, it’s probably one of the easiest and least expensive forms of marketing your music, and your band. As I indicated, I am going to lay this out – step-by-step so that it is very easy to follow and implement. So, let’s get into it a little:
YOUR LOGO:
This is probably the simplest form of your brand. Every act should have a logo that in some way or another represents who you are. It should be simple and easy to understand. But you must have one. Don’t rush it – do many different ideas and samples until you pick the final version. Collaborate with band-members, fans, and friends for different ideas. Six heads are better than one.
YOUR STORY:
Remember, you essentially want your digital brand to tell the story of who you are. Focus on details that describe your image and likeness, your on-stage consistent look, and a consistent look and feel for your websites and social media. Once you devise your branded image, exploit it everywhere. When fans move from website to website, or see you perform, your brand must be consistent. Everywhere people look for you, they must be able to absolutely know it’s you – simply by seeing your consistent logo, brand, and image. It must be memorable!!
CONSTRUCT A COMMUNITY OF FOLLOWERS:
Personalize your fan engagement experiences. Build trust and affection in your close personal community. Engage as often as possible. Possibly use brand-infused giveaways as a way to increase your follower’s cooperation.
Use Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to constantly spread your brand and expose it to as many followers as possible. By all means, shoot professional videos. Video will enhance your brand and give your fans a closer look at what you’re all about and become closer to you.
OVERSHADOW YOUR COMPETITION:
Dominate your particular music market by being distinctive in every aspect of your digital and traditional marketing efforts. Some examples are your official website, your social media sites and posts, new CD releases and especially in your merchandise. Your merch must be distinctive and express your image and brand in its designs. Along with your logo, merch designs should also reflect your band’s character and its overall story. The designs should be original and trendy. If they’re truly cool designs, people will buy them even if it had nothing to do with your band; hence, more collateral exposure for your brand.
PUBLICITY & MUSIC MEDIA RELATIONS:
Exploit your brand in the news media, interviews, radio, and in music review blogs. Getting coverage in any of the media outlets will create serious attention and awareness for your brand, and further enhance it. This type of outreach is better handled by a seasoned music publicist. It takes a great deal of time, expertise, and an accumulation of high profile media contacts. It’s extremely difficult for the average artist to be taken seriously by media outlets. A professional music publicist, who is trusted by the media, may cost you a few bucks, but it’s worth every penny.
SO, IN SUMMARY:
Remember, don’t get too intense or complicated. And most importantly, don’t get frustrated. Take your time – do it right and keep it simple. Don’t forget to work with all of your band-members, fans, friends and followers when it comes to establishing your logo, story, image, and designs. Six heads are better than one. Take a look at the extremely popular acts that you admire – see how they approach branding. You may want to consider emulating some of their ideas.
Branding is serious business. It’s not something to be ignored. It’s the visual representation of you as an artist. Just have fun, and do it!
