4 Music Marketing Methods That Are Rewarding and Effective

You might hear the term “music marketing” and vomit in your mouth a little bit. 

That used to be my reaction. 

But it doesn’t have to be like that. There are ways to promote your music that are rewarding, fun, and effective. 

So I’d like to present four music marketing tips that I and other indie artists use…and feel totally happy with. 

Each of these music marketing methods falls under either “Cause Marketing” or “Relationship Marketing.”

Cause marketing is when you’re associated with a good cause, like when you commit to donating a portion of your earnings. 

Relationship marketing focuses on connecting with your audience, thereby strengthening your relationship and keeping both parties satisfied.

Alright, let’s dive in…

Give Your Fans a Starbucks Gift Card (Yes, EVERY Fan)

This is an idea I stole from singer-songwriter Aaron Espe. 

I subscribe to his emails (I’ve been a fan for years), and he once sent everyone on his list a QR code. This QR code was connected to a refillable Starbucks gift card he had bought. 

So basically, anyone with the QR code could go into any Starbucks, scan it at checkout, and get a free drink. 

And he did this with no strings attached. 

I loved this idea so much, I wanted to give it a try with my audience. It was super rewarding, and my supporters really appreciated it. 

How to execute this marketing strategy:

1. Purchase a Starbucks gift card here (I did $50 but the amount will depend on the size of your audience)
2. Take a screenshot of the QR code
3. Share that screenshot with your email list and say “Have a coffee on me!”

Let People Text You 

Text message marketing has been around for a while now, and I finally decided to give it a try in 2021. 

I thought it would be a more direct way to chat with fans. And I could also update them whenever stuff is happening with my music. 

So I’ve signed up with SimpleTexting, and so far they’ve been great. I send campaigns from my computer browser, then I respond to people’s texts on the app. 

Here are some cool things about it. You can…

• Set up autoresponders so people get an automated reply after they sign up
• Send a text to everyone at once or to a specific subset of people
• Set up keywords, which organizes subscribers into groups depending on a keyword they text you

For example, I ran a merch giveaway by telling my email subscribers and people on social media to text me for a chance to win. 

They had to use the keyword “gimme” to be entered (some people misspelled it or used too many m’s or e’s, so I just manually added them to the giveaway category).

Keep in mind, SMS/text message marketing is “permission marketing” (just like email marketing), meaning people give you their permission to text them.

It’s a privilege. So don’t abuse it. 

I’ve been sending a text every other week, which feels like a comfortable frequency (but we’ll see if fans get annoyed). I try to make sure every text campaign is more special than what they’d see on social media. 

The big plus of text message marketing is that it feels much more personal than email. People frequently text their friends and family, so it’s a bit more personable (especially because you can respond quicker).

How to execute this marketing strategy:

1. Sign up with SimpleTexting
2. Launch a social/email campaign to get people subscribed (like a giveaway)
3. Plan out your texts (create a content calendar or add these text blasts to your current marketing plan)
4. Respond to replies promptly, as you would respond to a friend’s text
5. Be yourself

RELATED: 3 Music Marketing Strategies Most People Ignore

Give Fans Direct Access to You

Fans love hearing about your creative process. They want to open the curtain and see what life is like for you as a musician. 

So give it to ‘em. 

There are many ways you can do this, but I want to point out a couple of cool options: AMAs and video calls. 

An AMA is Ask Me Anything. Famous people hold “AMAs” on Reddit where they’ll answer any questions for a set period of time, like an hour. 

So you could put a contact form on your site and label it “Ask Me Anything.” This gives your fans a prompt for contacting you rather than just saying “Contact Me.”

Espe actually does this (as you can tell, he’s pretty creative at engaging with his audience).

Another way to give fans direct access to you is through 15-minute video calls. These are great because they’re quick yet still long enough that you can have a decent conversation. 

Indie artist Derek Webb did something like this and turned it into a podcast. 

I also tried this method. I offered music production guidance calls to the Musician With A Day Job email subscribers, and I got to chat with a few fellow musicians. 

I got to help them with their production questions, we got to connect face-to-face, and I got a chance to mention a music production course I’ve been building.

If you want some serious fan engagement, give people direct access to you. 

How to execute these two music marketing strategies:

• AMA
  • Set up a page on your site with a contact form and label it “Ask Me Anything”
  • Post it on social media and tell your email/text subscribers
  • Answer fans’ messages promptly and authentically
• 15-minute video calls
  • Set up a free Calendly account
  • Set your schedule for when you know you’ll be free
  • Tell your email/text subscribers and promote it on social media

Donate a Portion of Your Merch Proceeds to a Good Cause

I launched a batch of merch last year (thanks to Bandzoogle and their Printful integration). And right at the top of my merch page, I told people I was going to donate $1 for each purchase.

Was I overwhelmed with merch orders? No. But I got some. 

The lack of orders could be due to many things, one of which is that print-on-demand merch has an endless supply so there’s no get-it-now-before-it’s-gone-forever incentive.

But if you have a limited run of, say, T-shirts paired with the fact that you’ll be donating to a good cause, that’s a win-win.

This way, fans have more incentive to buy because they know they’re helping make the world a better place. 

Also, you’re using your platform to help others. And that’s super rewarding. 

How to execute this marketing strategy:

1. Choose an organization you want to support
2. Mention how you’ll be supporting this organization on your merch page (ex. per item, per order, etc.)
3. When you promote your merch store, highlight that by buying your merch, people are supporting a good cause
4. Then ACTUALLY follow through and donate accordingly 

Final Thoughts

As you can see, music marketing doesn’t have to be scummy. 

Music promotion is simply offering your music to people as the valuable thing it is. 

These four methods for engaging with your fans will strengthen your connection with them. And you’ll still feel like the good person you are.