Folks, this is a guest post by a good friend, Elisa Peimer — a highly-talented singer-songwriter and marketing whiz to boot. I think these are PR/marketing basics that can sometimes get forgotten! So, here’s a great reminder…~ Sharon
Songwriting Scene Tips: Top 5 Must-Haves for Marketing Your Brand-Spankin’-New Song
By Elisa Peimer
Sure, we all have the option of writing alone in our room and playing our newly created songs for our pets and/or significant others. But if you want to share your songs with the world – and not just those who know you and love you — there are some simple, tried-and-true marketing techniques you can use to get the word out.
1) Make your song easy to be played online.
Don’t make people download your MP3s or fumble with their music players in order to play your song. The easiest way to do this is to set up a MySpace page. MySpace allows you to upload up to 9 complete songs at a time so that users can stream the songs directly from their computer. If you have your own website, you can also post the song there, but MySpace’s ease-of-use makes I would recommend starting with MySpace – people are familiar with the site, and they can stream the songs right from the artist page.
2) Don’t be afraid of Twitter.
It’s short and sweet — as long as your post is less than 146 characters, you can let friends and followers know you’ve got a new song posted. Then, search for friends who are already on Twitter (using the search box) and start following them. They’ll start following you and voila – you’ve got a group of people who will be updated every time you’ve got news to share. But remember to keep it friendly and conversational. Twitter only works when the marketing message is part of the social interaction. Be fun. Be personal. Don’t be too sell-y.
3) Share your song with your nearest and dearest – on Facebook.
Another terrific social networking tool, Facebook lets you connect with friends and family – people who will naturally be your first and greatest fans. Update your status on Facebook with a link to the new song. And, just like with Twitter, make it personal – “Whew! Just finished a new song. I’d love to share it with you guys!” It’s harder to post songs on your personal Facebook page, since you need an outside app (you can do it on a Fan page), but it’s easy to link to your MySpace page.
4) Don’t forget about your mailing list.
It’s basic, but your mailing list is full of people who are interested to know what you’ve been up to. Telling them you’ve got a new song is a great way to get them engaged. Link to where they can find the song online. Ask them to post comments on your MySpace page or on your website or blog. Give them the story behind the song. Tell them you’re performing it at your next gig. Let them feel like they’re getting the background story and are a part of your creative life.
5) Get out there and perform it!
I know not everyone who writes songs is also a performer, but if you are, get out there and perform. And if you’re not, find a performer who’d be the right fit for the song, and ask them if they’d be interested in playing it at their shows. Do an open mike and share the song with other songwriters and performers. Sometimes playing the song for an audience also helps to fine-tune it. You might notice that people really react to a certain part, but maybe not so much to another part. It’s a great way to get feedback and see if you’re on the right track – and it gets the song out to new people as well.
Ultimately, marketing your new song is all about word-of-mouth. Share it with as many people as you can, and some of them will share it with their friends well. That’s viral marketing – put it out there and let it spread like a virus. Only a really cool, fun, creative virus.
