Before I begin this article, I'd like to say that most artists and musicians are sometimes intimidated with the word BRAND. Most have no idea what it is, or what it means. Most importantly, they don't know how crucial it can be to set themselves apart from the thousands of other acts out there... being the artist 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, or your band. As I've indicated, I am going to lay this out, step-by-step, so that it is very easy to follow and implement.
YOUR LOGO:
This is probably the simplest form that your brand takes. 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 - be sure to try many different ideas, and test them until picking the final version. If you personally are digital design savvy, you could try something like Logo Maker. If not, you could try a service like Fiverr. Fiverr is a global online marketplace for freelance services. Fiverr’s platform connects freelancers to people or businesses looking to hire. If you dedicate a small amount of time to finding the right artist offering services on the platform, you are sure to find someone to freelance your logo work for you. Which will cost a lil bit of money, but will save you massive amounts of time. Make sure to find someone that matches the style you're going for, and your price range. The last point I'll touch on is that there should be at least 2-3 different types of logos as well. Your full logo complete with your name/image/tagline, a second with just your image and name, and a third with an abbreviated version of your name and image. Perhaps the first letter of your name, or just a simpler version of the main image will do.
YOUR STORY:
One thing to always remember is that you want your digital brand to tell the story of who you are. Focus on details that describe your image and likeness, your on-stage look, and your consistent feel for your websites and social media. Align yourself with things and people that actually interest you! People can tell if you aren't being genuine. Once you devise your branded image, use it everywhere. When fans move from website to website, or see you perform, your brand must be consistent for them. 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!! In the marketing and advertising world there is something known as "touch points". Touch points are the times a potential customer or fan interacts, sees your product, or hears about your service. When it comes to touch points, the best marketers and advertisers worldwide say that you usually have to have 7 separate touch points with any potential fan or customer before converting them into an actual fan or customer. You also want to be sure to use a website, or app like Canva, or Instories. With this, you will have the ability to edit, resize, or even add some music to something on the fly, helping you maintain that overall aesthetic consistency.
CONSTRUCT A COMMUNITY OF FOLLOWERS:
Personalize your fan engagement experiences. Build trust and affection in your close personal community. Try to be everywhere, all the time (if that makes any sense). Engage as often as possible. Try to comment, like, follow and subscribe to fans and customers whenever you can. Attach yourself to popular conversations and trending topics that align with you, your brand, and your brand's image. You can utilize sites such as Indie Amplify, where you can hire micro and macro influencers while using 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. Videos will enhance your brand and give your fans a closer look at what you're all about. It allows them to become closer to you. Be sure to create your content wisely to save time. For instance, start with long-form content on sites like You Tube, then edit the long-form content down to short form Tik-Toks, reels, news feed posts and stories.
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, your posts, new music releases and especially your merchandise. Your merch must be distinctive, while expressing your brand and image in its designs. Alongside your logo, merch designs should reflect your band or artist's character, and their overall story. If they're truly fire designs, people will buy them. Even if it had nothing to do with your band! This means more collateral exposure for your brand. Solid designs on carefully chosen items that match your look and feeling will always win, bringing more attention to your music! This goes for more than merchandise; It goes for anything brand related. Essentially, your thought process should be quality over quantity always. Make designs and products with integrity in mind.
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.
IN SUMMARY:
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 image. Five heads are better than one (Hence the reason we started the Architexx). Take a look at the extremely popular acts that you admire.. see how they approach branding. Mirror their techniques and and content ideas. Be on as many social media platforms as possible, with many different types of content. From long and short-form video, to photos and even quotes you like. All the while maintaining visual and audio consistency in each and every appearance. Be sure to know your fans/customers and create as many touch points as possible. It takes at least 7 interactions before someone is converted to as a fan or a customer in most cases. In such a saturated market, it can seem impossible to stand out from the large crowd, so we have to decide how to work, harder, faster, and smarter than the competition... sounds simple right???
Branding is serious business. It's not something to be ignored. It's the representation of YOU as an artist! Just get to it, and try to have fun chasing your dreams as you go!
By: Emsee & Solo from The Architexx