Email Marketing

Yesterday, I went to a seminar luncheon where Matt Blumberg from Return Path, who spoke about email marketing. It was a very interesting talk, as he touched on how to build your list, how to make creative emails that grab your readers attention, and what to do and not to do when doing email marketing. A few major take aways that I got from our talk were:

1. Try to build a house list (people that raise their hand to email them rather than renting a list)
2. Make sure you have email sign up options on your home page and throughout your website
3. Give your visitors an incentive to sign up, tell them why you want their email address and what you will give them in return
4. Be aware of view panes which people nowadays view their email in. Your call to action should always be at the very top.
5. Test, Test, Test - your subject lines, color, copy, and style to improve response rates over time.

Please stay tuned for more helpful tips and ways to sign up for our monthly newsletter coming soon! Check out our current events and news now at http://www.swan-marketing.com/

Search Engine Optimization

The other day I received in the mail, a booklet from Quickbooks that talked about how important it is now for businesses to optimize their websites and get involved in paid and natural search, in order to drive more traffic to their site. As a customer of Quickbooks, I wouldn't have expected that they would send me something like this because, let's face it they help me process my transactions and manage my financials, not not help me decide how I should market my website to try and get more business right?

So when I saw it I thought oh, they are just trying to up sell me for something.. Don't we all think that when we get mail from a vendor we are already getting a service from? So let's just say it sat on my desk for about a week, but continued to interest me, about what was in the booklet. I was thinkging, can I learn something new if I read it? I thought I already know about SEO (search engine optimization)..

So anyhow, I went to the spa a week later, and decided to actually bring the book with me to read since I would be doing nothing just sitting in the chair, while I got my nails done. As I got comfortable in my chair while the lady intructed me to to begin soaking my feet, I pulled out the book from my small spa robe pocket, I had stuffed it in and began to read. After about an easy 10 minute ready, I said to myself, I have never read any book or had someone explain SEO to me in such a simple way. I also thought, wow they even gave me tips on exactly what to do instead of just telling me to "better optimize my website, like really what does that mean and how do you do it?

The problem with search engine marketing books, and info that is out there, is it's hard to understand if you don't work in that world. This booklet however, really explained why it's important today for people to be able to find your business on the search engines, (that is when someone goes to Google and types in a word, lets say Flowers, if they are trying to find a flower company, in the search box if your business is a flower business, your site will pop up) and how you can make this happen, naturally (by putting the write words on your website so that the search engines pick up words on your site, to rank you higher) or to pay for a spot by purchasing keywords you think people will search for your business under, and then you pay every time your website link is clicked on.

All this is based on marketing strategy, understanding your customers, and molding your website to match what they are looking for through your content (what you say on each page of your website, what words you use and so forth).

I thought the fact that they took the time to create a small booklet like this, shows they understand their customers (who I am), and care about the productivity of my business. So kuddos, for Quickbooks!

We at Swan Marketing will be offering information on SEO (search engine optimization) along with other useful tips to help you market your business or artist in our client area on our website, as well as through our newsletter for non clients. You can visit us to sign up for our newsletter at http://www.swan-marketing.com/ContactUs.html.

Monique Duarte

Marketing and the Effect on Music

Well hello. Usually I like to talk about things that can help or educate people, but today I want to talk about this link that a friend referred me to go to and listen to. It's a video with D Brad talking about how corporate america has changed the music that we listen to today.

Check it out at Real Talk - www.realtalkny.net/2007/03/topic/videos/confessions-of-a-bet-producer

He talks about his years of experience in the music industry where he worked on rap city, and paved the way for young hip hop artists like Eve, Kelis, and the Lox to be successful. But what he really hones in on is the fact that BET a corporation that he worked for, has now turned corporate. He claims that all the creativity of what use to be of the network, is now gone, and is built now on what mainstream America is publicising.

In the interview he challenges someone to listen to the radio for 10 minutes and then turn on BET and tell him what you see. He guarantees that you will see the same artists 's videos that you heard on the radio 10 minutes ago. He claims that this is because BET has become a dictatorship run by top executives that are usually older white color men who are untapped within the urban music market, but that is more so focused on what sells, and what we think the audience wants to hear.

He goes on to say that we have brought our audience down so much from what real music is, that they now only expect so much. For all the Nases, Kelises and other artist out there that want to make real music, that has lyrical content and that is creative and has meaning to it, it's almost like there is no market for these types of artists anymore.

What do you think? Have we shaped our own music society?

Ok well yesterday, someone asked me how do you market an artist? I then thought to myself, that's a good question and there are many answers... but I started by saying..

1. The music industry has dramatically changed over the years, so the dynamics of how artists break into the industry are a lot different than say 10 years ago. With Piracy on the rise, and record sales plummeting, artists and labels are always trying to find new ways to engage listeners and gain true loyal fans. Fans are so fickle and the competition is high so these are all things that you want to keep in mind when thinking about how you plan to spend your marketing dollars to promote an artist.

First, you want to understand your product, in this case the artist or the specific type of music. Figure out what makes it different from other artists. For example, does the artist have a unique style, a different way of performing? Then you want to identify who your audience would be? Meaning, is it an urban group, rock, alternative, or a genre that is a mix of different music types that would attract people. After evaluating these aspects, you can then try to begin to decide what would be the best way to market your artist.

Some suggestions

1. Make a good record (test it, by asking people who will be honest with you what they think)
2. Get DJ's to play and promote the record
3. Get a street team together to distribute flyers in places where your target group would most likely be.
4. Try to sell your music at events in your local area
5. Create an online presence through sites, like Myspace, Youtube, Blackplanet, Blogger, Facebook..
6. Perform, Perform, Perform
7. Network and tell people about your music. The saying, you have to be in the right place at the right time, holds true in the music industry...
8. Be a voice not only on a musical level but active in other activities in the community where you can cross promote your music where appropriate
8. Partner with other brands, for co-branding opportunities
9. Email marketing- send out newsletters on upcoming shows to friends and fan base
10. Mobile Marketing - this is new, but a great way to reach people
11. Last but not least - always continue to perfect your craft


Miss D

Piracy & Music

Ok so today, we know that the music industry is still battling piracy and all the downfalls that it has to offer artists. Piracy is so bad that the artist Talib Kwali, accidentally left a copy of some of his music in the studio, and it got into the wrong hands and before you knew it, songs from his unreleased album was all over the Internet.

His solution was to release his next album online in the hopes that it will reduce people illegally downloading it the second time around. So what can we do to to stop piracy?

I open up the questions to you...

Music Marketing - New Artists

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first edition of The Marriage of Music & Marketing, a blog written by myself Monique Duarte. I am the owner and founder of the marketing company Swan Marketing. Please visit us online at http://www.swan-marketing.com. I am so excited to start talking with others about my Passion, music & marketing, and to find out what interests others on this topic.

So for my first discussion, I am going to start with a topic that I have studied, done research on, and analysed..

Why Do Artists Fail?

One thing I have studied throughout my career, is that it is always a struggle for unknown artists to get discovered, and succeed in the music industry even when they have a deal with a major label! I never understood this from the outside looking in, until I started working with labels, I guess because if you don't hear about an artist, you don't know they ever existed right?

My point is, there are so many artists that get a record deal and because there are other "A" list artists on the label with seniority, their budgets are lower, they get treated like no a priority, and in turn, don't get the promotion they need to really be successful. Do you think this is fair? How does an artist get ahead if he has no control over it? What can marketing companies and the labels do to make sure everyone has equal opportunity? What things effect these situations?

Well one thing is for sure, downloading and piracy have played a big part in the shift in the music industry, including layoffs and smaller budgets to work with. Other factors include time constraints, regulations, artist cooperation, and the amount of resources available to properly manage a new artist. Sometimes it is also about the risk, meaning the label wondering, will we recoup the money that we invest in this artist? Or will their album be a flop because they are a new artist and they don't have a strong following yet? These are all issues the labels face and that we try to help overcome.

To read more and get info on our marketing services please visit http://www.swan-marketing.com/


Thanks for reading!