Jan 31 2007
Advertising Part I
So let’s talk advertising.
Many of you are in bands or run labels and are at a point where you want to start spending some money to promote your releases. This is a great place to be in, but there are few things you need to consider first.
Advertising supplements your other promotion activities; it does not replace them. As in, you won’t see too many results by simply spending a ton of cash to advertise. Instead, you need to start by ensuring you have a solid promotion base – usually made up of publicity, radio, Internet, and touring. Then, once you have some interest and some existing awareness, advertising can really ratchet that coverage up and produce exponential results.
So how do you know when you are ready to advertise? There’s no formula, but here are a few helpful questions:
Have you done as much as possible for free? As in, Myspace, viral video, street teams, etc?
Have you had positive reaction to your current efforts? As in, more CD sales, more show attendance, positive reviews, etc?
Do you know the characteristics of your target audience? Do you even know who your target audience is? If not, it will be next to impossible to maximize the placement and message of your ads.
If you answered yes to the above questions, you will probably see results from advertising (if done correctly). We’ll talk about that next time.
great and useful post :)