MONROVIA – Most often artists remain on the same level for a very long time without getting attention from the masses not because their music is poor or they lack the funds but just because they make lots of mistakes when trying to promote or market their songs.
Today I will be outlining some common Mistakes Musicians make when promoting their songs and end up having a failed project. Some of the mistakes artists make when marketing their music are listed below.
They Think Social Media Is Enough
The truth is apart from Facebook some of your favorite artists don’t even know where they can promote their music. Social media plays a vital part in marketing your music. You have to share your content on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media platforms.
The mistake many of them make is they get comfortable after sharing this. They think social media is enough.
One thing you should know is, IT’S SOCIAL MEDIA. People don’t come to social media to check new music. They come to chat with friends, Family and read feeds which a majority focus on fun pages. So you see thinking Social media is enough is already a big failure.
Wrong Audience
Many of the Artistes Target the wrong Audience when trying to market their music. Some go as far as running ads and choosing their audience to be Indian or Nigeria. They even choose the age group to be 50 to 80 whereas they do music for youths from 18 to 14 and Liberians. They also market their music to older people here thinking they might bag support but forgetting they did the music for a different audience and the wrong audience will not be responsive. We know it’s always good to try but some trials should be evaluated.
Promotional Material
In Liberia, the only Promotional Material you have or often see is cover art. That’s funny. You can release a million singles and never blow just because you don’t have a video. The truth is people enjoy watching creative music videos reasons why video clips always get more attention. Some songs become hits once the video is out. Always try and work on a video for that killer single you have.
Promotional materials are many. They include Positive stunts, T-shirts, Banners, skits, caps, etc. Let it not because very expensive. Make sure the prices are moderate. You can sell them at any event or even give some away to your most loyal and supportive fans. They help spread the word and market you more.
Mailing List
Many of our artists don’t make use of their mailing lists. Some don’t even have an email and for those who own one when you email them, it takes a Year for them to see.
Work on improving your mailing list. Anytime you chat with a fan or supporter, kindly take their email and add it to your mailing list. Take their contacts and message them when your song is out. You can even call some. The truth is when a fan or supporter receives a mail or an Sms from their artists they go crazy and feel so good. It makes them support the artiste more and stay posted to content from him.
Trying To Do Everything Cheap
The truth is Music is business and it needs capital. You might have the best strategies but if there is no money to fund them you will be working in vain.
What Are We Saying?
You need money to Print Quality Promotional materials like T-SHIRTS, caps, and pay a graphic designer to do you good graphics which are beautiful and epic. You need to pay the radio, TV stations, and bloggers who will make your strategies work. People won’t watch if your graphics are poor, they won’t even see it if no blogger shares it. If it means saving up some thousands for this, please do before you set the ball running.
Shiekh Mohammed is one of Liberia’s leading entertainment bloggers, promoters, freelance journalists, Events Planner, Publicists, and Youth volunteers. In 2017, he founded DiamondOnline, an entertainment blog that focuses on promoting Liberian arts and culture.