5 Essential Steps to Take Before You Buy Plays Online
If you are looking to Buy SoundCloud Plays, you may find yourself on the fence.
You may know musicians who have had a great experience buying
probably know others who insist that purchasing signals is about as useful as throwing
money down a drain.
Maybe this has even happened to you. Perhaps you bought 1,000 plays and were stumped
when nothing ever came out of it.
Buying social signals has gotten a bad rap over the
years, and you may even believe this yourself: “It’s fake, and at the end of the day, fake
social signals give you nothing at all.”
But is this reputation deserved? Dig a little deeper and ask the right questions and you
will find that there is more to it than that.
The mistake that many musicians make is in
thinking that buying signals is a marketing strategy by itself.
If you bought 1,000 plays and nothing came out of it, it could be because you did not take
the right steps to leverage those plays for maximum success.
Maybe the track you are promoting simply wasn’t well produced.
Or maybe you tagged it poorly, or were targeting the wrong fan base.
If any of these were the case, you did effectively throw money away.
Conversely, if you are well prepared, then buying social signals can only help you.
If you want to ensure that buying plays online is going to result in a concrete boost for
your music, then here are the steps that you need to take first to get the most out of your
social proof campaign.
1. Create a Marketing Persona
In business, it is always best to start by identifying a target market and then develop a
product that fills the needs of the market.
Unfortunately this is something people get wrong all the time.
They start with the product in mind and then search for the market in this case, the audience.
Nowhere is it easier to make this mistake than when it comes to an artistic product like music.
This isn’t to say that your artistic vision isn’t important, but your listeners are important too.
Before you can successfully market any of your creations, you need to
have a strong understanding of your potential fans.
This means understanding their personalities as well as their habits.
Do they go to clubs or music festivals? Or are they more low-key and prefer to hang out at a rooftop bar or
enjoy their music in private?
Do they listen to music while working, exercising, relaxing, or hanging out with friends?
There are many ways that you can investigate your potential fans.
You can attend concerts by similar artists, or you can look at the profiles of followers for those artists online.
If you already have a small fan base, you can survey your listeners to find out more about them.
Ultimately, you should be able to create what is known as a”marketing persona”
This is simply a template which sums up the profile of your average listener.
For example, the average electronic music listener according to Nielsen:
– May be male or female, but is more likely male.
– Probably in the 18-24 age bracket.
– Most likely white.
– Is well-educated.
– Has a household income ranging from $25,000-$74,000.
Based on this information as well as your research, you might be able to draw further
conclusions.
Because many electronic music listeners are well-educated college-age men
and women, they may listen to music while studying.
They also have the disposable income to attend music festivals and shows.
2. Know Where Your Target Market Is
This leads to the next point of research.
Where is your target market, both online and
offline? Now that you know more about your potential listeners and their habits and
demographics, you can figure out where they are looking for music.
The two most popular and well-known sites for posting musical tracks online right now
are SoundCloud and Mixcloud.
There are a number of key differences between the two,
but the main thing you should know is that SoundCloud was created so that musicians
could share their tracks.
Over the years, it has become a popular platform for remixers and producers as well.
Mixcloud on the other hand was created with a different purpose; it was geared more
toward DJs and remixers to begin with, as well as radio station announcers, podcasters,
and festival organizers who want to post long-form audio.
You can use this distinction to help you figure out where your audience is online.
Working off of the electronic music example, it would make sense to post your tracks on Mixcloud.
Why? You have already determined from your marketing persona that your
average audience member has the disposable income and interest to attend music festivals.
Moreover, remixing is very popular and important in the world of electronic music.
This would make Mixcloud a particularly suitable place to post your tracks.
Don’t forget that SoundCloud and Mixcloud are not the only sites users visit to search for
new artists to enjoy! Listeners are also active on YouTube and on social bookmarking sites like Reddit.
They may also follow tastemakers. DJs like John Peel were the original
tastemakers in the world of popular (and alternative) music, but more and more bloggers are taking over that role.
YouTube promo channels may also function as tastemakers, not
to mention subreddits like https://www.reddit.com/r/music.
What are some examples of influential music blogs? Style of Sound has published a
number of lists of top music blogs in the electronic, indie, and synth pop genres as well as
a top 100 list across all genres.
Their lists were compiled using over 400 social signals across eight different networks to score sites.
3. Get a Marketing Plan Ready
Once you know where your audience is, you know where to post your tracks.
At that point you can purchase plays and likes—but only if you have a marketing plan ready going forward.
The work you have done to put together a marketing persona and
identifying tastemaker blogs and sites will come into play here.
Promote your tracks on SoundCloud and Mixcloud, but also on Reddit, YouTube, and tastemaker blogs.
While you are at it, consider buying retweets for Twitter, views on YouTube, and likes on Facebook.
4. Get Promotional Content Ready and Reach Out To Influencers
The plays, likes, retweets, and views you bought can now be leveraged in your outreach
efforts! That is the entire point of social proof.
You can now prove your relevance and
significance to bloggers, AR, radio stations, and others in the industry who can help to
get the word out! This is also a great way to promote yourself offline.
If you are trying to book a local gig, you can show club owners the social proof of your importance.
None of this will work if you do not prep great promotional materials in advance.
Buying plays won’t be an immediate shot to the stars, but it is best to be prepared—you never
know when one of your tracks could go viral.
At the very least, have your bio (or better, a website) filled out with contact information
for your management as well as info on your latest (or upcoming) release.
If you have time, have a press kit ready as well.
5. Have Content Ready for Fans
The same goes for your potential fans.
Getting someone to take an interest in your music is a tremendous victory.
Be ready to leverage that with more. Offer free downloads and
singles (you can promote these as well for added social proof).
One great thing you can do with your free downloads is incentivize them.
Offer them as a reward in return for joining your email list or posting a review.
You can use your mailing list to capture leads, generate hype, and run future promotions.
Reviews build upon your social proof and help listeners in your target market to identify your tracks as something they may enjoy.
While you are at it, look for ways to interact with your fans and build good will.
Engage them in conversation and run contests and giveaways!.
Conclusion
As you can see, there is a lot more to promoting your music than just buying plays.
You cannot leverage the power of social proof unless you take the necessary steps to identify your audience and engage them.
To recap:
1. Create a marketing persona to help you identify and target your audience.
2. Figure out where your audience is searching for music online and offline.
3. Get a marketing plan ready for YouTube, Reddit, tastemaker blogs, and other
sites your target audience members frequent.
4. Get promotional content ready and reach out to AR, radio stations, and bloggers with your social proof.
5. Have free downloads and promotions ready to use to engage with your fans.
Incentivize these materials to build loyalty and capture leads.
If you take these steps and proactively promote your tracks to the right listeners, buying plays will help you succeed.
It will give you the social proof you need to persuade both listeners and influencers that you are worth their time.
