It seems like 2020 is so full of many platforms dedicated to music promotion, and promotion in general. However, with so many options available, it turns out, standing out from the crowd becomes more difficult. As promotional tools become diverse and more accessible, the audience’s options widen.

In this article, MusicPromoToday will share with you hands-on strategies on single release promotion. 

When promoting a new release, the core strategy is to place your music where it needs to be – in fans and music lovers’ minds and hearts. But you have to be patient as there is a long way to go before that happens. Single release promotion is not something that happens in one day. It is a process that requires dedication and planning. The first step towards that process is building a Marketing Package. It will help you target the right audience and create the contact list you’ll need for promotion. 

The marketing package will also help articulate your song and identify the tools you’ll use. There are several questions you need to give yourself before starting the actual promotion. You need to specify the what, the who, and the why first, along-side the visual concept legitimizing your work. Other necessities to consider before diving deep are elevator pitch, one-page flyers, and the press pack.

What is the song about? Have a brief description, where you talk about its central theme and the reason you wrote it. 

Who should care about your music? Identify your target, the demographic that will listen to it. Concentrate on age, gender, income, occupation, ethnicity, religion, hobbies, and favorite mainstream artists. 

Why should the audience care about your new single release? Clarify the impact your song will have on them. Few sentences on the story of the song are enough. They will help people to resonate with it easily. 

Visuals will make your work look more professional. The visuals you’ll need are the song artwork and promo pics. Free tools like Canva will be enough for creating artwork for your single. However, if you’re looking for something more sophisticated and artsy, consider paying. Make sure your promo pics represent the genre and message idea. Everything needs to be professional and compelling. 

Elevator Pitches are standard for brands, but we recommend writing one for each release. An elevator pitch is a great and quick way to let people know about your new single. All you have to do is combine the name, genre, the subject matter of the song, what musical artist your song mostly sounds like, and how your music is slightly different. 

One-Page Flyers help with communicating your message visually. It combines What, Who, Why sections with visuals, and elevator pitch to represent a release summary. To get your message quick and practically, save the Flyer as JPG and use it both as an email attachment and as a physical copy. 

Press Pack is a pre-packaged set of promotional materials that provide information about you and your single release. It has to include everything the press may need to feature you/song. Consider including 

  • MP3s
  • Your Contact Information
  • Artist Bio
  • Flyer
  • Press Release
  • Promo images and song artwork

An optional addition to this list of must-have before the actual single release campaign is the CC License. It gives those who may want to use your song in their YouTube or Podcast content the right to do it without copyright liability issues. You can Create a CC License for the song.

Check if you have every point mentioned in this article ready and if so, congratulations! You have your marketing package created and are ready to start a new single promotion. 

Below MusicPromoToday will share the strategies that will help promote your new release and get your music out there for a broad audience. 

1. Media is Your Best Friend 

Your relationship with the media is crucial in the promotion process. Create a list of 20 media representatives from your niche and send them the Press Pack. Your media contacts should include local music critics, morning news stations, music magazines, local and state newspapers, and local radio. Make it clear why their audience needs to listen to the song and why they would be interested in it. Offer interviews and live performances.

2.The Right Time Right Place for Special Interest Marketing

You need to use traditional marketing to get your new single promoted, but music marketing is the perfect sphere for experimenting with a little bit of non-traditional marketing. It means you can also send the song and the press pack to non-traditional media speaking directly to your audience. Including blogs, Youtube channels, influencers, podcasts in your promotion process will extend the audience reach, fasten the process, and increase your reputation. 

You can even utilize paid influencer marketing programs to boost your exposure. A less costly method, though, is promoting your song with music blogs that cover independent music. 

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Dream Big 

Having a single that goes viral worldwide is everyone’s dream in the music industry, which is why it seems unachievable. However, it does not mean that you can’t move towards your big dream. Send your new single to online radio stations worldwide; keep communicating with them. Use every platform you get, all available channels from text messages to emails, and Social media to keep communication alive with your audience. Show a personal approach to your fanbase and strengthen the bonds with them. 

Online channels are great for it but also consider using offline methods. Send postcards to all fans you have physical mailing addresses with a message from you and a link to listen and purchase it. Tangible communication makes the connection feel more real and existent. 

4.SEO Pays the Bills

Having SEO friendly articles about your new release will boost your ratings in Search Engines. Three or more SEO optimized blog posts will do the work. You only have to concentrate on the right keyword usage and article distribution. Add them to your websites and blogs, send them as guest posts to other bloggers from the same niche, distribute the s widely as possible. Do not forget to include all keyword tags in the title, image descriptions, and meta descriptions. 

5.Start Social Media Campaigns

Social Media Campaigns are an essential part of a promotion. Create and schedule frequent posts for your new release daily for two weeks, weekly for one month, monthly, and continue until your yearly content is ready. 

You’ll need content diversity to keep the audience interested. The content marketing package will help with creating exciting content. You can use reviews, the description of motivation, circumstances, dive on instrumentation you used, recording process and insights on difficulties, and overcoming them. It will be great to mention people and events that inspired the song. Write about the experiences connected to the song and its creation, use your elevator pitch, concentrate on the song’s meaning, the lyrics that matter most, and discuss the music. The places where the song was featured, contests, films, and events associated with it are also sources for content inspiration. Don’t let your content be redundant; make it useful and create it with the idea that it has to be helpful and bring value. Never forget to add the CTA (call to action) in every content piece. 

6.Use Spotify and Soundcloud.

Music marketing can’t happen without two platforms: Spotify and Soundcloud. Use your Song Marketing Package to create a compelling and engaging description for the playlists on those platforms. Use other songs that match with vibe, genre, mood. It will increase the possibility of being included in other playlists with similar music. Contact independent artists whose songs you use in your playlists and ask them to market your song for their audiences. 

 7.Create a Video Campaign. 

Audio and Video complete each other perfectly. They are great marketing tools for promotion. People even subconsciously expect video content for music. It will be a shame not to give them one. 

Videos are a perfect strategy for promotion, especially for a new release. There are different types of video content you can use for single release promotion. Some of the most common ones are lyric videos, traditional music videos, short documentaries on the song creation process, background and blooper videos, the film content linking the theme of the song to current events and making it a whole deep journey towards a higher purpose, karaoke versions, and videos made in collaboration with fans are also quite popular. You can ask your fans to help you with the creative process, to send you their home videos or ideas for the scripts, you can do anything to have original and unique video content.  

8. Go Local. 

Think globally and act locally. Have your expectations and dreams high but don’t forget that small steps bring the change. Start locally. Connect with local pubs, coffee shops, cafes, night clips, bard, restaurants ask them about collaboration. Be ready to sing for cents in the beginning. Ensure that you’re becoming a household name, at least in your community, before stepping forward. Talk to managers, shop owners, and concentrate on local promotion. Start partnerships to boost your brand recognition. For example, you can have a contract of playing every Friday in a local pub; it will help you not only get recognition among pub visitors but also allow you to experience playing//singing live in front of an audience. It will be a win-win situation for you and the pub owner. You’ll get live performances and audience; they’ll get more pub visitors and interest towards their Friday nights.

 To promote a new single release, you need a decent marketing strategy. Plan your every step and budget. A good plan is half of the job. Once you have it, everything you’ll need to do is trying to follow it step by step. Set the course and follow it, you’ll definitely see the positive result. Use MusicPromoToday’s strategies and adapt them to your case based on your resources and goals. Follow us for more hand-on tips and techniques to promote you and your music