The Ultimate Backstage Pass to Building a Music Brand of Influence
The Backstage Version
Few people see the work that goes into your Music Brand off stage.
Below is the ultimate guide in the backstage version of your Music Brand.
Brand Vision – define your long term vision for this music brand. Overall Big Picture.
Brand Mission – define your mission. Individual Goals.
Brand Values – what you are willing to spend – in the 7 different categories of value – to achieve your Vision and Mission.
Brand Promise – define what you promise your fans and promoters who hire you
Brand Identify – define who you are.
Brand Story – One of the hardest things for any brand to do, is to identify who they are, what story they are telling and what kind of journey they offer to their fans and customers. This story directs your Marketing, Live Shows, Product Development, Sales and Fan Engagement.
What is your USP? Your Unique Selling Point. What are the unique characteristics of what your brand offers a promoter? Show? Digital? Brand?
What is your POD? Your Position of Difference in the Market? What do you offer that no other music brand offers? Show? Digital? Brand?
How often do you SWOT? Identify your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats? We recommend every three months. You can leverage opportunities when you have a clearer perspective on where you are right now.
Target Market – who they are, what they buy, where they hang out IRL and on line and what you offer them
Photo Shoot – book one at least once a year. Have enough collateral to cover releases and tours and brand updates.
The Hero – Choose one that will be used across all platforms – once every quarter.
Photo Catalogue – shoot enough to build a catalogue with at least 30 great shots across whatever campaigns you have going on in a year.
Logo – Create – some artists update this annually – some keep for years. Make sure it can be used across palettes. Get your designer to create vectors in primary colours, black and white. Or even better, retain access to it in Illustrator so you can alter the palette wherever needed. Make sure it works for your brand and is relevant to your audience.
Palette – This drives campaigns – yours, promoters, events, clients, agents, labels and platforms like Spotify. If you use platforms like Adobe Express or Canva, you can upload your Palette to ensure all designs match your brand. It also helps to consider matching the palette of major tours and events that book you. Track your Hex Codes.
Typography – Track the Typography used in your Logo and tag line and create a Style Guide to ensure that all designs match your branding. Once again you can set this up in programs like Adobe Express and Canva.
Style Guide – It helps to have everything in one place – a Google Sheet – a PDF – a hand written notebook – whatever works for you – including sizes, palette, typography and hexcodes – a map of how and what everything in your branding fits together.
The Bio – Think of this as your CV. Approach it like it is a one page Infographic. Imagine your listing on Wikipedia. Work with the main points, strengths and achievements of your music brand. Keep it clear and simple and interesting.
The Press Release – This is your announcement – for a tour, a release or some major news. Start with a catchy title. Outline the announcement. Include something of interest about the announcement. Detail the who, what, why and when of the Announcement.
The EPK – Electronic Press Kit – This is a 360o presentation of who you are as a Music Brand – as an Artist. Components will include: Hero, 5 alternative images to show different looks, A 1 paragraph version of your Bio, Links to your Show Reel or Latest Video, Latest Release (Or Show List) on Spotify, Social Media and any press mentions.
Your On Line Shop – some artists use a Website, others use a Link Tree. Whichever one works for you, you need a place to send fans to from your Socials. A place to check out your latest video, release, bio, news and upcoming show dates. A place for fans to subscribe to your Stack, buy merch and join your private Fan page.
Social Media – the Profile and Cover images, the Bio, the Links – once a quarter Profile Update
Live Gigs for the Next Quarter – Strategize Marketing Activity to link with Market, Region and Influence Reach to boost audience numbers at each gig.
Campaign – Story Board the next three months of your campaign across Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok – Posts, Reels and Stories.
Social Media – Schedule the next three months of your campaign in your Socials Dashboard eg Hootsuite or direct in Meta.
Reels – Plan your next quarter series covering Live Shows, Blooper Reel, Super Fan and News
Networks – leverage off all your industry networks – be interviewed on podcasts, write stacks, do shout outs for your fellow industry mates – celebrate each other’s milestones – tours, releases, news and achievements – share across your Social platforms – and encourage them to do the same with you.
It’s a Marathon – Its not a race, it’s a marathon. You will feel overwhelmed. Having a plan and moving through it one step at a time, while keeping one eye on your goals and vision, will help you to stay on track.
Let the Numbers do the Talking – Run a weekly check of your on line metrics. Track who is engaging, what is working and what is getting the best engagement.
Love It – There is a f**k ton of work to do, so remember to do what you love and love what you do otherwise it can feel like you are a slave to the marketing machine.
Written by Nichola Burton. I work in partnership with Agents, Artist Managers and Event Producers, who juggle a diverse range of relationships in the Musoverse, to curate, manage and measure data in systems, experience, creative and content to support the entire Musoverse operation in my enterprise A Little Pitchy Copyright 2024
