I have seen many musicians taking either one of the following routes to create and market their music:
1. Create a song (a product) and then find the audience that connects with it.
2. Find the target audience first and create a song (a product) that you know will connect with that specific audience.
Like any other industry, market and product, your music is a finished good, tailored for a final user (an audience) in exchange of satisfying an emotional need for a profit. In other words, your music is a product, and like every other successful product in the market you need to make sure that it is actually satisfying the emotional points of the recipient in order to be successful.
What does this have to do with creating a Raving Fan?
Well, the answer is pretty simple, and it is persuasion. In his book The One Sentence Persuasion, Blair Warren explains it in one simple sentence:
“People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions and help them throw rocks at their enemies.”
You must get clear on the following points in order to create and then market a song release properly:
1. WHO your dream raving fan is
2. Where can they be found
3. What are their emotional points
You will be better equipped to position your music and make your brand connect with your ideal fan when you deeply know who they are. Think about how well you know your ideal fan’s background, their goals, interests, needs, pains, frustrations, and challenges. This is key for the success of your music career.
The quickest and most effective way to do this is by creating a Dream Raving Fan Avatar. In the marketing world some call it Customer Avatar, Buyer Persona, or Target Market. It really doesn’t matter how you call it. However, creating very specific Fan Avatars can dramatically improve your music results.
We’ll define ours as your Dream Raving Fan Avatar.
How did this worked for me?
The moment that I created my dream client avatars everything changed for me. I was stuck in not knowing who my message was directed to, or even how to formulate my message, because I didn’t knew who my ideal client was, so I didn’t understood what their needs were, and much less, how to serve them by solving those needs.
To get me started, I created 4 dream client avatars. I named and segmented them by genre, music career level, income, and current emotional points.
I created:
• Mahya Veray, an entry-level World Music International Artist
• Melanie Martinez, a mid-career Indie Music National Artist
• Johnny Reedas, a mid-career Alternative Rock Los Angeles Artist
• Carlitos Roots, a late-career Reggae Roots Recording National Artist
Now, let’s move on to Part 2 of 2 of this Creating your Dream Raving Fan Series to learn more about what a true raving fan is, the importance of incorporating it in your music creation process and its results in your music business.
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Let’s do this!
Rock on!
Love, Mia
P.S. and don’t forget – you are now a TrendCulprit!
