If you’re just diving into this series, I recommend starting HERE at the very least.
Ignore me if you want…. I won’t know, but God will.
Alrighty, today’s the day we finally move out of music marketing ~theory~ and start focusing on how to construct your first sales funnel for your music.
In my article “The basics of sales funneling for musicians (READ HERE)”, I asked you to answer three questions in the comments, and I would choose one as a hypothetical case study for today’s article.
Well congratulations to Steven Smith…. you’ve been chosen for today’s case study 🎊🎈🎊
Now, for those of you (not named Steven Smith), before you get all huffy and click out of this article.… everything we discuss today can be translated to your specific circumstances, just stick with me and I’ll explain as we go along.
BEFORE WE BEGIN… let’s recap what we know so far so we’re all on the same page when we start the case study.
Take a look at the sales funnel below:
At the most fundamental level, the purpose of a sales funnel is to take a cold audience (one that has no idea who you are), and warm them up until they’re actually ready to purchase something from you.
If we immediately attempt to sell something to a cold audience, the conversion rate (% of people who actually purchase) will be quite low, since a cold audience doesn’t even know who you are, let alone wants to buy something from you.
For example:
Let’s say I’ve decided that my top-of-funnel strategy for my (now defunct) band, “telco”, is primarily focused on Instagram Reels.
So I make a Reel that goes something like this:
“Hi everyone! My name is Michael, and I’m the artist behind the indie-rock project, “telco”. You’re listening to my new single “Funneling is Fun”… come see me play it live next week by purchasing a ticket via the link in my bio!”
This type of advertisement probably looks pretty familiar.
In fact, I used to make a ton of content just like this! 🤢🤮
So what’s wrong with this approach?
Well… in the span of just a few seconds, I’ve introduced myself to a cold audience and immediately attempted to sell them something.
And, just like in the real world, most people will probably blow me off entirely.
Not because I suck, or my music sucks (I hope).
But simply because people don’t buy sh** from people they don’t know.
Even if they enjoyed my music, most folks won’t immediately buy something from you (or stream your song, or presave your single), without getting to know you a little better.
If you didn’t understand that, re-read it until you do, or ask for clarification in the comments. This is extremely important to understand.
Now, let’s dive into a real-world case study and construct a top-of-funnel strategy in real time…
OK MR. STEVEN SMITH…….
Welcome to the most boring game show of all time. Thanks for volunteering.
Let’s start by checking out Steven’s answers to my questions. I’ll give some feedback on each answer, then we’ll spitball some top-of-funnel strategies.
What is your target demographic for your music? Don’t say “everyone”. Be specific about who you think resonates the most with your music, and identify 3 core demographic traits (i.e. age group, genre preference, core values, etc).
The songs that I have composed are of the Smooth Jazz and Jazz Fusion genre. I’ve done some investigation on the demographics. The research varies but Jazz in the US primarily appeals to adults aged 35 and above with higher levels of education and income. Jazz listeners are middle-aged, predominantly male, and very well educated. On average, only 17% are under age 45, and 80% are white. A significant proportion (42%) is female. 48% of adults are in the highest income groups ($75,000 and over) and 32% of jazz listeners have a household income of $100,000 or more.
Ok, great start. You can tell Steven did his research, and his demographic is pretty clearly measurable and definable, which is great.
I’m sure many of you don’t have the in-depth statistics that Steven has here, which is completely fine.
You don’t have to be incredibly granular (especially in the early stages), but the more you’re able to chunk down on an exact target demographic, the better your top-of-funnel strategy will work.
What value does your music provide to this demographic? Is it entertainment-focused? Does it spread a message? Does it speak about a challenging topic?
I would like my music to improve the listener’s mood. My concept is to tell a story that the audience can relate to, create imagery for and follow those images in their mind. Hopefully my music will be able to divert one’s attention away from day to day problems.
Ok, this answer is typically what I expect from most artists.
It’s incredibly hard to determine the “value” of your music, so most folks just go for the broad concepts like “I want to make people happy” or “I want to make the world a better place”.
This is an ok place to start, but as we continue this series, we’ll have to work on defining a more clear value propositions for our listeners.
But that’s getting ahead of ourselves…
Where can you find your target demographic?
The target demographic can be found on the majority of online social media and streaming platforms, paid and free. There are also specialty cruises, festivals and club venues that can be attended.
I love this answer for a few reasons…
It demonstrates that even though Steven’s answer to Question #1 was incredibly specific, he still seems to struggle to identify where that audience is.
Saying they can be found “on the majority of online social media and streaming platforms” is like saying they can be found on Planet Earth…. unfortunately it doesn’t narrow it down too much.
However, the second half of his answer about “specialty cruises, festivals, and club venues” is a bit more specific, which I’ll come back to later.
Ok let’s all give Steven a mildly-enthusiastic round of applause 👏.
Thanks again for sharing your answers with the group, I know it’s always a bit intimidating.
Now let’s start to think about some top-of-funnel strategies that Steven can test.
For those following along at home, I’m going to use the “who, where, what” framework (and some critical thinking) to think through this.
So, WHO is Steven’s audience?
Well, thanks to Steven’s in-depth answers, we don’t need much guesswork here. According to Steven, his audience is primarily:
Age 35+, male and female
Highly educated
Predominantly white
Jazz fans (obviously)
Now we need to ask ourselves “WHERE can we find these people?”
According to Steven, they can be found on most social media platforms…
However, a quick Google tells us that ~70% of all users on TikTok are under the age of 35 (Steven’s target demo)… so that’s probably not the best option.
Instagram could work, but the age demographics are similar to TikTok, and my gut tells me there are better, high traffic options for finding jazz fans.
So let’s think outside the box a bit…
Steven mentioned that specialty cruises are an option, but unless he’s getting booked by the cruise line (or busking on the deck), that seems pretty unrealistic as a strategy.
Steven also mentioned festivals, which is interesting.
A jazz festival has already done the heavy lifting of finding the target audience, and if Steven can find a way to piggy-back off their hard work, it can be quite effective.
But WHAT can he offer festival goers?
The obvious answer is to play the festival…. but if we’re being realistic, unless Steven has a large fanbase already (in which case, why are you reading this……..), the chances of getting booked at a major jazz festival are slim to none for now.
So what else can Steven do to take advantage of this huge influx of jazz fans?
He could stand outside the jazz festival and introduce himself to festival goers… but that’s a little creepy.
Hmm…
Hmmmmmm…….
*Critical thinking, engage*
What if Steven got another jazz musician or two and organized an after-party for the jazz festival at a local bar/hotel?
He could reach out to a venue and offer to host the afterparty and perform for free to attract festival goers.
If the venue is smart, they’ll want to capitalize the influx of jazz fans that are in town for the weekend…
He could hand out flyers to attendees on the way in to the festival with a QR code to get on the guest list for free (in exchange for their email address).
The venue gets an influx of jazz fans who spend money on food/drinks……… the jazz fans get a perfect post-festival event… and Steven gets loads of email addresses from his new fans so he can continue to market to them even after they’ve flown home from the festival.
The demographic is perfect, the value proposition (for the fans and the venue) is extremely clear, and Steven can potentially add a few dozen emails to his database that he can sell tickets, merch, etc to later.
Not a bad idea.
Is it the best idea?
Probably not.
It’s a cool concept, but there are some immediate problems that we’d need to solve.
First of all, it’s a lot of work for a single event.
It’s also hard to replicate (if the festival is only once a year).
But instead of throwing away the idea altogether (which is always tempting when you run into problems), let’s instead think of some ways to mitigate the problems…
Steven can have a friend film his performance and repurpose the content on his socials, etc to make the time investment worth it. This allows him to turn a one-off show into loads of content he can continue to use on his socials, etc.
He can then use this content to reach out to other festivals, venues, and, and clubs with similar propositions/ideas, which means he wouldn’t have to wait a year to run the event again.
And if the event goes REALLY well, Steven can even reach out to the festival’s marketing managers and offer to be the official “after-party” for next year’s event in exchange for some marketing opportunities to their email list or social media.
Now I know what you’re thinking…
“Michael, this seems like a lot…. and you don’t even know if it would work.”
Well unfortunately, dear reader, marketing is all about ideation + testing.
The only way to truly see what works (and what doesn’t), is by testing your hypothesis.
Steven may try this idea and find that no one showed up for the afterparty because the QR code was too tiny on the flyer.
Or maybe every venue in the area rejects his idea because his pitch isn’t strong enough.
Or MAYBE Steven tries this only to realize that he hates organizing live events, in which case, it’s back to the drawing board.
The point is, crafting a top-of-funnel strategy requires a lot of critical thinking, and an extreme tolerance for failure.
Most folks give up after their first failure instead of using the data to improve the funnel.
But you are stronger than that.
So here’s your assignment.
I want you to use this article to think through a potential top-of-funnel strategy.
It will not be perfect. It might not even be good. Do not let that discourage you.
As I demonstrated above, this is NOT a science, it’s an art. Lean into your creativity and think outside the box. There are no penalties for creative answers.
Once you have an idea you like, I want you to test it as best as you can.
And when you inevitably run into problems (or fail outright)…. I want you to share your experience in the comments below.
I know that is probably intimidating, but I assure you that someone else is struggling with the same issue you are and is afraid to ask for help.
Sharing your experience here will help build a community that is open and honest about our failures, so we can all learn from each other (without the shame).
I’ll choose one comment to use for our next case study where we’ll discuss how we can implement middle-of-funnel and bottom-of-funnel strategies to start to generate income.
We’re getting close. Stick with me.
Oh yeah, and don’t forget to subscribe. I’ve failed enough.
🫡⚔️🫡⚔️🫡⚔️🫡⚔️🫡⚔️
Michael from Mad Records
Thanks for the article Michael! My problem is I don't know who my audience is or even if I have one for real! Right now the people who seem to really like my music that I know of are other producers and musicians that I know. I don't play live either. How do I start with that? Thanks
Another 'problem' with your 1st " TOFU solution" above ... In my experience - with the real life Telluride Jazz Festival (fit perfectly into your description), is that they pre-book all the local clubs "after and pre fest gigs", as they are setting up the fest itself... Mostly local "jazz-vein" bands are booked - and if you do well, you may get asked back next year... So - as a new band/artist, may be hard to get... but who knows?... Definitely worth an audition try... ...and as you said - only once per year - but people from all over the world do come to it - and if you have their attention - and "exploit" their attention (set up email lists, hand out CD's, etc) at the gig(s), you are well on your way to getting that initial group who will follow you... especially locally - if you are a local band / artist, and doing local gigs and expand from there... Kinda sounds like how we Had to do it in the "old days"...lol... I'm not sure what other alternative ideas would be available to boost one's exposure from this scenario... I guess the idea would be to duplicate the success of this situation (the Telluride Jazz Fest gig), and use that success (IF in fact it IS a success!), to go around the country doing more of the same thing... Again tho - the time and expense to do so may be prohibitive, in relation to the benefit of slowly building an online presence and audience... I am definitely old school (65), and know how to do this Old School ways, but am also struggling to understand how to get my music "popular" from the comfort of my home studio (about 40 mins from Telluride, in fact)!!... and admittedly NOT very social media savvy (by choice!!)... This is why I am here reading your posts!!....