Hey Music Marketeers,
Today I want to talk a little bit more about why I think Google Alerts is so essential for your career, and how you can use it to keep tabs on what your fans are saying about your music.
The web today is full of hidden people gossiping and commenting about you, and the game is finding out what they are saying and then using that information to enhance the musical message you put out.
This will help you to protect your musical brand and show your fans that you are a real person and that you really care about them. Apart from building trust this will also help you stay on top of what is going on so that you can easily notice new opportunities.
(For those of you who have been living under a rock listening to Pink Floyd, here is a video that shows you how to set up Google Alerts and what it is.)
1. Monitor What People Are Saying About A New Release
By doing this you get a feel for what the fans really think when they are freely talking about your work.
This honest feedback will help you do even better next time. (Although you will need to take any criticism on the chin.)
This is also a good way to gather positive comments that you can post on your album download page to increase trust with your potential buyers.
Tip: When you are releasing music try and give it a unique title. For instance if you call your album “Tomato” it will be super hard to monitor because millions of web pages hit the Internet every day mentioning that word. It’s best to go for something unique and keep your results clean.
How to set this up?
2. Thank People for Links
There is nothing like a good old fashioned bit of gratitude to have people heaping even more praise on you in the future.
So what you want to do is monitor when people send a link to your website then send them a personal email to thank them for their support.
This will also lead to other interview opportunities and such.
How to set this up?
3. Discover Hot New Music
If you are trying to build a fan base in any music scene you need to know who’s getting most attention so that you can model on that success, and even write about them on your own site.
You want to look for people or topics that come up a lot then make it your mission to add to the conversation directly and continue the discussion on your own blog.
A great way to use this method is to interview musicians who are generating a buzz because this will mean that their fans will associate their success with your own career.
How to set this up?
4. Defending Your Reputation
If you sell anything online be it a t-shirt, MP3 or CD you will sometimes run into people who are not happy with their purchase. Rather than letting you know directly they will often just jump on the closest forum and call you every name under the sun.
So it’s your job to notice when this happens and make a public reply which will regain your lost fan, and also show others that you are proactive in dealing with even small issues that come up.
Going the extra mile with your customer service will make people love you, and a personal touch will set you apart from greedy corporate fat cats.
There are some rules to this…
- Take a few moments to evaluate if it’s a valid complaint or if the person is just a hater.
- Never get angry and try to defend yourself. Just present the facts.
- If your are in the wrong admit it and let the person know how you are going to deal with the situation.
Just be honest and fare, and people will see that you are trying your best to sort things out even though there has been an issue.
You should NEVER shy away from a problem and hope things go away.
5. Keep An Eye on Other Musicians
We touched on this before but it’s worth looking at in more detail.
The method is to track all the most successful acts in your music scene and make a note of clever and unique things they do to get attention and please their fans.
You should never copy of course…but if you want to have an endless stream of new ammo to push your career forward then it’s essential you notice what’s working right now for other musicians.
How to set this up?
Final thoughts.
Google Alerts is wicked good for DIY musicians trying to level the playing field with major label artists, who have a big budget behind them.
You may have less resources at your disposal, but if you’re clever and use the free tools that are available you can act fast when opportunities arise, and be first to move when new trends pop up.
Try to incorporate the tips above into your daily routine and think of this as “reputation management time”.
People are already talking about your music, so you might as well benefit from what they are saying by either re-posting a positive review on your blog or turning a problem with your sales system into a situation where you receive positive reputation points from potential fans.
Good luck,
- Chris
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