What's the most efficient and cost-effective way to market/advertise something you have developed or created you might be able to sell?
I have developed a set of 7 CDs containing over 70 digitally-created songs for easy listening enjoyment. Many like my material. Just looking for mark/adv/selling advice
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
May 31, 2014
Social media is definitely a great way to go, especially Facebook. If you have a general idea of your target audience, you can even pay a small fee to target-advertise which means the ad will appear on the individual's wall feed based on criteria and key words that you select. The actual price depends on how many people you are aiming to reach. I would highly recommend adding clips of your music to the Facebook posts.
Word-of-mouth is a powerful marketing tool, and getting involved in relevant interactive groups on Facebook can go a long way as well. Do keep in mind that you need to make intentional interactions in the groups and not just promote your own business venture.
I hope this has helped! Please let me know if you would like to discuss anything more specifically. And good luck!
May 31, 2014
YouTube, be a vendor at events and trade shows, etc. Can you give some kind of a sample to people to entice them to buy more?
There are a few people posting videos of themselves performing on social media that are building an awesome fan base.
Hope these help!
May 26, 2014
Another avenue might possibly be selling the CD's as video production music. Sites like Pond5 (www.pond5.com) are always looking for music to add to their collection: http://www.pond5.com/index.php?page=start_selling
Good luck.
May 25, 2014
Can you make the marketing of your music more like a purple cow? (*Seth Godin) In other words, how can you gain more attention with the people you know who would be pleased to hear your music.
Can you amp up good word-of-mouth? Social media marketing is pivotal for brand awareness and long tail customer engagement.
Working forward from knowing who your unique audience is, compare & analyze offerings from the various music and marketing platforms touched on through the other answers. The key is to test your hypothesis and implement a strategy, as cheaply as you can, iterating often. That is, until you find the proverbial sweet spot that's gaining you listeners and sales. Best of luck.
May 23, 2014
I've found that focused testing of your messaging is a crucial first step. Once the messaging is right, you can scale it up through all the online advertising opportunities available.
Try SalesScripter.com as a first step to getting your messaging right and then try runing simple text or image ads in Adwords/Adsense (sometimes less than $0.25 per click). For $500 you can learn a lot about what your customers respond to.
Also, using LeadFerret.com to build a targeted email list will let you reach out to your ideal prospects affordably to begin learning from them directly.
May 22, 2014
These days music is captured by sounds and beats.. the light music will surely break this noise. I think you need to address this post 30s age group and try to reach them thru Social sites and other mediums.
May 22, 2014
Start with your own circle, find influential person, make he/she likes your product, and then start the word-of-mouth. The word-of-mouth can spread faster by social media nowadays :))
May 22, 2014
The most cost-effective and efficient method of advertising is of course word of mouth, it
costs you nothing, but your time. Hand bills, with several kids, turned loose in a mall or shopping center parking lot, low cost hand bills, saturday / sunday, ice cream treats, or a lunch at McDonalds, several pizzas and soda pop. These are the very basics, old school runs amuck as it were. Several weekends a month for a while, changing up target zones. if you do this of course be sure to check in with mall or local authorities first. But very effective and just about as low cost as possible.
May 22, 2014
Good day to you. I believe that the most cost effective way is word of mouth and let potential customers try it first so they become the ambassadors of your product. Secondly you could consider websites as CD Baby, Reverberation, Amazon to distribute your product and get it under the attention of your audience.
Another option is that you could ask your ambassadors to sell the CD's at a commissionable fee to friends, colleagues. Try to get airtime on your local radio station.
Last but not least you could consider if you have an email database to set up an emailing campaign to that database with discount offer to buy the whole CD set at once.
Another option is to set up an Amazon account. If you request an account on the EZY-Booking.com website you can link the Amazon account to it and EZY-Booking supports live bookings and CD sales.
Any other questions let me know. Success. William Kuipers CEO Passion4Share Creative Agency.
May 22, 2014
Ed,
i would suggest you investigate digital branding and marketing. It is available via a ton of people who are solo practitioners working virtually. Vet them by seeing their other work and more importantly quantified results and associated references. The availability of fresh grads with leading edge knowledge are in abundance right now and while seeking a more permanent employment opportunity, would likely jump at the chance to help. Also check out college juniors looking for project/intern opportunities.
Try placing a few samples at FLAC quality on various sites for independent music. They can also become viral attracting more experienced sources for promotion and sale of your set.
A market for your product is likely the small business sectors with dentists, surgeons and retailers.
May 22, 2014
Hi Ed --- The way you have produced a product first before listening too the target market is where you are going wrong?
Yes people like your product --- so take some of those people out too a coffee and get their honest feedback in exchange for a testimonial.
Then look at who your ideal customer is? If you feel you are going too sell heaps and heaps. I'm sorry too be blunt -- HOWEVER NO you will not and the way you have started out with the investment with your time, energy and resources is a clear sign too me why this is so........
First look at your mindset -- everything starts with your WHY? Why did you start producing this CD? Yes its great that it probably is your passion, however disengage from this passion - and look at it from a business proposition. You have invested a lot of time, energy and resources to produce this product, so you need too get the marketing correct. This means the correct message, correct time for that market and the correct marketing mix..........
Create a selling system? How many have you sold? At what price? What was your profit margin? What's your break even? These are all things that really need too be looked at before you actually make a CD. So that when you have the CD --- it actually sells because you have the correct product too market match.
I'm sorry if this comes across a little like "WAKE UP ED" ARE YOU ACTUALLY IN BUSINESS" If you want results and actually want too sell your CD's then its about a huge reflection process for yourself in regards too Who you are actually selling too.
Please feel free too connect and take advantage of my free coaching session on this material. Have a great day....
May 22, 2014
Before you spend and money or effort on marketing/advertising you need to answer these 10 questions.
To your success.
Kevin
May 22, 2014
Determine who would most likely buy your CDs. Then RESEARCH. Ask them about what they read, watch, listen to, etc. Look for common denominators. Then, send press releases and samples to the media of THEIR choice editors as PRESS RELEASES and ask for a free review. In many cases they will run press release and/or review at no cost because the editor finds it beneficial to their readers, viewers, listeners, etc.
May 22, 2014
That's a tough question. Marketing is only efficient and cost-effective if it works. If you are advertising something and not paying a lot to do so, it may be cost-efficient but it may not be effective.
Music is a tough category with some stiff competition from some big players. Plus, listeners have many "free" options to choose from also - such as Spotify, Pandoran, etc. I think if you want to market your own material, you might look into social media and see if there aren't user groups comprised of users who are into digitally created music. Then, consider running some small Facebook or Google ads targeting them.
You might also look into creating an online portal where people can get a sample of your music. I think people are going to be hesitant to purchase music that (1) they haven't heard before or (2) from a composer they do not know.
Good luck!
May 22, 2014
Ed,
Guerrilla marketing is about using time and innovation vs. big budgets to grow sales profitably.
Songs can be a bit like See's Candy or Almond Roca.
Samples.
In your case the product samples inspire people (or not) to say "amazing" and sell more.
And Ed... here is a must watch video for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZdEsM-xi8
Don't let the quality of the video keep you from watching/listening. Avoid the tech issue and listen closely to the content. Seth Godin has the savvy to keep you in the groove.
Enjoy,
Mike
May 22, 2014
Offer the music up for free or easy pricing terms to marketers and advertisers. If your material is used in a National TV campaign (for instance) you can gain instant national or global awareness for little outlay.
May 22, 2014
First you need to understand who is your target? What age group might like your music? etc.
then you can develop a tactical plan based on that.
You can also look at similar music CDs and see where they are selling.
One area for you might be on line- like targeted banner ads
First understand your consumer
May 22, 2014
first, website great pictures, high-end commercial video. Your website needs to have google analytics and reporting is key to help you gauge if people are actually reading and wanting to know more about your product. If you have a low bounce rate that means people are reading, watching your video. Install a shopping cart and start selling. Now invest in social media and other online google adwords placement. I hope this helps good luck! for more on web design visit us at
Oh I forgot to add the video link. Sorry folks http://youtu.be/aDyiI-NxMto