Out with the Tide Album Release Marketing

Organic Social Media Marketing | Arts Marketing

For the release of my album Out with the Tide, I designed a marketing strategy that included a crowdfunding campaign on the platform Indiegogo, organic social media, press releases and advertising in local newspapers, email marketing, website updates, content on music platforms such as Bandcamp and Spotify, and an album release event. This page features details about the organic social media strategy. Information about the Album Release Event and examples of Press Releases are available on other pages.

MARKETING STRATEGY OVERVIEW

Considering this was my first official album release and the audience I had built up to this point did not primarily think of me as a musician, I really was not sure what would be reasonable goals to set. Also, it is important to note that I was a one-person marketing team and had a marketing budget that only allowed one-day advertisements in two local newspapers. The marketing campaign was concentrated in the month leading up to the album, and I am happy to report that in that time and the month following the release, I achieved each of the following goals.

Marketing Goals:

Sell 150 physical CDs
Gain 2,000 streams on Spotify
Grow email newsletter list to 50 subscribers
Build awareness of artist’s personal brand as a musician

Key Call-to-Actions:

Stream the album
Buy the physical CD
Connect with the artist long-term

Target Audience:

Close family and friends
“Casual fans” - community members, acquaintances, social media followers
“People who like Sara Barielles”

Channels:

Website
Organic Social Media (Instagram & Facebook)
Email Newsletter
Music Platforms – Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music
Press Releases & Advertising in Local Newspapers

ORGANIC SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING:

For my organic social media marketing, I focused on the platforms of Instagram and Facebook. These platforms were the logical choice because a.) most of audience lived on these platforms, b.) I had the largest audiences already built on these platforms, and c.) creating content for these platforms was the easiest, most efficient use of my time. I used Canva to design social media graphics.

I focused on five content categories: