The festive season is well under way now, and, as the song goes, ‘it’s the most wonderful time of the year.’ And while this applies to all of the standard tropes that people normally associate with Christmas – food, presents, family – it’s also an excellent time to be putting out music.
The great thing about Christmas, if you are looking for ways to market your music, is that it is ready-made music marketing. People are generally looking for interesting presents to gift to their loved ones, but rather than sifting through Amazon, what could be better than tickets to their new favourite band?
Write A Christmas Song
You may not be in the running for the Christmas number one (this year), but that doesn’t mean you can’t still make your output festive. Take advantage of the Christmas season, it’s a ready-made marketing tool. Put a bit of effort into writing a Christmas song, or maybe put on a Christmas-themed event. Then, once you’ve written and recorded your Christmas track, search out a few Christmas playlists and get yourself featured. If you need a few pointers on how to write a Christmas hit, though, check out this blog.
Discounts, Deals and Bundles
Everyone loves a good deal. That’s just a fact of life. So if you are aiming to get people to buy your music over the Christmas season, you would do well to bear it in mind. There are several ways to go about this – the simplest is to offer discounts.
If you have set up a shop on your website, all you need to do is broadcast a discount code. This works for two reasons – first, your customer will receive a special price, but more than that, they will also be getting a ‘superfan’ feel out of it. It really is just a case of buttering them up a bit, but there is no shame in that!
Another way is to offer bundles, try putting together a bit of merch, your latest release and a cut-price ticket for your next show into one special deal. This is upselling at its finest – while you won’t be making as much profit as if you sold them all individually, your fans may not be willing to buy all of these things separately. With the special deal, you’ve got a better chance of making the sale.
Just Ask!
It may seem overly simple, but the best way to get people to buy your music is to just ask them. Social media is great for this – with one click you can make sure all your followers get the message. However, this is exactly the kind of time that a mailing list becomes really useful. Throughout the year you should be keeping your fans up to date with what you have going on, so Christmas should be no different.
The only problem here is that your fans are going to be inundated with other people who have had the same idea, so you need to make your email really special. Firstly, your header needs to grab the reader. Something boring like ‘Seasons Greetings From XXX’ is much less likely to get people to open it than ‘XXX Has Something You’re Really Going To Want This Christmas’. If the reader feels like there is a personal benefit for them in the email, they will be much more likely to open it.
The next thing is to make sure that all the information you want them to read is as clear as possible. Don’t make the email too convoluted, and make sure that the key information you want them to read stands out. Finally, make a clear Call To Action that directs them to wherever they can buy your merch or consume your music. The idea is to make the whole process as streamlined and easy for your fans as possible. If they have to click through various pages before they get to what you want them to see, they are much more likely to be turned off.
Christmas Day Isn’t The End
Just because Christmas Day only twenty four hours, it doesn’t mean that your sales opportunities only revolve around that one day. Once the day itself is over, the sales begin anew and all your fans will be flush with cash. This is another great time to set up some more deals, only now you will have an added bonus. While most of the pre-Christmas sales are targeted at getting your followers to buy your merch for others, now you’ll have the advantage of marketing yourself to the people who already know and love your music.
Set yourself up so you’re all ready to go, and don’t have to do too much work while you’re on holiday, and once Boxing Day begins, send it out.
Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, the fact that it is a great time to promote yourself remains – 20% of music sales take place in the last six weeks of the year! Every year, billions of pounds are spent in the lead up to the big day and you would be wise to use this to your advantage.
