As I told you a few weeks back, I’m a firm believer in having a website. No matter your business. So, this week I had an interesting chat with a musician that didn’t have a website up and running. She released a new single a couple of weeks back and was complaining about the low amount of viewers on Youtube. 342 to be exact. 

As it turned out, she didn’t follow a release strategy but publishing it through a distributor and hoping for the best. Also, she spent some money on paid ads. In the ads, she sent people from social media to Spotify. 

When asking about the numbers, she couldn’t tell me anything. She didn’t know who her listeners were. And she didn’t know how much money she got in return for her investment in ads.

Okay, to be honest, the last one is simply impossible at the moment. But as far as I know, Spotify is working on a solution. For the other issue though - knowing who your fans are - there’s a simple solution.

Your website.

Sounds familiar? 

Yeah… well… your website remains your number one tool to find your best fans. And it’s really simple.

I have a short example for you:

If you’re already using Facebook Ads, you want to install a Facebook pixel on your website. A pixel tracks your visitors and helps you retarget them. So if you create an ad in the Facebook Business Manager for plays on Spotify, use your website in between. (If you want to know how to implement a pixel, search for it, there are quite some tutorials out there…)

Of course, your website must load ultra fast. Otherwise, you can lose people halfway through. As for the website, you create a single page, hide it from search engines (this option is called “noindex”), and design a very simple Spotify-like page. Then, you connect this page with your Facebook pixel and let it automatically redirect the visitor after three seconds. So that someone who clicks on your ad gets sent to your site and then - after three seconds - to your Spotify link. 

Now, you can create a custom audience and build a retargeting campaign. Meaning you create new ads for the people who clicked on your link. Since you know that they showed at least a minimum of interest in your brand, you can use this knowledge and engage with them even more. For example, with a “why” video. You can also target specific people in that audience by region. This comes handy when you’re about to tour and want to get these people on your shows. 

However, you see this can be quite impactful if used correctly. Which brings me back to your website. Yes, it is a bit of work, setting up all the stuff you need in place to properly track and build your fanbase. But aren’t you in the music industry to make people listen to your music?

Well, we’re halfway through 2019. It’s “almost” 2020. The old music industry is obsolete. Everything is changing at an incredible speed. Only 10 years ago, people didn’t even think about the possibilities every artist now has. It’s up to you to innovate your brand in order to stand out and make a living with your music. Don’t waste your time with nonsense. And if you need help with clarifying your goals, you can always send me a message.

As always, I hope I could enlight you on your road to becoming a profitable independent musician 🙂