Stop Shooting in the Dark: How to Find Your Audience
I wholeheartedly believe that every song has a fan somewhere. No matter how bad or trash I or anyone else thinks a song is, the world is too big for there not to be someone out there who likes it. That’s the beauty of art, it always resonates with someone. The problem with a lot of artists is that they try to cram square pieces into circular holes, usually under the guise of ego or simply not knowing better. It’s unlikely that EVERYONE who hears your song will like it, but it’s extremely likely that SOMEONE does. That’s why it’s best that you spend your time figuring out who exactly where your fans are, so as not to waste precious marketing dollars and to maximize your campaigns.
How can you do so?
1. Build a Fan Profile
A fan profile is similar to a customer profile which is used more so by businesses. Basically, a fan profile is a general description of your ideal fan. It can include information such as demographics, hobbies, preferred media channels, etc. The easiest way to do so is to get a piece of paper or your notes app and list out all the things that you feel describe your potential fan. Or even better, build an actual person. Put a name to this fantasy fan. Let’s take an artist like Lil Pump for example. If I was building his fan profile it would look something like this:
While one for J. Cole may look something like this:
These are very crude profiles, and obviously there is no one size fits all fan, but the goal is to get an idea of what your fan may look and act like. This way you can be more strategic in marketing yourself in places where they may be. If building one seems to stump you ask yourself these questions to help yourself out: What do the people vibing to my music at shows look like? What are my analytics saying? What types of people are engaging with my content and music? What do I like? All of these will help you build your target, ensuring you have a smaller chance of missing your mark.
2. Find Similar Artists
The next step in finding and building your audience is finding artists that are similar to you. These similarities could be in music, style, brand, etc. Doing so helps you figure out which established audience may be the most receptive to you and your music. These are the people you’ll want to put yourself in front of. In my experience, This is usually one of the hardest things for an artist to do. I get it. Everyone is unique and no one sounds the same because you are you and so on. But trust me, to someone who’s never heard you before, you sound like somebody, and it’s best you figure out who that somebody is. Nothing is new under the sun, and everyone is influenced by someone.
One of the best ways I’ve seen artist’s figure this out is by putting themselves in a hypothetical situation. Imagine a promoter calls you up to open up for three artists. Of all the artist’s you can think of, who’s crowd do you think would actually like you? If you honestly think that you’d kill it opening for Kendrick Lamar, then hey that’s one down right there. Think the Migo’s crowd would get lit with you? Boom, there’s another one. Once had a die-hard Drake fan tell you-you’re the future? Well, that’s a start. If figuring out who may be similar to you genuinely challenges you, try this exercise to get started.
3. Research Relevant Media Channels
So I’m sure you’ve noticed a common theme here. When initially building your audience what you’ll want to do is identify those people you want, and steal them away from existing audiences. Another way to do so is to research relevant media channels that may have fans who would like your music. This could be relevant blogs, YouTube channels, Instagram pages, Spotify playlists, etc. This ties into the last tip, as you’ll need to have an idea of what artist’s fan bases you’re after, and then go after the fans of media channels who post or talk about those artists. Basically, going after the fans of an electronic blog won’t help much if you sound more Jill Scott than DeadMau5.
The beauty of finding your fan on a media channel’s base is that theirs is so diverse from covering so many artists. This means you have the ability to cross influences and target multiple fan bases at a time. For example, No Jumper has a history of covering artist’s from the “Mumble Rap” genre. So if your ideal fan likes Trippie Redd AND Lil Yachty, now you have an increased chance of hitting your target from going after fans of a channel that promotes both.
Take Action
If this article helped you out, please share it with all your friends and help spread it around even more. If you have any questions, thoughts, or ideas, feel free to hit me up on Instagram!
Jacorey Barkley is a freelance Digital Music Marketer based in Atlanta. He specializes in getting music heard using Spotify, Instagram, and YouTube. You can reach him on Instagram @kohreydasavior
