Branding 101: Developing a Strong Online Presence
Branding. It’s one of the most important aspects of your business. Without it, how would you differentiate yourself from the competition? Thousands of scientific articles attempt to identify what makes for a successful brand. Although it seems like a simple enough concept, there is actually more much to it than meets the eye.
We want to give you a quick guide on branding that you can immediately apply to your own business as a music producer. We’re going to review five concepts that will set you on the right path. So without further ado, let’s dive right in!
WHO ARE YOU? WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO REACH?
While we understand that this is a huge question to start out with, it is actually the most essential. All your success (and failure) will be dependent upon your level of self-knowledge. If you don’t have a good understanding of what you are trying to do, it will reflect in everything you do.
The most successful producers tend to be the one’s that know themselves very, very well. While the most unsuccessful ones (read: unknown) tend to not have an idea about who they are. It shows. You want people to instantly “get” your brand upon their first impression. Don’t leave any room for interpretation. Don’t be confuse your audience. You can start by asking yourself a few questions.
- How do you want to be perceived?
- What type of music are you trying to make and what demographic are you trying to reach?
- Are you tying your message to a personal ethos of yours?
Be clear on who you are and what you want.
QUALITY.
Everything you do should be at the very least 80% as good as the very best stuff out there. You need to build a reputation and the best way to do that is by starting off as a strong contender from the jump. Don’t leave yourself exposed to any inconsistencies in your brand. Don’t work with people who do not make it a priority to give you the very best work. It makes a huge difference, trust us.
Don’t be cheap. Everything worth having and doing will cost money. Don’t sacrifice quality to save a few extra bucks. At the same time, be reasonable. If you can get a dope logo for half the price as an equally dope logo, go for the cheaper one. Remember, it’s not about how much money you spend, but how it’s spent. Everything you put your money into should have a good ROI. Think carefully about everything you put your money into. Cheap sounds and cheap looks can ruin your chances for success. Always start off with a strong foot and come prepared with the very best work.
BE CONSISTENT.
Don’t confuse your audience. Represent yourself all the same on each medium. It’s confusing to label yourself as an EDM producer when half your beats on Soundcloud are trap. It’s confusing when you use one logo on one website, and use an entirely different logo on your socials. Be consistent. Your brand will become stronger if you are able to represent it equally from every angle. It will help reinforce the message and the brand’s idea overtime your audience sees it.
A great example of consistency is Metro Boomin’s tag. It is easily one of the most recognizable tags in the game. As soon as you hear “Metro Boomin wants some more” you know that the beat is about to be super lit. Work to build a brand that is easily identifiable. Then, work harder to spread yourself across all mediums consistently.
EMBASSY.
Your website is your nation, and your socials are embassies spread across different countries. Understand? While it may be awesome to have 10 million Facebook likes on your page, it doesn’t determine your level of success or your annual revenue. Even though unlikely, who is to say that Facebook won’t go the way of the dodo in 5 years? What happens to those 10 million likes then? You guessed it. GONE.
Directing people to your website should be your #1 priority. Once people are on your site, it’s much easier to convert them into superfans. Superfans are the one’s that will buy your beats, drum kits and everything else you make every time you drop shit. So set up socials with the intention of drawing traffic back to the website. Make sure your handles are the same. For instance, if your producer name is “producer x” then your website should be www.producerx.com and your socials should all be @producerx, get it?
GET A WEBSITE, START YOUR EMAIL LIST.
It’s easy, just head on over to godaddy.com and buy your domain for as little as $9.99. Don’t know how to code? No problem. Head over to squarespace.com and build a beautiful website with little to no effort. Once you have that set up, give people a reason to join your mailing list.
The size of your list is correlated with the amount of revenue you will be bringing in year after year. The bigger your list, the easier it’ll be convert it into real figures. It’s not enough to just tell people to jump onto your list. You have to give them reasons to join. Once they do join, don’t let the interest die! Send them occasional emails, ask them how they’re doing, what they’ve been up to and if they’re looking forward to any of the new work you’ll be putting out soon.
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