Faction Bests the Biz with ToneDen
From the patio at Faction Entertainment, Christian Edusada can see the white letters of the Hollywood sign high in the Santa Monica Mountains. There’s no more iconic symbol of Los Angeles — and no city more widely considered the Entertainment Capital of the World.
Founded in 2016 by INgrooves founder Robb McDaniel, Faction is a music management business that is revisioning the role that talent managers play in the entertainment industry. As McDaniel told Billboard, “Managers are effectively the CEOs for their artists, and if they manage three artists then they’re effectively the CEO of three different entities.” In other words, today’s manager needs to have a well-stocked marketing toolbox.
Edusada moved to LA from Hawaii almost ten years ago to pursue a lifelong passion. “Hawaii’s a great island,” he says, “but there’s really no music industry. Just coconuts and Spam. ” After cutting his teeth doing digital marketing for the likes of Iggy Azalea, Backstreet Boys, and Alessia Cara, he joined Faction, where he’s a Digital Marketing Manager who specializes in emerging talent.
Edusada was determined to help his clients reach the next level, but he had his work cut out for him. He wanted to keep fans in the loop about his artists’ latest singles, get them excited to add tracks to their Spotify playlists, create buzz about tours, and run ad campaigns for shows. That total package is worth a lot — to fans and artists. As Faction founder Robb McDaniels told the LA Times, “Music plus experience equals value.”
But when Edusada met with ToneDen, he knew the game was about to change.
“I love ToneDen because it’s just the one-stop shop for marketing. They do everything.”
“Freebie marketing” may not sound glamorous, but it’s effective. A report in Time — yes, in the wake of a 7–11 Slurpee giveaway — concludes that giving something away often fuels consumer spending.
On a daily basis, Edusada takes advantage of two of ToneDen’s marketing tools that allow his team to quickly capture valuable data from their audience. Fanlinks — customizable web links that let you capture your customers’ favorite stores and streaming platforms — are one of these tools. Another tool ofent used are Contest campaigns, where fans have to complete a series of social actions for a chance to win anything from signed merch to meet-and-greets.
“Without ToneDen, I don’t think we’d be able to grow our fanbase on this type of scale,” Edusada says.
These tools don’t just give experiences to the fans — they score invaluable info for marketers, too. “A lot of marketing teams use other advertising agencies that allow you to do awesome advertising but you’re not able to keep that data and re-market,” Edusada says. “What I like about ToneDen is that you can collect and own that data and continue to re-market … as much as you want.”
Take a Facebook contest Faction ran for EDM duo Phantoms. By offering a chance for fans to win a baseball cap, Faction captured data on more than 500 fans. In other words: advertising today becomes even more useful tomorrow. “What’s great,” Edusada says, “is now we’re re-marketing to those same fans for their Phantoms’ tour right now. ”
An organic, easy-to-use communication program is a key component of any marketing strategy. “The feature we use the most is Lasso ,” he says, “where you can collect email addresses.” Another way ToneDen helps Edusada connect with his audiences? Direct messaging integrated in Facebook Messenger — “that’s a great way to ingest new content from your favorite artist.”
All these tools lay the foundation for the ad campaigns Faction runs with ToneDen. The advantages are numerous. “When we create these ads, ToneDen will automatically optimize the copy versus the content with the audience you choose, along with the best conversion rate,” Edusada says. “They’ll optimize … based on your budget and the best performing ad.”
You don’t have to be in the music industry to grow your following or reach your audience. Whether you’re an on-the-rise media enterprise like Faction, an up and coming creator, or a budding entrepreneur, ToneDen can help you stock your marketing toolbox. It’s easy to begin right now.
ToneDen will match every clap this post receives during December 2017 with a $0.25 donation to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Everytown is a movement of Americans working together to end gun violence and build safer communities. Their mission is one that Christian and the Faction Entertainment team care about deeply.
We’re proud to be championing our users — and important causes all at once. Thanks, in advance, for showing your support.
