3 Tips Indie Music Marketers Can Learn From Corporate Social Media

SoCon2011 took place in late October in London with a focus on "Brand Journeys In Social Media". Though primarily about corporate marketing, WMG's Ritch Sibthorpe and Last.fm's Mathew Hawn shared some insights that are also applicable to indie artists. Their points help amplify a number of perspectives shared previously at Hypebot as mentioned below.

The Music Void's Laura GrivainisThorne gives an overview of SoCon2011 noting that attendees from the music industry were largely absent though both Ritch Sibthorpe, VP Digital Marketing & Content Partnerships, Warner Music Group and Matthew Hawn, VP of Product, Last.fm gave presentations.

Sibthorpe's talk covered a number of topics with mobile being of particular importance. In discussing 5 myth of digital marketing, he included:

The myth that "Everyone needs a mobile app."

SoCon2011's video archives provide Mr. Sibthorpe's presentation where he elaborates that the initial rush to build mobile apps is over and that they are now part of a complex mix. For example, he points out that "social is mobile", which could mean a variety of things including the fact that social networks are increasingly accessed via mobile devices.

As previously noted at Hypebot, there are multiple mobile channels that artists can exploit without requiring a mobile app.

Mathew Hawn made the point, to which many can relate, that one should:

"Be on the social networks, but don't build your house there."

Given the recent changes at Facebook resulting in decreased engagement for artists with less than 1000 fans, it's not hard to understand why I advocate that artists should be masters of their own domain.

According to Vartika Verma, Hawn also maintained that you should:

"Translate your online strategies into offline events."

Though Ms. Verma focused on the multichannel marketing aspect of that advice, one could also point to Turntable.fm's increasing involvement with live events, including being an opening act for Wale, and to artists who organize special events for social media fans and friends.

While it's easy to get the feeling that digital marketing advice is all over the place, we seem to be reaching the point that consistent themes are emerging. Identifying those themes will certainly aid any artist in moving forward successfully as long as it doesn't become an exercise in seeking perspectives based on whether or not they fit one's predetermined beliefs.

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.