Seth Godin On Building Your Fanbase
Part of Seth Godin's appeal is the applicability of his thinking across industry verticals. He really is focused on changes that affect dsiciplines across the board. Godin recently shared his thoughts on marketing vs advertising and building a fanbase through story telling and connection relevant to anyone marketing music.
One of the biggest areas of confusion I see among musicians is the tendency to think of marketing as advertising and all the other marketing activities one does as something else. I should note that music marketers don't seem confused. Any well-known music marketer's site will reveal that they aren't focused on advertising.
Marketing encompasses word of mouth, social media, experiential and other approaches to establishing channels of communication beyond advertising. As Seth Godin and others are pointing out, advertising your music is now the least effective way to spread the word. Establishing actual communication with fans is the strongest form of marketing.
Godin was interviewed for a Copyblogger podcast which was transcribed by Mark Ramsey.
Earn Attention
"When everything is a click away, we’re just not going to give you our attention because it’s important to you."
Tell Your Story
"I like to describe marketing as 'the art of telling a story that resonates with your audience and then spreads.' And that story better be true, which means that implicit in marketing is making something for which or about which you could tell a story that resonates."
Connect With Your Fans
"What the Internet builds is connection, and every successful Internet company and every successful Internet marketer is successful for that and only that reason: They have earned attention, built trust and turned it into profit."
Take Your Time
"And over time he [Shepherd Fairey] built this tribe of people who identified with his art and identified with the way he spread it and he started moving his way up the food chain…it was inevitable that he would get there because step by step, bit by bit, he spread a story, he built a tribe, he earned permission, he made connections, he did art that people recognized, it’s iconic…it’s all of these steps built in to what he was trying to build."
The interview was inspired by a post on Seth's Blog.
"Marketing Is The First Thing We Do"
"Marketing is the first thing we do, not the last. Build virality and connection and remarkability into your product or service from the start and then the end gets a lot easier."
Marketing Is A Part Of The Process
"In the connection era, the marketing is the product, the service and most of all the conversations it causes and the connections it makes."
Marketing is a process of connection and building a fanbase should be at the heart of that process.
More:
- 13 Step Guide To Building A Cult Of Superfans
- FanCulture: Building A Fanbase As A Lifetime Relationship
- It Takes A Fanbase: Amanda Palmer's Tips For Kickstarter Success
- Case Study: Vinyl Thief Builds Fanbase With Free Music, Web Marketing & Live Shows
- Top Tips For Using YouTube To Make Money & Build A Fanbase
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith blogs about business at Flux Research: Business Changes and about dance at All World Dance: News. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
