So you’ve got the band together… You’ve selected your song list and the tunes are well rehearsed. So now what? Gigs of course!
So how do you start getting the gigs? You’ll need to pitch your band to others that can give you gigs – like entertainment agents, venues and private events like weddings or corporate events. In today’s industry, band promotion needs to be taken seriously and professionally or you may as well stay in the garage. Band promotional kits are essential tools for getting the gigs. You’ll also need to know what to send to an entertainment agent too.
Here is a simple checklist for effective band promotion, if you want to capture some of the corporate entertainment and wedding entertainment event industries:
Band Promotion Checklist
- A catchy, relevant and memorable name always helps. You’ll need to know your target audience. For a function band, a 1-3 word name is best. Ideally 2 words in the band name. You must make sure it is memorable. There are ‘band name generator’ tools available if you search for this term online.
- A professionally recorded demo either live or studio. If your demo doesn’t sound great, then you may as well give up! Clients do have ears and they may lack the imagination to ‘picture’ what you might sound like. You may think that you sound better live than your demo, but you need to make damn sure! And within the first 30 secs of the demo. Need convincing? Next time you check your mail, take note of how long it takes you to decide to read a letter, newspaper or catalog… and how it it takes to end up in the bin.
- A professional designer website is a must these days. Cheesy one page websites that scroll down to the ocean floor are out. You have many options here. If you don’t have the budget for a fully professional website, perhaps a hosted mini-site is a great solution. These are one page sites that can host your demo, video, photos, contact details and a band biography. Here’s an example mini-site.
- TASK: Think of a corporation that you would like to become a client of yours. Now go to their website and have a look. That’s what their benchmark is and that is what their event and marketing staff are looking for. Invest in a quality website for band promotion!
- A picture paints a 1000 words. A GREAT photo is a must. Find a professional photographer and get some shots taken for your band promotion. Dress in the same way you would perform in. You can take location shots or studio shots. You may, in some instances be able to use stock photography in your press kit or website. There are a few great stock photography site where you can buy good quality images for around a dollar.
- Biographies are something that you need to devote some time to writing and re-writing for good band promotion. You need to mention your accolades and achievements, while also being concise and to the point. You may be able to find a professional copywriter online. Some copywriters may charge from $100 to $500 to write a page of easy to read and compelling press copy. The dollar return you could get from just this one activity is worth looking into.
- A professional video can really get potential clients very interested in your band. Sometimes they can call and book you just on the strength of your video. Once again, if you are serious about band promotion, you really need to give your clients this impression. Invest!
- Using online social media is relatively easy to do now. Once you have created a video, create a YouTube account and up load it. Your video page on YouTube then becomes a search result on the search engines and people these days just love video.
- Create a Facebook page. You’ll need a Facebook account for this. When you get fans or user to LIKE your page, you can use this page to broadcast updates and gig guides etc.
- Advertising can take many forms. A great deal of entertainment bookings are transacted online. Magazines, yellow pages, newspapers can be effective although niche directories which are optimized for search engine visibility can be very cost effective. You can discover advertising secrets and tips through marketing websites on the internet.
- Posters, flyers, postcards, direct mail, telemarketing and networking are all other forms of band promotion you can definitely worth investigation.
- Get some business cards! Put your best band photo on the front with your band logo as well. Perhaps you can include the booking person and mobile on the front as well. Here’s the punchline. Get a double sided card printed and put some useful customer information on the back of the card.
- Useful customer information can be used across may promotional tools. Information may include, the size of your act, your unique selling proposition (USP), website URL, gig guide information, additional services. The point is to use your business card as a selling tool rather than just a
card with your name, address and phone number on it – Boring!! and most importantly a wasted opportunity to promote your band.
