Social media has become a critical aspect of brands’ marketing strategy and a crucial way to reach new audiences. Brands across various categories – electronics, FMCG, apparels, lifestyle are reaching out to influencers to increase their brand awareness as well as sales. And the music industry is no exception.
Music labels’ primary focus is to get the audience “reeled in” to increase the chances of gaining repeated potential listeners. Owing to the same, they are evolving their marketing techniques from printed advertisements to TV ads and now, social media. Influencers being super accessible and having an ever-widening audience reach are being leveraged by music labels to maximise visibility.
Evolving Consumer Behaviour
The music industry has undergone a massive transformation over the last 2 decades as there is a shift from albums to singles and now, personalised playlist. From peer-to-peer sharing of music files and high demand for MP3 players, consumer behaviour has now shifted to paid subscriptions of online streaming platforms. These platforms have become so ubiquitous they can now be segregated by use-case – independent artist discovery, extensive catalogue, better audio quality or passive listening.
Owing to this, the labels are re-defining their strategies according to the way consumers consume content which is majorly influenced by live shows, podcasts, online concerts and reels. Therefore, the growth of influencer marketing doesn’t come as a surprise. As influencers have a huge fan base, it is helping music labels to capitalize on this extreme growth market.
The Rise of Content Creators
Influencers’ success not only comes from their knowledge about platform management and creative content creation they also know relationship-building strategies that attract more followers. Influencers have a strong presence on their pages/channels, share a special relationship with their followers and update every personal detail. This is the reason a 30 seconds short clip recorded by a creator with a smartphone has chances to get more engagement than a video produced in a studio with a big budget.
Emerging Marketing Strategies of Music Labels
Any new song or album needs visibility to work and today, the most effective way to gain traction is through influencers. The influencers’ industry is expected to nearly double to $15 billion by 2022 from $8 billion in 2019, as per a Business Insider Intelligence report. The strategy of influencers is unique as their key focus is to promote a lifestyle and not essentially promote brands alone. When followers get a sneak peek into their favourite creators’ playlist, they tend to incorporate it into their lifestyle. Further, interactive content can elevate a label’s entire music marketing plan and help it achieve game-changing results.
Now, while promoting music, brands have two options. The first option is to do a subtle integration of the song where the creator plays the song in their daily uploads. Another way is face promotion i.e. asking the influencer to talk about the song directly. While the first one is a very effective strategy if the brand wants to add the song to the favourite playlists of the masses, the second one is good to let the audience know what the song stands for.
Summing Up!
Consumer behaviour is evolving. They look towards their favourite influencers as idols or mentors and tend to follow their habits and adapt their lifestyle. Therefore, it only makes sense for brands across various categories including music to adopt influencer marketing as it can engage the target audience more effectively and build a real connection with fans.
This article is authored by Hitarth Dadia, Head of Monetization, NOFILTR Group.
