The Power of Word-of-Mouth

by Stephanie Arriaga

Thinking of a recent situation with a local band made me wonder what kind of effect WOM or word-of- mouth had on marketing music or more specifically local musicians and bands. As product information individuals transmit to other individuals, WOM tends to be more reliable and the information is more likely to be believed by the population than formal and traditional marketing tools. Therefore, if used in a positive context, WOM can be a very successful tool in creating buzz and interest in the product or music. As an up and coming musician, it is important that you generate a buzz in and around your community, more importantly a buzz with a positive cogitation. Unless you already have chart topping songs and established yourself as a successful artist, and even then, musicians cannot afford to lose fans or respect with negative word-of-mouth. Not all publicity is good publicity.

With positive word-of-mouth, potential consumers have a greater chance in actually purchasing and adopting the product, or in this case, your music. You can dramatically increase your audience at shows, your fan base, play at better venues, or play with more known bands or musicians through WOM. Just talking about your music can have a very powerful affect when someone who is unfamiliar with your music. It provides an introduction of what can be expected and you can make a better argument of why someone should listen and support your art. With today’s technology, WOM doesn’t only consist of talking in a conversation face-to-face, but it also includes phone calls texts, emails, and the use of social networking web sites. Word-of-mouth can potentially make or break you.

Since negative word-of-mouth is weighed much more heavily than positive word-of-mouth, it is critical for you to been seen in a positive light, even as a person not just as a musician. As a local musician, rumors can spread fast and can greatly affect how successful you are, so it is important to be aware of your status and credibility in the community. Negative information can then lead to misconceptions and false rumors about you and/or your music. And as we all have learned playing the game telephone, when information is repeated, the meaning of what is said will most likely be changed and the message interpreted differently from what was initially intended. So be cautious of what you say and do because it may end up burning you in the future.

This inexpensive way to market yourself can be a great advantage when marketing to your community and essentially competing with other local talent for an audience. Becoming aware of the content of your conversations can benefit you in how you want to get your message across and in this case, how you want to present your music. And the more people you talk to the greater the impact. So the moral of this story is to network yourself, it’s impossible to get too many contacts!

AIDA

by Stephanie Arriaga

When you first start a band or a musician you start playing for close friends and family; however, there comes a point where your friends and family will not be sufficient enough to be a successful and profitable band/musician. Essentially you need to sell yourself to the population. The greater public will be responsible for your "fame" and profitability in the long run since they are the consumers and hold the money for the transaction. Here is where the "AIDA" comes into play. AIDA is used as a tool for personal selling. Personal selling is face-to-face selling in which the seller attempts to persuade a buyer to make a purchase. These letters stand for A-Awareness, I-Interest, D-Desire. and A-Action. AIDA are steps that are essential to completing a transaction by capturing the population into using the product, in this case, you and your music. You are selling yourself to be a part of a person's life, taste, interest, play list or CD collection, and most importantly that person's time. By adopting AIDA you have further increased your chances of making your music career successful.

The first step is awareness; by definition awareness means having knowledge and being informed. As a musician or band, you must catch the attention of your intended demographic. How will people know who you are if they don't know your name or know that you exist? It is important to get your name out there to the public. Word-of-mouth is a good and very inexpensive way to let people know you. Networking is a huge part of sales and business in general; therefore, it is crucial to getting people out to your gigs, buy your merchandise, and your music. Hop on the technology band wagon and use the internet and the different tools you can find on the web. Like so many musicians, use social networks to make people aware of your music; you may know a lot of people, but they may not know that you are in a band or a singer songwriter. Letting people know of your existence is only the first step to personal selling; however, it provides a great stepping stone to accomplishing these next steps.

The second step in the AIDA concept is interest. To create interest, you may want to start with having an intriguing or catchy name for your band or perhaps even use a stage name. Even if you do use a less obnoxious or your birth name, you still need to make sure people see it and read it over and over again. You know when you're building interest when people start asking questions. You can continue building interest by promoting yourself at other shows and gigs of other local musicians that you are a fan of and already have a fan base, want to be associated with, or have similar music styles. Along with building awareness, word-of-mouth can also be used to build interest from the public. Ask your friends to help promote a show, the sale of an album, or just the band itself. Eventually, with success from other factors, people will want to go to a show or buy the music.

The third step is desire. It is essential to create desire in the public to go to a live show and/or buy merchandise and music. A few recommendations would be to create anticipation for an upcoming show or album release. Fliers are a great way to achieve desire; however, the right placement is crucial to the degree of effectiveness. To make someone want to purchase your product, you need to sell them not only the product itself, but the benefit of the product. So when you book a show, make sure it is at a venue where your fans or demographic will actually want to go and see you play. Playing at a great location and time will motivate people to take time and see you live. You can also create desire by having a reasonable price on your merchandise and CDs. Let's face it, you are not in a position to charge ridiculous prices. To encourage your fans to purchase an item, you can use discounts or special sales prices to increase your inventory turnover. Desire then leads to the next and final step, action.

Action is the last and most anticipated step because this is where the potential consumer will actually make the transaction. The exchange of money for your product is what you have been working towards, so try to to make it as smooth and easy for the customer as possible. There are simple steps that will help you achieve this when you sell face-to-face, such as always keeping change on hand, perhaps invest in a credit card machine, and track inventory at specific venues or locations, that way you successfully meet demand at that location. Try selling your merch online for those who can't make it to your shows or even work with local retail businesses such as record stores, thrift/vintage stores, or any other store your fans may shop at to sell your items at their locations. This provides convenience for the customer and may result in an increase in sales.

AIDA is a logical concept that can be adopted and varied according to your needs. So take this process and make it your own. It isn't set in stone, so do what best works for you and your budget. You could be the best musician out there but fail to succeed in the business and marketing side of managing your music. So take charge and be productive with your creation.