It wasn’t too long ago when “Rock Star” was a term reserved for people wearing leather pants and performing arena rock to sold out coliseums. Today the phrase has crossed over to the tech and marketing world (along with “Ninja” and a few others) to allude to expertise in some skill. I think we do it because we all wish we were Rock Stars or Ninjas or the rare “Rock Star Ninja.”
Last weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with some old friends while they are on tour for the
Bamboozled Road Show. It was cool watching real Rock Star marketing. There are great takeaways from how they promote, connect, and share their story with their fans.
Here are several keys you can do to market like a Rock Star:
Develop and work the plan
Before going on tour Rock Stars create a game-plan for their show. The songs they play, where they stand on stage, and what they wear is crafted before the tour bus is put in drive. Once the strategy is devised the band rehearses. Rehearsals (marketers call it testing) help them perfect their product. The set must be exceptional. There is no room for average. What are we doing to make our products stand out?
Know your audience
One of the coolest things for me was listening to my buds talk about the day’s performance before they went out. They discussed the demographic of the crowd and the market they were in. Different towns have fans that want different tones and feels. The set list stayed the same but how the songs were played was tailored to the attending fans. The goal was to engage the crowd. How can we be more relevant to our target audiences?
Connect and pull
Before and after the show you will see band members handing out stickers and doing meet and greets. This is where the magic happens. When a fan hugs and takes pictures with their favorite artist a connection occurs. Once you connect you no longer have to push. How can I create better connections with my customers?
I met a new friend named Danny, he is doing a great job of helping bands leverage these keys in new media. Social platforms, blogs, and video enable us to capture the right metrics, reach the right audiences, and build bridges to our fans. Armed with a flip video camera and quick wit he is telling rock star stories to fans across the country. He is helping them remember what they felt and give them a vehicle to share it.
Not everyone can play sold out shows to screaming fans but we can learn how to model some of the essential elements that separate platinum artists from high school garage bands. Accomplish this and you can rock your marketing.
How do you rock?