This is the second post in our Email Marketing for Musicians Series. In the last post, we talked about what makes a mailing list a musician’s best friend, how to set up your mailing list, and how to get your first 100 subscribers, and how to continue building your list. To review that post click here. In this post, we’ll dive a bit deeper into the world of email marketing as it relates to musicians by addressing ways to engage with your subscribers, how to keep a clean list, getting your subscribers to open your emails, and most importantly what you can do to monetize your mailing list!
Grab a bag of popcorn, sit back and let’s chat!
What should I say to my subscribers?
Today, we’re going to start out with what to say to your subscribers. Because it’s your list, you can say what you want to say. In fact, the best way to keep your subscribers engaged is to be as authentic and transparent about your music and your life as possible. What I mean is that you should talk about things like what makes you tick, the meanings behind your lyrics and your songs, your struggles as a musician, your plans and vision for the future, behind the scenes and backstage happenings. You should also share exclusives and celebrate with your fans. Take pictures with them at your shows and showcase them in your email content. There’s always plenty to say even though you may not know what to say. Even if you’re dealing with writer’s block and haven’t done any music or projects in a while, you still have things to say. Take a look at this shortlist.
- FAQs
- How you got started in music
- Your favorite venue or performance of all time
- What notable people you’ve performed for
- How to support your music
- New merchandise unveiling
- Fan shout-outs
- Your least favorite venue or performance of all time
- Ask your fans what they want to hear/see from you
If you’re still looking for ideas, check out our post, 20 Content Ideas for your Music Newsletter. Also, we have an Email Writing Guide that can help you generate topics and ideas for the entire year here.
The key is to be consistent. I typically send out mailers to my subscribers about once a month. Even that is a task for me sometimes. But the more consistent I am, the more my subscribers look forward to hearing from me. I get feedback all the time about how much they like hearing from me and I’m sure your fans will too. It’s very important to be genuine and authentic with your subscribers. Even though you’re engaging with them through a computer, this is an intimate relationship you’ll have with them. Imagine how much junk mail they get, and if they take the time to open your emails and read them, then that is a very precious space. Be thoughtful about that and share real authentic things with them. Give them things for free like free ringtones, a free album download, or even automated birthday messages. Take good care of them. In return, they will support you.
Keep your list clean and healthy.
One thing to be on the lookout for is making sure your list doesn’t turn into a dud. A mailing list can easily lose its value if you’re not maintaining it well. For example, if you send a mailer and don’t send another until six months later, people will forget about you and complain that you’re spamming them. They will not remember that they signed up to your mailing list because you haven’t been cultivating that relationship. If you get too many spam complaints, your emails may get blocked or go directly into spam folders.
The other thing to think about is cleaning your list. For example, if there are people on your list who have never opened an email or who haven’t opened any emails in the last six months, you should get rid of them before they mark your emails as spam. These people may have signed up due to a contest or at one of your shows, but they’re not really interested. It’s good to cut them off before they do any damage to your reputation as a mailing list marketer. MailerLite has filters you can use to determine whether or not a subscriber has opened your emails or how long it’s been since they’ve opened an email. A lot of marketers send out feelers first before they drop inactive subscribers. You could do something similar. Periodically, you should check for these inactive subscribers and send them a mailer asking them if they want to remain on your list. If you hear nothing back from them, unsubscribe them from your list. If you do hear back from them, keep them on the list. This does two things. It re-establishes a connection with that subscriber and secondly, if that subscriber is no longer interested, you can catch it and remove them from your list before they complain that your emails are spam.
Why do people claim your emails are spam even though they themselves signed up to your list? This used to annoy the crap out of me. So much so, that I would even confront them by telling them when they signed up or showing them a screenshot of their name and email on my sign-up book! It was a waste of time. By that time, the damage had already been done and they typically didn’t even bother to respond.
Sometimes people would rather mark as spam than go through the trouble of unsubscribing. It’s actually much easier to mark an email as spam than it is to search for an unsubscribe link and go through the unsubscribe process. So people generally just say it’s spam even though they know it’s not just to get the emails to stop coming. That’s why you should strive to identify them before they have a chance to do this. Spam complaints can be very damaging to your reputation as a mailing list owner.
Also, don’t sign people up when they didn’t give you permission! This includes making a purchase from your store or filling out a quote form. If you sign them up as a result of these actions, be sure to clarify that you’re doing this ahead of time and give them the option to opt-out. The last thing you want is a list full of people who didn’t sign up for your mailing list.
Making sure your list is clean and healthy is a good step toward maintaining good open rates. But that’s not the only thing you can do to increase the rate by which your subscribers actually open your emails. Here are a few more ways to maximize open rates…
Here’s how to maximize open rates.
An open rate is the percentage of times people open your email compared to the number of people that are on your list. For example, if you sent an email out to 100 people and 10 of them opened the email, then you have a 10% open rate. Open rates are good to keep track of because it gives you a gauge at how well you’re piquing the interest of your subscribers. Here are some factors that go into whether or not people open your emails…
- Welcome Emails
Without a good foundation, a relationship is doomed. That’s why it’s important to plan automatic welcome emails for new subscribers. This is a series of automated emails that are sent to people who first join your list. It can happen over a period of time such as for the first 30 days after a subscriber joins your list. A welcome email sequence establishes a rapport with new subscribers, sets the tone, and sets their expectations regarding what to expect from you. In a series of welcome emails, you should introduce yourself, talk about your journey as an independent artist, talk about your dreams and vision, what they should expect from you, and how often they will hear from you. This will promote anticipation and expectation so that the next time they get an email from you, they’ll be more likely to open it.
- Birthday Auto-Responders
Sending out automated birthday wishes is a great way to keep a positive rapport with your subscribers. If you remember them on their birthday, they will more than likely feel more of a connection with you and be more inclined to open your emails.
- Subject Lines
One of the best ways to entice people to open your emails is to include a juicy subject line. Subject lines that hint at controversy or build suspense perform the best. Make sure your subject lines are lively rather than dull. It’s much more enticing to see a headline about your crazy encounter with a homeless person than a headline that is asking them to check out your latest video. Even though the video is a storytime you did about your encounter with the homeless person, not leading with that in the subject line can cost you in terms of open rates. Most artists like to talk about a recent interview or a video that was just released on their mailing list. But as a crafty musician, you know better! Try to be more specific in your subject line by identifying what is interesting about the interview or video. Did the interviewer ask you an interesting question or did you talk about something salacious? Try to highlight that in your headline instead of just saying ‘check out my latest interview’. However, be sure not to trick your subscribers into opening by using clickbait! This is a sure way to NOT get more opens the next time you send out a mailer. Using clickbait tactics will promote mistrust and do the opposite of what you’re hoping to do.
- Consistency
As we mentioned earlier in this post, consistency is key. It’s important to establish a routine with your mailing list. For example, sending out mailers once a month is a good sweet spot. It’s not too often and it’s not too far in between where they forget they’re even on your list. Also, try to consistently deliver relevant, enticing content. This will give them a reason to open your emails. Pro Tip: In addition to being consistent, it might help to drop a cliffhanger at the bottom of your last email. That way, they’ll remember that they were left in suspense at the last email and will be looking to answer the burning question with the next mailer. Therefore, they’ll be even more inclined to open your email.
- Whitelisting
In one of your welcome emails, preferably the first one, I recommend asking your subscribers to add you to their contacts. That way their email platform will recognize your email and won’t throw your messages into a spam folder. This is called whitelisting. It’s as easy as a one-liner saying that “I have a freebie coming your way in the next couple of weeks, so if you don’t want to miss it or any of my emails for that matter, add me to your contacts. That way you won’t miss a thing!” Not everyone will go through the trouble of doing it, but some will. It might help if you include some instructions on how to do it. Heck, you could even write a blog post about it, why it’s important to do and share instructions on how to do it. I did one for The Crafty Musician’s email list here in case you’d like to see an example.
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If you’re struggling with any particular aspect of email marketing, this book will give you a fresh perspective on how you can tackle it!
Here’s how to monetize your email list.
One of the great things about email marketing is that you get direct access to your fans/subscribers for the purposes of crowdfunding, selling tickets, music, and merchandise. But it’s not an automatic thing. You have to cultivate the relationships there. People support what they believe in. Therefore, part of your job as an independent artist is to share your passion, purpose, and vision for your music and give them something to get behind.
That’s why we promote authenticity here on The Crafty Musician Blog above all else. Don’t try to be the Lady Gaga or a Taylor Swift. Just be your true self. Newsletter topics need to center around the true meaning behind you and your music. Talk about your convictions and what drives you to write music and what you hope your music will accomplish. Talk about your mission as a musician. These are the things that drive people to support you.
When you get ready to put out an album or a Single or ask your subscribers to purchase tickets for a show you’re doing, you’ll have a much easier time earning sales because they know you, they’ve been invested in you and your story and they want to give you their support. Remember this formula when it comes to your mailing list and use it to your advantage…
Authenticity + Marketing/Sales = Revenue
If you need help mapping out your purpose try our Finding Your Musical Purpose Challenge here where you’ll be guided through a 5 Day Webinar series helping you get more clarity on the “why” behind your music. The challenge will also teach you how to articulate that to your fans in order to engage, convert, and cultivate true relationships with them.
Now that we’ve talked about showcasing your true authentic self, it’s time to get to the good stuff – generating revenue! Once you’ve been able to establish a rapport and build a genuine relationship with your subscribers, you can easily sell to them. You can start by creating meaningful merchandise such as mugs, digital prints, and tshirts with messages that mean something between you and your fans. These messages will come naturally out of your mission and purpose as well as your song lyrics. If your messages resonate with subscribers, then they will be more inclined to make a purchase because they too believe in what you’re saying
Related: 18 Ways Musicians Are Actually Earning Money
When you present your merchandise, be candid about why you created it, where the idea came from and how you think they would benefit from it. Wear your merchandise, or use it in a natural setting to bring even more appeal to it. Make an unboxing video and talk about the item while opening it for the first time. Be sure to make a sales pitch at the end of the video!
In addition to merchandise, you can also do this with songs, digital downloads, and crowdfunding. The key is presenting your sales pitch as an offering that you especially made or created for your fans rather than you asking them to buy something. The variance here is subtle but it can make a huge difference. For example, if you create a custom throw pillow with some song lyrics on it, you can describe what that merchandise item is and why you made it. You can show how cute it looks in your creative space and share why your fans should have it in their space too as a reminder about whatever uplifting message you’ve put on the pillow. Talk about how it’s on sale for a limited time and make it an offer. This works a lot better than saying ‘hey check out my new merch, get it today for $x’.
Related Video: 5 Ways to Make Money Without Touring
If you’re crowdfunding use the same language for that as well. Talk about the meaning behind it and what it can do for both your mission and your fans. Talk to them like you would talk to a good friend. It’s also useful to share reviews and feedback from others who have made purchases from you.
When it comes to digital downloads, you’ve got to start getting creative with that because people normally just go on Spotify to listen to music these days. Consider creating combo packages where you offer a digital download of your music in addition to a merchandise item. ‘Buy the digital album here and get a free mug or t-shirt.’ You can set the price for the digital album so that it pays for the mug. If you’re worried about inventory and buying items ahead of time, don’t! Buying inventory is so 1990’s. Today, you can create merchandise items and sell them without ever having to buy or store inventory. When an item is sold, you simply pay your supplier and have them print and ship it directly to your customer. It’s called on-demand printing and dropshipping. Check out Printful to get started.
Another thing you can sell through your mailing list is experiences. There are all sorts of experiences you can create for your fans ranging from one-on-one music lessons to private virtual shows and custom telegrams (think a specialized birthday card with you singing happy birthday to their loved one). Yes, people will pay you for this because it is a unique experience. If you can do it in person in your local town all the better and more money for you!
Not to mention private gigs, house concerts, and romantic experiences. I was once hired to do a 30-minute performance for one couple who had planned a private romantic picnic. I brought my guitar and sung to them while they ate and toasted to the good life. It was the easiest gig I had ever done. Because it was a private experience, I was able to charge more! You could package this up and add it to your online shop as an item for sale.
Another thing I have been hired for is songwriting. People on your mailing list would love to have a custom song written for them to share with their hobby group, for their family reunion, or with their romantic partners. But if they don’t know that these experiences exist, they may never purchase these experiences from you. Get creative and think about what experiences you can offer to your subscriber list and market it to them. This could be a great source of revenue that is generated from your mailing list.
Lastly, consider becoming an affiliate advertiser. Amazon has a wonderful program where you can suggest items to your fans through your blog post and earn commissions off of those sales. Their program is quite easy to get into as long as you make the required number of sales during your first 6 months. You must have a website in order to do it and the sales need to be made through your website, not your email list. I’m including this idea here because I’ve often linked to blog post articles within email messages where I’ve included affiliate links and made sales. You could add an extra $100+ per month to your income by just including a few affiliate links in your blog articles and mentioning those posts in your emails.
Managing a list is not easy, but by following these best practices, you’ll be well on your way to owning a well-managed list that gets you a full return on your time investment again and again. The best part about a good mailing list is that it’s a lot less costly than advertising and relying on social media alone to achieve these goals. Social media is great, but accompanying that with a solid email marketing strategy is the way to go, especially for musicians and creative entrepreneurs.
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Great, comprehensive article, Anitra!
Thanks for stopping by Astra! I hope you’re doing well! 🙂
Great advice! We’re just now trying to do more with those on our email list, so there were DEFINITELY some strategies that we will be trying! I will also share it to our Facebook group (just in case some of our community is ready to up level their email marketing game too). Thanks, again, for actionable advice. 🙂
Thanks Vox and thanks for stopping by! Thanks for sharing in your group! 🙂 Good luck with monetizing your list! I’m glad to hear the advice I shared was helpful. 🙂