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PR Advice

How Artists Can Maximise Their YouTube Promotion Campaigns

Posted on 3 April 2023
YouTube Promotion Campaigns

With the average music video costing £1,500 – £5,000 for independent artists to shoot, unless you have some very benevolent and talented videographer connections, music videos are one of the hardest investments for independent artists to rake back their investments from.

By learning how to utilise the marketing opportunities offered by YouTube, you will have the best shot at investing wisely in your music videos. In this article, we will cover the top seven ways to maximise your YouTube promotion campaigns and touch upon the new music promotion trend, which is putting more momentum behind megastars, such as Miley Cyrus, and helping independent artists to make an impression in an oversaturated scene.

Contrary to popular belief, it takes a fair amount of work to stand out on YouTube. The streaming service may have 2.1 billion active users, and over 1 billion videos are watched every day, but as there are approximately 800 million videos and 37 million channels to compete with, grabbing attention is easier said than done. The rate of uploads to YouTube is only speeding up too – 3.7 million videos are uploaded every day – that is sixty hours of video uploaded every minute of the day!

How to Make the Most of YouTube Promotion Campaigns

  1. Verify Your YouTube Account

Just like getting a blue tick on Facebook and Twitter helps to build your credibility on the platform, verifying your YouTube account and obtaining the valuable blue tick on YouTube will help to improve your standing. Unlike with some social media platforms, you don’t need to be a popular public figure to gain your blue tick; you just need to verify your account.

The verification process will entail ensuring you have provided all of the information required to complete your profile; for additional algorithmic brownie points, include links to all relevant social media pages and websites. To make it easier for people to contact you, provide your contact information too.

  1. Get Short

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the past few years, you will have noticed the TikTokification of other apps, such as Facebook and Instagram; Spotify and YouTube are now jumping on the same short video clip bandwagon.

It is no longer enough to upload your official music videos and lyric videos; the diminishing attention spans of music fans may be cause for concern, but there is no reason why independent artists can’t use the new YouTube Shorts trend to their advantage.

Whether you’re launching a new single, EP, album, or music video, whet the appetite of your audience by showcasing a snippet (or multiple!) of your music to garner traction with music fans who may not have felt inclined to sit through the entire track, video, or LP!

  1. Invest in Ads for Your YouTube Promotion Campaigns

Targeted YouTube ads are a great way to find large niche communities on a relatively small budget. YouTube ads can also help you target users with specific behaviours and intentions, making it far more intuitive than using Facebook and Instagram-sponsored ads.

To maximise Your YouTube Ads campaign, do plenty of research first; getting trigger-happy with your ad campaigns is as futile as throwing money down the drain. Platforms such as soundcharts can help you gather all the necessary data points you need to build an effective campaign. Once you know who you want your music, music videos and shorts in front of, ensure your ads are engaging and attention-grabbing.

  1. Create an Interesting Thumbnail

Thumbnails should never be an afterthought when uploading new content to YouTube. Don’t be tempted to use a grainy screengrab from a music video; always use a high-resolution thumbnail paired with a compelling caption so your audience knows what they are clicking on before they delve into the video.

Contrasting colours are great for capturing attention, as are whitespace and negative space. For more tips, read this guide on how to create the perfect YouTube thumbnail.

  1. Stop, Collaborate, and Listen

Many marketing tips and trends come and go; one of the only ones that stand the test of time is that collaboration is key to success when expanding your reach and your audience. In addition to sharing fan bases, it can also put you in touch with other valuable people within the music industry.

Whether you’re collaborating with fashion designers, visual artists, other artists, producers, influencers or videographers, collaboration is one surefire way to boost your streaming numbers if you work with the right people!

  1. Share Your YouTube Videos and Shorts

Social media platforms such as Facebook may not be the best for sharing YouTube video links as anything that will pull social media users away from the platform is considered algorithmic bad cake, but promoting your videos is still a necessary evil!

Before your new music video debuts, share a link so your audience can watch the premier as it happens, make another post when the video goes live, and don’t be shy about sharing your streaming milestones; this will give your fans who may have missed your original post another chance to view the video. If you get your ducks in a row before your hotly-anticipated music video debut, you can also reach out to music journalists and blogs to see if they want to exclusively premiere your music video. This kind of arrangement is beneficial for both parties; you can put even more traction behind your new release, while the blog or online music mag will get some exclusive content to share with their readers.

  1. Don’t Neglect the Comment Section

You wouldn’t get far without your music fans; never think you’re above expressing your gratitude for their time and comments! Always find the time to connect with your audience, whether they are commenting on the YouTube video itself or a social media post. To drive up engagement, you can be direct in asking for feedback or find other ways to encourage others to get involved with your music.

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For more help and advice on YouTube Promotion Campaigns, contact A&R Factory to find out more about our artist & development services, or you can contact us about your music video premiere today by using our artist submission page.

 

Article by Amelia Vandergast

 

From Pre-Saves to Playlists to Spotify & SoundCloud for Artists, How Independent Artists Can Make the Most of Streaming Platform Tools

Posted on 16 October 2022
Music Marketing

Standing out in a crowded digital music landscape has become one of the biggest hurdles for independent artists to overcome. Distributors and labels used to stand in front of the gates of the music industry. Now there is a bottleneck of other artists trying to get through, leading to talented artists getting a fraction of the renown they deserve.

The platforms that enabled the democratisation of the music industry have facilitated an oversaturation. However, there is a silver lining in the marketing tools that, if used properly, can allow artists to connect to the right audiences and open up a wealth of opportunities.

Distributing all of your music onto the most popular streaming platforms is just one small step. While utilising the marketing tools can take you the rest of the way. This article will cover some of the most effective music marketing tools that will allow you to reach the right music fans at the right time.

Spotify & SoundCloud for Artists

Unlike social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, Spotify makes it easy for all artists to become verified. Once a Spotify artist profile has been claimed, artists can take advantage of the in-depth analytics, which helps artists to understand listener demographics.

Through Spotify for Artists, it is easy to see the age, gender, and location of fans, which can aid marketing strategies both on streaming platforms and off them. For example, the analytics could highlight prime locations for gigs that you may not have considered otherwise! Or these analytics could show you where to invest the rest of your marketing budget. Beyond the analytics, there are profile customisation tools, and Spotify for Artists gives all artists a direct line to the Spotify editorial team, who curate the official Spotify playlists – more on that later.

In October 2022, it was announced that the exec behind Spotify for Artists launched SoundCloud for Artists, which works under a similar premise in that it aids promotion, monetization, and distribution on the platform, which is steadily amassing a stronger reputation. Even though SoundCloud hardly has the rep of being a premier music streaming platform, it is still one of the strongest digital music communities, with over 40 million creators contributing to the site.

Playlist Placements

What record labels were to the music industry in the 90s, playlist placements are in the 21st century. The royalties might seem like a slap in the face, given all the hard work put into music. But if you view streaming platforms as a marketing opportunity rather than a revenue stream, they instantly become more attractive! There are five different types of playlists on digital streaming platforms; here is how they work and how they can boost the signal on your new releases.

 

  1. Official Playlists are curated by the editorial teams of each streaming platform. Generally, these editorial teams consist of genre specialists and music experts. Even though many artists make these playlists their playlist goals, the users are much more passive!
  2. Major-owned Playlists are curated by ‘major’ brands or record labels, such as Sony, Warner and Universal. These account for 70% – 88% of Spotify playlists, which proves that major-label backing still goes a long way in the domain of digital music!
  3. Third-Party Playlists curated by independent influencers. These playlists can be just as popular as Major-owned playlists and official playlists, and they accept submissions, which either come at a cost or are free.
  4. Personalised playlists created by algorithms, such as the Release Radar Playlists and Discover Weekly playlists. These playlists reach listeners that are almost certain to love your music.
  5. Fan-Generated playlists. These are usually the least popular playlists, but every time your track is added to one, this will provide the streaming platform with data, which can lead to your music being suggested to other music fans.

When it comes to playlists, bigger certainly isn’t always better. The key to success via playlist placements is to find a niche, identify your target audience and grow your fanbase. Before pitching to any random playlist, analyse your music to ascertain which mood, experiences, and emotions it correlates. If you can’t do that from an objective standpoint, get feedback from your fans and music-minded friends.

Promote Your Pre-Saves

In the run-up to any new release, ensure there is a massive push across your social media pages to pre-save your singles, EPs, and albums. If you have seen artists promoting their pre-saves and have no idea why it is so important, you may be surprised to learn how much of an impact it can have on the success of a new release.

Pre-saving music ensures that the new release will be ready and waiting on the day of release. It also improves the odds of a new release getting more streams on the first day of release, and in turn, being added to career-making playlists! Additionally, the fans who pre-save your music are likely to be your most committed fans, so you will know exactly where you should be planning to tour next.

Just be sure to let your fans know how pre-saving can help your music career – a point that is not always reiterated on pleas for pre-saves.

In Conclusion

The necessity for all independent artists to become marketing pros in addition to creating stream-worthy music may be a big ask. But for any chance of success in the 21st-century music industry that is becoming increasingly more precarious – especially in the realms of live music – getting to grips with free marketing tools is one of your best chances of success. By utilising free tools, such as Spotify for Artists and harnessing the powers of pre-saves, artists can make an impact on their target audience which is eagerly awaiting new music to lap up while not breaking the bank.

Article by Amelia Vandergast