Most of my clients hate marketing. They don’t want to come across as needy or pushy, and they think that marketing means you have to show up on social media like a carnival barker: “Get your tickets right here! Fresh, hot tickets! You sir, want to treat your lady to something special tonight? Come to my concert of experimental electric-acoustic new music, and you’ll blow her away!”
Obviously I kid. But more often than not, I hear more than a hint of judgment over self-promotion in my clients’ voices.
The truth is, marketing isn’t just about yelling the loudest on social media about your concert. If it was, then we would all be going to all the concerts all the time. I don’t know about you, but I simply don’t have time to go to all the events I’ve been invited to. Your audience is the same.
So how do you stand out of the crowd and attract your audience?
You start with your WHY.
I’ve talked about finding your WHY before (if you haven’t already watched Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, I highly recommend it!), but in this case, I am asking you WHY so you can figure out where your brain is trying to trick you.
For example…
WHY do you want people to come to your show? Because you need to make money? Or because you have something important to say and want as many people as possible to be impacted by your art?
If the answer is that you need them to buy tickets so you can make money, just notice that thought.
How does that thought make you feel? Pay attention to the sensations in your body.
Now try on a different answer. What if you had something important to say with your art and you wanted to impact as many people as possible?
Tune in to your body again. How does that thought make you feel?
If your WHY doesn’t feel right in your body then you are not going to market effectively because something will be off in the way that you show up and talk about your project. People can instinctively tell if you are not in full integrity with your message, and they will automatically be turned off by it.
Once you align your message with your WHY, the other stuff (when to post, where, how often, etc.) is a piece of cake.
Give it a try and let me know how it goes.