Copyright 2015 Vinny Ribas
Knowing who your truest fans are is as important as getting them in the first place. It helps you refine your marketing, your songwriting, your pricing, your merch etc. Get this down to a science, and you’ll find you’re attracting more and more ‘super fans’!
Here are some examples of things it would help you to know about your core fans:
- If you know where they live, you know where to book yourself.
- If you know how and where they discover new music, you know where you need to have a strong presence.
- If you know what their hobbies are, you can sell related merchandise or write songs about them.
- If you know what clothes they like to wear or where they shop, it can help you land a good sponsor.
- If you know their age range, you can write more appropriate songs (this also helps with sponsorships).
- If you know their average income level, you can set your music, merchandise and gig prices accordingly.
- If you know which other indie artists they like, you can play the same venues or tap into those artist’s social networks.
- If you know that you are passionate about a cause that they are it gives you a great topic to write about in songs or your blog.
- If you know the kinds of venues they frequent you know which ones to book yourself in.
- If you know what marketing styles appeal to them you’ll know how to reach them better.
- If you know their average level of education you can discuss topics at that level.
- If you know where they vacation you can target those areas for performing.
- If you know they have kids you can relate to their parental concerns and instincts.
- If you know what other styles of music they tend to like you can expand your sound to reach those markets.
- If you know what trends they are into (outside of music) you can ride the wave with them.
This list is endless. Everything you learn about your fans can be used to turn them into music buyers and show goers! Create a spreadsheet with a list of demographics about each night’s audience. At the end of each show, fill in as much as you can about the average age, how they dressed, what kinds of songs they liked, what they didn’t flip over, what they bought (CDs, merch), whether or not they wore jewelry etc. – everything we mentioned here. Note anything you observe that can help you get a clearer picture over time.
