How to Market Music During the Holidays

 

 

Ready for some marketing intel? The holiday season is a key time to market your music – even if you don’t have a holiday release. The trick is cutting through all the holiday noise! You’ve got to come prepared. It may seem daunting at first, but the payoff is worth it. Here are our best tips on how to market your music during the holidays. 

It’s not a secret that marketing during the holidays can be a big challenge. Ask any marketer: they’ll tell you there are 2 huge reasons to stress about holiday campaigns.

1.) Big competition

Holiday advertising means your competing in the big leagues. Brands spend the most money on their best creatives during this time. On top of that, Marketers big and small come out with their holiday sales & items, trying to reach crowds already primed to shop.

2.) Advertising Costs

While advertising demand goes up, so do advertising costs. CPM’s (cost per 1000 impressions) increase by 40-45% the week after Thanksgiving until late December. Especially on paid socials. Social advertising has become the default for many marketers, driving up overall costs. 

 

That may seem like a lot to contend with, but musicians have a leg up on the competition because they are content creators! 

Content consumption, such as video views and playlist activity, increases significantly towards the end of the year. This is because many people take vacation around this time of year and are more likely to seek entertainment sources. In fact, video views can increase 56% in November and December. 

Since fans are already primed for content, it’s a great time to premiere a new video, share some behind-the-scenes content, and share playlists -especially if you’re releasing holiday music. 

 

Now that we’ve established the opportunity for content creators, let’s talk about making a plan.

 

All successful marketing campaigns start with a strategy. The most important component of your marketing strategy is your timing. You don’t want to hit the ground running after prices are already sky-high. 

While advertising prices surge after Thanksgiving, some of the lowest advertising prices of the year are just before. Start your campaign in mid-November to avoid spendy CPMs. 

Next, skip the high social advertising costs and take advantage of increased video views with Show.co Interactive Ads. Potential fans will be able to stream your video right from the site on which they’re browsing, and you get to pay less for more impressions. 

Consider merch bundles around Black Friday. Since you’ve started your campaign early, you’ll have a little extra to spend for campaigns for high-ticket items. Fans (and their family/friends) are likely to buy physical merch around this time. Since they’re already in the spending mood, sticker shock is less of a concern. 

If you’re releasing new holiday music, start angling for playlists. Music fans tend to listen to playlists more often and keep playlists on longer. Use a Show.co Social Unlock campaign to get fans to save (or Pre-Save) your track, increasing your chances for both user-generated playlists and algorithmic playlists. 

If you’re touring next year, start warming up your audience. January is when many artists start promoting their tours. Get a step ahead by collecting fan emails through a Show.co Email for Download Campaign. 

Want more advice on how to market your music during the holidays? Click the image below to check out our recent Holiday Promotions Panel with Tim Huang (Head of Advertising at found.ee) and Jason Hobbs (President of found.ee)