Adva Mobile's Blog

New Fan Engagement Score (ES) a Game Changer for learning who your Superfans are

2016-05-24T19:12:00.000-07:00

A new feature on the Adva Mobile platform now scores Fans as they engage Artists on their mobile web app, helping Artists identify which fans are most engaged, most loyal, and ready to support their favorite Artists with purchases. Engagement Scores track Fan Activity and measure engagement level - Purchases, Video Watches, Music Listens, Photo Views, Contest and Survey participation, and other activities. The sophisticated Fan Database allows Artists to filter Fans by Engagement Score and Artists can then target these Fans with special offers and bundled packages these loyal Fans crave.

Superfan Location Targeting

The database filtering system is so sophisticated that an Artist can uniquely identify their most loyal Fans in any location. By running a filter on the location field, and a second filter pass on Engagement Score to determine which among these Fans are most engaged, Artists can schedule meet and greets, backstage passes, and other high quality merchandise and services these SuperFans are ready to buy.

On the Portal

The Engagement Score is a new column on the Fan Database Page.

The filtering is very sophisticated, allowing Artists to select a value (for example, 5) and then filter Fans by many categories including "greater than", "equal to", "between", etc. Once a filter is created, it can be named and saved, and used as part of targeted Text and Email campaigns.

ES in Action

A new Artist on the Adva Mobile service (few months), with ~400 opted in mobile Fans, can identify which fans are already on his web app and engaging:

Another Artist, now with almost 900 Fans, sees a greater level of engagement over time. More than 80 fans (8% - this is page 1 of 2) have engaged the Artist more than 9 times, and can be targeted for special invites and bundles from the Artist.

Mobile technology is really living up to its trans-formative promises when it can demonstrate activity levels for unique Fans that help Artists understand and connect with their True Fans. By taking advantage of the Adva Mobile Engagement Score, Artists have a better view into the fans that can help make their music careers.

Delivering Music To Fans: The Options

2016-03-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Once you've spent the time and energy to create your music, getting into the hands and ears of your fans is the next step. This article looks at several different content delivery systems from more conventional techniques like email, to more innovative tech like the digital wallet.

This post originally appeared in the March 2, 2016 issue of Hypebot

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2016/02/many-options-to-consider-for-delivering-content-to-fans.html

After working with fire and steel to create the end result of your musicianship craft, the next challenge is to get your content into the hands of your fans. The digital world offers lots of options, however not all are created equal.

As a result of a new experiment from Boston based NPR station WBUR, we can now add the Digital Wallet to the mix of options. For the past 11 years, the popular New York Times column, “Modern Love,” has featured essays submitted by readers about contemporary romance. At the end of January, WBUR began a weekly series of podcasts with celebrities reading the essays.

WBUR and The New York Times released a digital wallet card with automatic, linked reminders about the podcasts. Once a user installs the podcast application as part of their digital wallet, listeners receive notification about, and a link to, each week’s podcast.

The upside to this notification service is that every iPhone and Android Phone has a digital wallet, and why not use it as a marketing channel, in addition to its original mobile payments purchase?

The downside- and this is echoed in some of the options described below – is that, at the end of the day, it’s another App your fans have to subscribe to. And Artists will need an app provider to offer a digital wallet marketing app. Urban Airship, a mobile engagement company out of Portland OR, custom built the WBUR wallet App.

What else is out there to help Artists deliver content to fans and notify them that there’s new content for Fans to consume?

Email – Tested and relatively reliable. However email requires the fan to sift through all their emails to find yours, which is a chore on a smartphone. And, you’re likely to be limited to the open rate performance of the most successful email campaigns, only around 20 percent.
Apps – An App requires the Fan to download, install, and manage yet another App. Plus, you’ll have to have one built for you, not an inexpensive solution.
Social – Tell your Fans, and link to your content (YouTube, your web page, etc.) on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Your Fans have to actually SEE your post to get to your link. You can always hope for that.
QR Codes – Sure. When was the last time you scanned a QR Code. Same answer from your Fans.
Text – This is where it gets interesting. Before the Fan can receive a Text from you with a link to your content, they have to give you their mobile phone number. That’s not a disadvantage. That’s called building a fan database.

Texts are most commonly associated with peer-to-peer communications between family and friends. There has been commercial success with Text by the bigger brands, mostly sending coupons. It hasn’t generally been used for content distribution.

That could change. Notifying Fans of new content via Text is perfectly suited to a mobile phone environment. A link embedded within a Text can be automatically opened and consumed on a mobile phone. And, the open rate of Text is over 96%. When was the last time a text notification pinged on your phone and you didn’t immediately check your phone? Text is compulsive.

Another advantage to linking content distribution via Text: once the Fan is consuming the content, you now have an opportunity to engage them with more content. Links to voicemail like messages and other audio and special content, links to news and upcoming shows and tickets, links to products for sale, and other music, videos, web content, marketing messages, ads or services.

Musicians are the poster children for “content marketing” – after all, it’s content that Artists create! Getting that content into the hands of your Fans is your next challenge. Text is an effective option when considering your choices for delivering branded content to your Fans.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 4 - Texting In to Capture a Fan's Zip Code

2016-02-15T09:38:00.000-08:00

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
Pay What You Want
Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the fourth - Texting In to Capture a Fan's Zip Code

Fans opt in and connect to Artists now by texting get to 444999. Since fan location is so important, most of the other engagement activities require the fan to enter their zip code for features like Contests, Surveys, Exclusive Content and Purchases.

You can now tell your fans to text get to 444999 and if they do, we will capture their zipcode and add it to their fan record (and translate to their City and Town).

However - and this is important - the format must be precise. There must be a space between your "keyword" and the Fan's zip code. Here's how it plays out:

Fan Texts Result
get Correct Response with opt-in and link to Web App
get Correct Response with opt-in and link to Web App

get12345 Message from Text Provider: We don't understand that keyword, try again.
get 12345 Message from Text Provider: We don't understand that keyword, try again.

get 12345 Correct Response with opt-in and link to Web App, zip code added to fan record
get 12345 Correct Response with opt-in and link to Web App, zip code added to fan record

So you the Artist will have to decide if you think telling fans to add their zip code to the Text In keyword is worth the risk that they get a poor experience because they don't add a space between the keyword and the zip code and get an error message. It probably means adding something from the stage … that could be awkward or confusing, I'd think. But when you put signs up or when you post on social media, that could work.

As a quirky aside, if a fan texts get 12345 during a Contest, they are entered into the Contest AND their zip code is added to their Fan Record.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 3 - Texting In During Contests is Easier for Your Fans

2016-02-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
Pay What You Want
Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the third - Texting In During Contests is Easier for Your Fans

In the past, when a fan texted get to 444999 when you had a Contest running, they would get a text back with a link that brought them to your Home Page. Then they would click on the link on the Home page to get to the Contest page and, after entering their Name and zip code, would enter the Contest.

Now, if someone texts in while a Contest is Active, they get a text back that reads: Thanks, u have been entered into Contest. Stay tuned. More info: http://adva.us/?i=xxxxxx. That link will bring them to the Contest entry page where they can offer up more info - their zip code and name, for example. However, they don't need to - they are already entered in the Contest. The rest of the Contest feature works as it does now.

The upside for Artists is, I think, that now it's a lot easier for your Fans to enter a Contest. The small downside is that we won't automatically force the Fan to provide their name and zip code before they can enter the Contest. However, we can capture that info in other places.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 2 - Pay What You Want

2016-02-15T09:02:00.000-08:00

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
Pay What You Want
Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the second - Pay What You Want

We've added a feature to our Artist Mobile Store where you can put up an item for sale and let Fans choose what they want to pay for it.

Pay What You Want has become an attractive alternative for Artists who have digital content especially (music, podcasts, videos) that fans typically acquire/download for free but, as studies have shown, would pay for these items to support their favorite Artists if that option was presented to them.

We were at a recent Independent Musicians Conference and one of the Keynote Speakers said "If you don't give a Fan the ability to buy something from you, it's not their fault!"

We rest our case.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 1 - Stripe and Bitcoin

2016-02-15T08:58:00.000-08:00

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
Pay What You Want
Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the first - Stripe Payments and Bitcoin

Stripe Payment Processing - On your Mobile Store, we have changed from using PayPal to process payments to using Stripe.

This shouldn't mean anything to you or your fans.

Except we now accept Bitcoin for payment of your physical and digital goods. Which is kinda cool. Maybe not now, but it's a "tip of the hat" to the future.

Survey Your Fans - Do They Like Texts?

2015-12-15T16:19:00.001-08:00

Ask your fans:

How's our Texting?

Do you wonder if your Fans like getting texts from you? Here is a GREAT IDEA to

• Ask your Fans if they want more or less Texts From You

• Check out the Survey Engagement Feature on the Adva Mobile Platform

• Gain more info about your fans (we'll capture their Zip Code)

AND THERE'S NO CHARGE TO SEND OUT THIS SURVEY TEXT! HOLIDAY PRESENT FROM ADVA MOBILE!

We'll credit your account with the number of texts you send to your fans.

Here's What To Do:

1. Go on to your Adva Mobile Dashboard and click on the "Surveys" Tab

2. Where it says "Set up promotional message on your home page", enter "Take the Survey - Do You like Texts?"

3. Here are Four Options to ask your your Fans:

o I like getting Texts from you once a month

o I would like a Text from you more than once a month

o I only want a Text from you when you are coming to my town.

o I don't want any more Texts from You

4. Schedule your Survey (2-4 days is OK). You can also give them some complimentary content if you want. Here is what your Web App Home page and the Survey Page will look like:

5. Now, send a SMS Text Blast to your Fans. Here is a message you can use:

"How's our Texting? Help us help you get only the messages you want by telling us how often you want texts, right here:"

When you set up your SMS Text Blast you can select "Surveys" on the drop down box and the link we automatically add will take Fans right to the Survey Page.

That's it! You'll learn valuable insights from your Fans, you'll engage them on your web app (always a good thing!) and you and your Fans will have fun using the cool Surveys Feature of the Adva Mobile Platform. Check it out!

You know text message marketing for musicians has gone mainstream when Justin Bieber is launching a text messaging campaign.

2015-12-02T07:14:00.002-08:00

In my opinion this is gamechanging. Lot's of smaller Artists use text to connect with fans, many using deep linking. A stronger validation when someone the stature of Bieber endorses text messaging to engage fans. Thoughts?

http://bit.ly/AdvaBieberSMS

More Insights from the CD Baby D.I.Y Conference

2015-11-20T12:43:00.000-08:00

More musings and take - away notes I took at the terrific First Ever CD Baby D.I.Y. Conference for Independent Artists:

Pay what you want (for music) is a strategy that works. Many fans pay more than the suggested list price. Tip Jars are also OK.
Lifetime memberships was a unique idea, and subscription services (fans pay something monthly for ongoing content) is another unique business model.
The Label route isn't always the most productive. Once you're into a 360 deal, you have to use all the services offered by a label. So you can press your own CD for about $1 but the label service costs you $3. You can have a T-Shirt printed up for $1 but the label T-Shirt company wants $5. A lot of the advance money you get from the label is swallowed back by the label. They have someone pushing music onto radio, but with limited slots, you're competing with others trying to get a hit onto radio.
The marketing for musicians mirrors most other small business challenges - awareness, capture, engagement, monetize.
Always be thinking about the lifetime value of the Fan.
Most Artists do not offer fans a way to engage them except when they release new music on Fridays.
Blockchain and bitcoins are going to be a big deal for musicians.
People read on phones, so all your digital presence should be mobile optimized.

Already looking forward to next year and being part of the event!

Adva Mobile at the first CD Baby DIY Conference

2015-11-10T17:54:00.003-08:00

CD Baby organized their first DIY Conference a few weeks ago, and it was a success. More than 1,000 independent Artists showed up to learn from the pro's about marketing, career advancement, and making great music.

Here's a group of photo's from the event, including yours truly with Adva Mobile Artist Sean Ardoin and Zydekool (text getkool to 444999 to check out Zydekool and their terrific Cajun sound).

My favorite take-away from the event - Keynote close speaker Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd, Killing Joke): "If the fans are looking to buy your merchandise and there's nothing for sale, it's not their fault!"

More Take- Aways from this inspiring 3 day event:

There were 1,050 Artists at the Conference and 15% have a database of more than 500 names
There was a lot of push for email.... apparently text is not yet mainstream :-) . Email address and zip is core, leading to using data to drive decisions. Contact data is key.
Fans are fascinated by the creativity of Artists so don't just show them the end product - show them the process. Don't think that what you think is boring is boring to your fans. The story of how it's happening is exciting.
17% of fans think of themselves as superfans and represent 61% of sales
Make money showing how you make things, not selling the end product.

I'll have more posts about specific details of the conference that were particularly relevant for Adva Mobile. I was left inspired by the passion of Independent Musicians, and you sure do need the kinds of tools we're building here at Adva Mobile to engage your fans.

Adva Mobile integrates Email Marketing into Fan Relationship Platform for Musicians (Press Release)

2015-10-27T07:11:00.000-07:00

Leader in Text Marketing for Musicians unifies Email, Text, Web App and Fan Database and Engagement under a single, integrated Fan-centric Platform

Wayland MA October 27, 2015

Adva Mobile, the leading mobile marketing portal for Artists using mobile technology to acquire, engage, and sell to fans, announced today the launch of their email marketing service for Artists. Through the Adva Mobile Fan Engagement Marketing Platform, Artists can create marketing activities and campaigns and reach fans with a combination of SMS Text, Email, web, mobile and social outreach. The Adva Mobile platform uses multiple outreach services to drive engagement across multiple digital channels, and, as Fans engage the Artist on these channels, the fan discovery engine helps Artists collect, analyze and act on Fan data.

Artists want to be Fan-centric, however they lack the tools to and technical ability to do it. The Adva Mobile platform helps Artists collect and analyze Fan data, and act on it, optimizing the relationship between Artist and Fan. Incorporating email into the existing Adva Mobile service helps Artists better understand Fan behavior at an individual level, and empowers Artists to be Fan-Centric across web, social, email, text and mobile channels.

"Artists have Fan data, but it's difficult for Artists to separate and target their outreach campaigns from Fan to Fan - until now." said Jack Kelly, CEO of Adva Mobile. Across the integrated service platform offered by Adva Mobile, Artists can now stitch together behavior and activity across engagement channels, helping Artists understand who their "True Fans" are, how many they have, and how many they potentially could have. "By understanding what works to engage their best Fans at an individual level, Artists can replicate their best Fans."

At shows, or through social media, Fans Text In to the Artist and are automatically opted in to receive texts and emails. The new email service provides template designs for Artists to create custom emails that reflect their brand, and different layouts optimized for newsletters, show dates or music release announcements, and other Fan engagement news. As with the text service, emails drive Fans to the Artists' mobile Web App that provides Fans with a rich media experience on their phones, including news, music, videos, photos, concert dates and tickets, a mobile store (and links to other stores including iTunes, CD Baby, Amazon, Google Play, etc.) and contests, surveys, and exclusive content. By capturing Fan engagement levels and behaviors through these digital channels, the relationship between Fan and Artist can be optimized.

Artists on the Adva Mobile platform can set up their own marketing automation schedules, adjusting the frequency of text and emails to fans based upon what's most relevant to Fans. The email marketing service is bundled into Adva Mobiles's existing pricing models, which starts with a Free service for emerging Artists.

About Adva Mobile

Adva Mobile is a marketing services and technology company dedicated to helping Touring Bands, Recording Artists, Labels and music industry professionals acquire, engage and sell to their Fans on mobile phones. The Adva Mobile suite of products includes Text Marketing, Email Marketing, Mobile Web Apps, Fan Database management and mobile engagement tools designed to help Artists build relationships with with Fans. More information can be found at www.advamobile.com

www.advamobile.com

What is the Open Rate for SMS Text?

2015-10-02T12:51:00.001-07:00

Shift Communications is a data driven PR Agency (and not affiliated with Adva Mobile.) SHIFT commissioned Google Consumer Surveys to collect responses from a representative sample of 1,000 respondents who answered the question “Do you read every SMS text message sent to you?”. This survey collected 1,907 impressions and 1,030 responses for a 54% response rate with an RMSE score of 1.8%. SHIFT Communications was the sole investor in the study. The survey population was the adult Internet user population of the United States who are active smartphone owners, ascertained by survey deployment in in-app advertising. The date of the survey period was 9/26/15 – 9/28/15.

So that's pretty good. For Artists on the Adva mobile platform, where fans either read every text or read them from an Artist they are opted in to, it seems reasonable safe to conclude 98 percent of your texts are being read by your fans.

Check out the report from Shift Communications here.

We Love Text

2015-09-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for a MAJOR NEW ANNOUNCEMENT (coming soon) about eMail. Meanwhile, here's why WE STILL LOVE TEXT!

45 Texting Statistics That Prove Businesses Need to Take SMS Seriously

BY Gigi Peccolo on business2community.com

Texting has been around for over 20 years, but it’s only now just hitting its stride when it comes to business. Formerly just a way to send silly photos and emoticons (and to some extent, it still is), text messaging is now being viewed as a powerful way for businesses to connect with their customers .

For example, it’s widespread, affordable, real-time and flexible. It’s also brief, preferred, and can be used in any industry to satisfy customers.

What’s not to like?

At OneReach, we’re not shy about singing text messaging’s praises—it’s a great way to interact with friends, family and customers alike. However, we know it’s important to back up our opinion with some cold hard facts, so that’s why we’ve compiled 45 texting statistics on why text messaging is such a powerful business tool. Check them out below, then let us know what you think of texting for business in the comments.

General Texting Statistics

Texting is the most widely-used and frequently used app on a smartphone, with 97% of Americans using it at least once a day. (Pew Internet)
People worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone. That’s almost 23 billion messages per day, or almost 16 million messages per minute. (Portio Research)
Over 6 billion text messages are sent in the U.S. each day. (Forrester)
Over 80% of American adults text, making it the most common cell phone activity. (Pew Internet)
Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate. (Mobile Marketing Watch)
Text messaging has a 45% response rate, while email only has a 6% response rate. (Velocify)
Texting takes up 14.1% of cell phone users’ time. (Nielsen)
90% of all text messages are read in under 3 minutes. (Connect Mogul)
Text messages are read on average in under five seconds. (SlickText)
75% of phones worldwide (4.5 billion) are text-enabled (DuoCall Communications)
96% of smartphone users text. (Acision)
Americans sent 69,000 texts every second in 2012 (CTIA)
The average adult spends a total of 23 hours a week texting (USA Today)
The average Millennial exchanges an average of 67 text messages per day (Business Insider)
On average, Americans exchange twice as many texts as they do calls (Nielsen)
Only 43% of smartphone owners use their phone to make calls, but over 70% of smartphone users text (Connect Mogul)
55% of heavy text message users (50+ texts per day) say they would prefer to receive a text over a phone call (Pew Research Center)
In 2011, 31% of Americans said they preferred text messages to phone calls (Pew Research Center)
It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to email, but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message. (CTIA)
American women text 14% more than men. (Nielsen)

Business Texting Statistics

79% of companies believe customers want SMS/text support. (ICMI)
38% of contact centers currently offer SMS, and 23% have plans to add it in the next 12 months. That means 61% of contact centers will offer SMS support in 2016. (Dimension Data)
80% of people are currently using texting for business. (eWeek)
One in five consumers is just as likely to prefer a text message from a business to a phone call. (ICMI)
The activities people with text capabilities would most prefer to do via text are: check order status (38%) schedule or change appointments (32%) and make or confirm reservations (31%). (Harris poll; link below)
Over half of customers said they would be likely to text with a customer support agent. Similarly, 52 percent would prefer texting customer support over their current preferred form of communication. (eWeek)
A 2012 study found that text was the highest rated contact method for customer satisfaction out of all other customer communication channels. Text earned 90 out of 100 points, while phone earned 77 out of 100 and Facebook earned 66. (CFI Group)
Millenials prefer automated text messaging over IVR, including speech-based solutions (Frost & Sullivan)
Over one-third of business professionals say they can’t go 10 minutes without responding to a text. (eWeek)
SMS text chat converts a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies per session. (Forrester & ContactBabel)
At least five types of social media channels are used in more than 50% of call centers, including SMS/texting (VoIP Info)
Sales prospects who are sent text messages convert at a rate 40% higher than those who are not sent any text messages. (Velocify)
Over 80% of people use text messaging for business, and 15% said that more than half their messages are for business purposes. (eWeek)
Almost 25% of marketers are currently using text messaging. Over 65% of them report SMS as being “very effective.” (ExactTarget)
70% of U.S. consumers appreciate getting texts or emails from healthcare providers. (Loyalty 360)
75% of people would like to have offers sent to them via SMS. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
Over 80% of people would only like to receive a maximum of two marketing messages per month. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
44% of consumers with texting capabilities would prefer to press a button to initiate a text conversation immediately, rather than waiting on hold to speak with an agent. (Harris Poll; link below)
Texting in the sales process can lead to conversion gains of more than 100%. However, sending text messages before establishing contact with a prospect can adversely affect both contact and conversion rates. (Velocify)
20% of financial services companies use mobile messaging to ensure business continuity and add to their multichannel capabilities. (Loyalty 360)
77% of consumers with texting capabilities aged 18-34 are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers text capability. (Harris Poll; link below)
44% of consumers would rather receive product details and other marketing messages through text over any other channel. (Direct Marketing Association)
72% of business professionals prefer texting to messaging apps. (eWeek)
Nearly 70% of employees think their organization should use text messaging to communicate with employees, and 86% say it should not be reserved for just customer communication. (Vitiello Communications Group)
64% of all consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers texting as a service channel (Harris Poll; link below).

So, what did you think of the texting statistics? Do you think more companies should start offering text messaging? Is there another, better channel that we’re missing, or are you just not fond of text messaging altogether? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to download our 2014 Harris Poll report detailing why 64% of customers want to text your business.

Read more at http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/45-texting-statistics-prove-businesses-need-take-sms-seriously-01324616#ODLl0255OQMJfRZh.99

Nice Hypebot Promotion

2015-08-25T12:17:00.001-07:00

A nice bit of promo for the Adva Mobile Service on Hypebot. Their new feature THE PITCH showcases promising tech startups in the music industry. Check it out at http://bit.ly/AdvaPitch

2015-08-19T18:57:00.001-07:00

Less Money, Mo' Music & Lots of Problems: A Look at the Music Biz

Jul 26, 2015

Jason Hirschorn, CEO and Chief Curator at REDEF, recently published a comprehensive and lengthy discussion about the music business. I've started his Article here, and linked to the full Article. Well worth the read!

The disruption of the music industry has undoubtedly benefited consumers, but for many on the inside, its consequences have been both profound and painful. Artists finally have direct connections to their audiences, but they must fight through more noise than ever before. Distribution is no longer constrained by shelf space or A&R men, but a stream or download generates royalties many artists decry as untenable. Audiences can now enjoy more music, more easily and in more places – yet the amount they spend is at an unprecedented low.

Music may have been the first media format to be upended by digital, but it remains deeply challenged even as video, publishing and gaming continue their path forward (however modestly). If the industry hopes to restore growth and fix the problems with today’s streaming models, it needs to confront its evolution: how have ecosystem revenues – from albums sales to concerts, radio plays, digital downloads and streams – changed and been redistributed? What is the underlying value of music? Did streaming erode this value or correct it? What’s the logic behind streaming royalty models and where are its flaws and decencies? How can it be improved? After 15 years of declining consumer spend, it’s time to stop focusing on what was or “should” be. Industries don’t rebuild themselves.

PART I: HOW WE GOT HERE:

The Decline of Recorded Music Sales

Since the RIAA began its comprehensive database of US music sales in 1973, the category has never commanded less in consumer spend than it does today.

Continue reading this excellent research and Article HERE.

The Future of Musician Marketing

2015-05-14T14:07:00.000-07:00

The digital age has revolutionized marketing, making it more complex but also creating the opportunity to dramatically improve fan experiences, especially away from the concert experience. The rapid advancements in technology that enable the possibility of always-on connectivity between Artist and Fan have made it so that marketing as a discipline is now inextricably tied to tech—and mobile tech. For artists this transformation both challenges and empowers like never before.

Artists are brands and like brands, are starting to realize the insights and power that technology can bring to their fan marketing initiatives. Artists can, for the first time, use digital insights to power optimized fan interactions.

Outside the music industry, brands get it. The marketing technology landscape is exploding. In one survey, 68 percent of organizations had a separate digital marketing budget that averaged a quarter of the total marketing budget.

One key enabler of marketing technology is the capability to identify, understand, and interact with fans on an individual level. The early analytics from digital interaction with fans focused on aggregate metrics. How many visitors to your web site? Now, new tools allow you to drill down to individual fans and their interest in you. You can now separate the right data from the big data. This all starts with the creation of a comprehensive user profile.

Customer Profiles

Your fans are constantly creating more data. Clicking, searching, swiping, tweeting, and many other actions provide information in real-time about their interests. Marketing technology can capture and analyze these fan interactions in a profile so that you can make better decisions on when, how, and with what message to engage your fans.

Your fan profiles can be either known (you have their name, e-mail address, phone number, location, age, gender), or anonymous (the profile lacks identity details). And even data in the aggregate – preferences over watching videos compared to streaming music, for example, show that you can improve your marketing to your audience. Activity on your web app / web site can help tailor the Artist to Fan engagement experience accordingly.

Programmed Interactions

The last step is delivering the engagement to the fan, which takes two forms. The first is how you engage with your “new” fan, and this needs to be programmed based on a logical sequence and delivered in real time to the fan. The good news here is that we are rapidly approaching where technology can automate this activity, so you don’t need to interrupt your day every time a fan opts in to your mobile fan base or email list.

The second engagement form is scheduled outreach to your community. Whether it’s location targeted to announce an upcoming show or a broad email/text/social post about a new video or music release, these communications need to be regular and relevant to the interests of your fans. While not purely automated, scheduling eliminates much of the marketing burden required to sustain a fan engagement campaign.

This is the future of marketing technology for musicians. Using the right data to understand your fans well enough to predict, prepare for, and deliver what they want from you. Using data to stay one step ahead of fans will enable you to develop extremely strong fan relationships that foster loyalty that will keep fans coming back again and again.

Smartphone Ownership Hits 75%

2015-04-08T14:23:00.002-07:00

comScore is reporting that smartphone ownership in the United States has hit 75%, which means that 182 million Americans now have a smartphone. Three of every 4 US mobile subscribers aged 13 and older now own a smartphone. And it's even better for your audience. Almost 9 in 10 (88.9% of) mobile subscribers aged 25-34 owned a smartphone, with those aged 18-24 (88.6%) right on their heels. And smartphone adoption in the 18-34 age group is growing fast - as recently as January 2013, the adoption rate was 73.5% and 72.2%, respectively.

Why is this great news for Artists using SMS text marketing? Because as mobile phones get smarter, the effectiveness of SMS marketing increases.

Why are SMS messages sent to smartphones so much more effective than SMS messages sent to non-smartphones? While the SMS messages sent to smartphones & non-smartphones are the same, with smartphones you're able to direct your fans to an experience outside of 160 characters of plain text. And this is totally built into the Adva Mobile Platform. Since most texts you send to fans automatically link to your own branded Web App, your fans experience a powerful collection of different mobile experiences. Your fans...

Watch your videos.
Listen to your music.
Check out your photos.
Take your mobile survey.
Shop your mobile website.
Enter your contests.
Read about you.
Follow you on social media (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)

Isn't that great or what???

Success with Text? Look to Restaurants.

2015-03-26T09:07:00.001-07:00

A follow up to an earlier post about SMS Text having success with Retail, and why they are important use cases for musicians. Text Marketing is also having terrific success with restaurants.

Most of the use cases are oriented towards Coupons…. That makes sense. The real value, though, just as it is for musicians, is building up a data base of engaged, opted in fans of the Brand. Check out these examples:

Applebees – is another restaurant collecting email addresses through the use of a text message marketing campaign. The text message call-to-action appears in their menu, instructing customers to text their zip code and email address to their short code.

Arby’s - has created their own text messaging campaign to increase customer loyalty. You get a free small Dr. Pepper with the purchase of any sandwich when you opt-in, which is a great way for any text messaging campaign to grow their SMS subscriber database fast.

Baskin Robbins – is another brand turning to text messaging to grow their email database. Baskin-Robbins now has in-store signage instructions customers to join their Birthday Club by texting “BDAY” their email address to the SMS short code 31310.

Dunkin’ Donuts - wanted to entice high school/college age students in the Boston area to try their hot lattes. They used text message marketing to drive in-store redemption of $0.99 small hot latte mobile coupon. The SMS offer was sent to 7,500 targeted opt-ins. The campaign messaging coupled with radio created a 21 percent increase in store traffic and redemption of the mobile coupon. The SMS message promoted the viral element of the coupon. This proved to be a very beneficial aspect of the campaign, in that 17 percent of participants forwarded or showed the message to a friend. In the research subsequent to the campaign, 35 percent considered themselves more likely to buy lattes and coffee from Dunkin’ Donuts.

IHOP - is connecting with consumers using SMS Text marketing. Consumers are encouraged to opt-in for a free short stack of pancakes.Calls to action are publicized in Money Mailer direct mail pieces. Consumers are asked to text the keyword IHOPFREE to short code 686868. IHOP is seeing a 10% mobile coupon redemption rate.

Caribou Coffee - ran a sweepstakes via text message that gave participants a chance to win free beverages for a year to celebrate the launch of a new store in Illinois. This contest generated awareness of the new store and built a database of opted-in mobile users for future promotions.

Hooters - has been using SMS for years and constantly turns to the channel to drive consumer engagement. Consumers were encouraged to text the keyword FOOTBALL to the short code 36832 in order to enter to win a trip for two to the 2013 Super Bowl. Furthermore, Hooters was able to build up its mobile database by 50,000 customers.

Jack in the Box – are reporting that redemption rates for coupons from Text Marketing are 3-5 times greater than redemption rates from email marketing, and 21% of Text recipients are recommending the store to others.

Success with Text? Look to Retail.

2015-03-25T07:33:00.001-07:00

Musicians looking for case studies and examples of where Text Marketing is having success can look to Retail. And since retailers are typically targeting the same consumer demographic that represents a Fan, the appeal of text for Artists to connect with fans is obvious. Here are how some (of many) retailers are using text to connect with consumers both inside and outside their storefronts.

Abercrombie & Fitch - recently launched “club” programs that focus on mobile communications. Customers who “opt-in”for membership receive exclusive product offers and content, plus value-added services. A representative states “growing our text file has been a very strong focus. You do have some issues on what and how often you can communicate to consumers via text because there are spam laws. But we’ve grown our text file essentially from a couple of hundred thousand to one or more million in the span of twelve months.”

Aerie & American Eagle Outfitters - created a sweepstakes (contest) that includes a text-to-enter instant-win game wherein participants have the opportunity to win American Eagle Outfitters shorts and Aerie swim suits. While in the fitting room trying on the latest spring styles of American Eagle Outfitters shorts and Aerie swim suits, shoppers can enter to instantly win by texting in to American Eagle Outfitters or Aerie.

Aeropostale – created an opt in text campaign for an exclusive VIP invite to the launch of Aero by having consumers text REVEAL to 237687 (AERO87) and signing up for Aero Texts.

Toys R Us – has grown their text database to over 450,000 subscribers. The retailer sends regular text messages supporting key shopping periods and promoting important new product launches.

Dress Barn – A representative states “More and more we are seeing that our consumers and target audience are extremely receptive to using both SMS messaging and their mobile phones to stay in contact and receive updates from brands with which they associate themselves.”

Kohls - is using SMS texts to inform consumers that if they spend $30, they can win various prizes including discounts at other retailers like Staples.

Lord & Taylor With hundreds of the largest brands now running text message marketing campaigns, it’s no wonder that many of these brands sent SMS promotions to their customers in celebration of July 4th. It’s common for brands such as Lord & Taylor, Tommy Bahamas, JCPenney, Michaels, Simon Malls, Stage and Payless Shoes to use holidays as a chance to promote some special offer.

Use Text Messaging for the "Moment"

2015-03-11T07:32:00.002-07:00

Sending fans a text message creates a "moment" of connection between you, the Artist, and your fans. It's a tool to create fan loyalty and, ultimately, drive business results (a sale). Mobile text messaging is rooted in it's immediacy, and it's the trigger or catalyst for a mobile moment. It's a mechanism to get a fan to take action now.

These mobile moments are present throughout the entirety of the Artist - Fan relationship.

Engage: Connect with fans and have fun using Contests, Exclusive Content, or Voting.

Discover: Alert fans to new content.

Buy: Prompt fans to purchase show tickets, special deals, or send them a coupon.

Explore: Remind fans of all the cool music, videos and news they can find on your Web App.

Use: The most engaged fans expect help to get the most of your Web App. Send texts to encourage activity so they get the most from their connection to you and your music.

Ask: Send fans a poll, asking them to vote on a topic important to them.

Your fans connect with you during their entire journey with you throughout your Artistic career. Map your mobile messaging to key moments in this journey. The immediacy and effectiveness of Text Messaging drives fan action and increases sales, engagement and loyalty.

Thanks to Forrester Research for the inspiration, and some of the ideas, for this article.

Web Sites or Web Apps? Which is better for Musicians?

2015-02-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

“Every Artist needs a Web Site”. We read that and hear that all the

time. But is a Web Site the right digital footprint for an Artist? Maybe not.

When you think of Web Site, you think of consuming information that is mostly static and doesn’t change very often. When you think of Applications, you’re DOING something. Like desktop applications (Word, Photoshop, Skype), Web Applications are dynamic and ever-changing. Web applications rely on you to interact with them, whether by contributing content or by gathering data from other sources and presenting it to you.

Now, think of how an Artist uses the internet:

· Continually uploading content – music, videos, photos

· Continually communicating with Fans – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Vine, etc.

· Continually updating Show information

· A desire to have regular engagement with Fans

The dynamic nature of the Artist to Fan relationship speaks volumes to having a Web Application and not a Web Site. Where “Web Sites” end and “Web Apps” begin. Compared to the classic web, i.e. blogs and news sites, Web Apps provide a richer user experience and access to advanced browser capabilities. But it’s more about the task focus than the technology itself. The use case of an application is always to DO something with it.

Also, how you use your Web App or Web Site is also important. Since Web Sites are, for the most part, static and unchanging, it’s OK to have fans find you. But with the dynamic nature of Web Apps, you want to proactively drive your fans to your Web App because there is constantly changing news and content.

Onboard Your Fans

2015-01-19T15:42:00.001-08:00

You've run a contest at a show, or a shout out about that new

song they can upload. Or maybe a post on social media, telling fans about your new web app. And fans are responding, texting in. Last night, 30 new fans opted in!

Once a fan has opted in to receive your text messages, you don’t want to wear out the welcome mat – or go dark on them. Just as you would welcome your email subscribers with a series of welcome emails, your mobile messaging strategy should help your new fans get to know you, and it can take anywhere from 10 days to 2 months, depending on the journey you want to take them on.

Onboarding New Fans

Remember that fans expect communications that speak directly to their behaviors, preferences, and history with you or your band. As you welcome new fans, keep in mind your targeting criteria – to make your welcome message valuable from the start.

You can use your welcome message to help your fans learn what to expect from their relationship with you. For example, send them to your News Page with an article about what they can expect when they get texts from you. Or, send out a voting contest asking them what they want to get from you – four choices. Run the voting poll monthly, sending a text to all the fans that opted in last month.

When onboarding new fans, pay attention to the time of day. Remember, texts usually come in with a sound on their mobile device. So watch the time zones, and don’t send texts from, say 10pm to 10am.

With the Adva Mobile text service, onboarding new fans is easy. Mark in your calendar twice a month (or once a month). On the Fans – Your Fans page, run a filter of everyone who joined in the last 2 weeks (or month). Send them a welcome message in your text, and point them to a page on your web app that will help them learn more about you (not the merch/Store page, for example, on the first few texts.)

You may not be onboarding thousands of new fans each month at the start, but a “big list” is not the measure of success here. These fans that have chosen to hear from you regularly via text are a smaller, but more engaged group – your superfans. So make it your goal to show them a rewarding, relevant mobile experience from the start.

What's the proper budget for Mobile Marketing?

2015-01-05T08:56:00.000-08:00

If you're treating your music career like the small business that you are, you're likely spending some time right now planning for 2015. You're setting goals, making a schedule of activities and trying to predict revenues and match them to a budget of expenses. Marketing is certainly a line item in your budget, and so it's a reasonable question - Mobile is here, what's the right number to dedicate to mobile marketing?

While the circumstances of small businesses are as varied as the products and services they provide, a very common rule of thumb for small businesses is that about 4% of revenues should be devoted to marketing - all the expense efforts you need to undertake to get new fans and keep existing fans. Promotion, publicity, getting airplay, web site, social media, etc. all are marketing expenses.

What about mobile? Mobile Marketing offers unprecedented ways to reach fans and engage them, leading to a propensity for the fan to support you with purchases. Mobile optimized web sites / Apps, text based campaigns, mobile coupons and offers, QR codes, and other marketing tools can be effectively deployed to acquire and engage fans.

Here again, generally, the 4% rule is applicable. Four percent of your marketing budget should be targeted to Mobile Marketing activities. Here's a brief guide:

Band Revenues Marketing Budget Mobile Budget

$100,000 $4,000 $160

$250,000 $10,000 $400

$1,500,000 $60,000 $2,400

$5,000,000 $200,000 $8,000

Use these percentages as a guide to model your own marketing budget for 2015 and PLAN your way to success! And, if you have other ideas about how much of your budget should be dedicated to mobile marketing, share them here!

The Annual Mobile Readiness Survey

2015-01-05T08:20:00.005-08:00

It's time again for our Annual "State of Mobile Readiness" Survey to the Artist community. This simple survey - takes about 1-2 minutes - will help us assess and measure the progress being made within the music industry toward the adoption of mobile marketing . With more and more fans engaging their favorite bands on mobile devices, we're interested in learning whether Artists are thinking about - or using - mobile technologies to connect with fans.

We'll run the survey through January and publish the results in the next Newsletter and here. We conduct this survey annually (this is the third annual survey) to gauge trends and movement in mobile adoption.

If you enter your email address at the completion of the survey, we'll send you the results of the survey and also enter your email into a random contest to win a $25 iTunes gift card.

Besides, it's fun. Go here to access the survey. And Thanks!

http://goo.gl/forms/OBTDIrpvR1

The best way to support Artists is to pay them directly

2014-11-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

What if streaming doesn't work out for the Artist? If streaming services aren't the answer for the music business, what will be the model for creators moving forward? If it doesn't work out, will there ever be enough money for musicians to make a living?

Technology in this space has been all about making consumer friendly solutions, and streaming provides a solution consumers are looking for – a jukebox in the sky, large catalogs of music, on demand, any time, streamed to any speaker you own. Companies making consumer first products are driven to make the product as cheap as possible. They’re not creating creator-first companies. And so creators are struggling to make a living.

Fans, however, want to support Artists they love. If there are easy ways to let fans pay Artists directly, they will do so. Often they will pay more for music if offered the opportunity to do so.

If streaming services do not convince large masses of consumers to pay for their services, and the distribution of this subscription revenue is not passed to independent Artists, then these Artists will need creator driven technology that helps fans easily support Artists by paying them directly. Fans will step up to the plate, either through patronage, crowdfunding, tips or direct purchases.

Artists have a role here also. Most Artists don’t tell fans how they can support them, or take advantage of tools that make it easy for fans to support them.

Music itself is not doomed, because we’ll always need it to free our souls. If streaming doesn’t work out and creators stop making music because they can’t make a living from their streaming royalties, fans will step up and support Artists by paying them directly to keep music alive.