The Internet Age makes promoting your music fast, easy and affordable. It takes just a few minutes to set up a basic one-page bio and social media accounts. You can devise an online music marketing strategy and execute it with just a few clicks or taps. With the right social media strategy, you can move from just being internet famous to becoming a paid musician.

While this is all well and good, you shouldn’t rely solely on your web presence to build your career. Combining your online music marketing efforts with offline promotions proves to be a powerful one-two punch to really get your attention for your music and earn money as a musician. With adding offline music marketing, you don’t fall into the trap of just being famous online.

Offline Music Marketing

Here’s what promoting your music offline can do and why you need to incorporate offline music marketing tactics into your overall promotional strategy.

Real-life interaction is gold

Performing your music live gives you the opportunity to interact with fans of your music. Nothing beats connecting with your audience face to face. You can turn casual listeners into serious fans with a simple 5-minute chat or by performing a song they’ve requested, even if it’s not part of your usual set list.

Aside from giving your fans the experience of seeing you perform live, you can also give them incentives every time they come to watch a show. You can offer loyal fans the opportunity to watch you rehearse or record a new track in the studio. You can also raffle off free tickets to your next big show, or the chance to win a signed acoustic guitar.

Live shows also let you talk to fans in person and thank them for simply being there.

Oh, and don’t forget to sell merchandise during shows and events. Fans who buy and wear or use your merch essentially become walking billboards, helping you promote your music offline. What’s more, if they take a selfie and post it on social media, you get to additional online music marketing as a result!

Your target audience may not be on social media

Sure, you can say that a majority of the connected world’s population have social media accounts, but what about the minority and those who prefer not to be active online? If you restrict your music marketing to online, you miss the opportunity to reach out to potential fans who choose to learn about new music the old-fashioned way – i.e. magazines, posters, flyers, direct mail, radio and even word-of-mouth.

Networking is best done in person

It’s easy to build a contact list online by gathering emails, following industry people, getting a mention and so on. But if you’re serious about making a career out of being a performing musician, you need to establish connections in person as well.

Don’t simply send potential managers a demo, invite them to your shows and strike up a conversation when they do drop by.

Attend other artists’ shows as well where you can. While you’re there, introduce yourself or be introduced to other people in the industry. It’s easier to form and develop connections with people you’ve met in person than those you only know by their username or profile photo.

Why Offline Music Marketing Is An Essential Piece Of The Puzzle

Offline music marketing shouldn’t be just a passing thought. There are many valuable things you can do to promote your music the old-fashioned way. Performing live, selling merchandise, talking with fans and networking with other musicians and industry people are just a few examples.

And here are some often-overlooked possibilities for music marketing in person: busking (street performing), posting flyers on community billboards, attending meetup events, and performing at charity fundraisers.

Explore all your offline music marketing opportunities and get creative. Have fun!

Guest post by Jennifer Hughes at www.knowyourinstrument.com