1. Exclusive Photos Inside Your CD
The band The Good Natured posted their marketing idea on their Facebook page. They took 100 limited edition polaroids to go inside 100 of their EP’s. Exclusive, creative, and fun.
2. Countdown Clock
Got a big announcement, contest, or giveaway? Try a countdown clock to increase the suspense for your announcement or giveaway end date. But remember, you don’t want to be anticlimactic, so make the countdown worth it at the end. Try It’s Almost as your countdown clock or find one online that you can embed in your site.
3. Live Streaming Concert
Not able to do a show everywhere in the world and at the same time? Stream a live concert online via the many live streaming services (Ustream, Livestream, Justin.tv, Youtube, Google+, etc.). Play in your garage, in your room, or record a gig at a venue. Either way, get some live piece of your music online and in real-time.
4. Curate the Best Content
People don’t want to follow you on Twitter or Facebook just to get updates on your latest tour or music release. Curate the best content on your social networking feeds for music article links or songs you dig – if people trust your taste, they’ll probably follow you and check out your music udpates when it organically meshes into your stream.
5. Number Your Albums
Once again, it’s all about exclusivity. If you number your albums, fans will have a unique CD that is not a 100% duplicate of someone else’s purchase. Also, the lower the number the greater sense of value for the fan.
6. Remixes
Include remixes of your favorite song on your album. Perhaps this means using different effects, changing up the mix, or even changing the genre of the song entirely. Experiment! If you have a wide audience, you could even consider holding a remix contest for the song. With a top-notch remix, you can include it on the CD or a subsequent release if the album is already finished.
7. Track Analytics
Where do you want your fans to go? If it’s your website, make sure you have Google Analytics installed and track what sources are providing the most (and best) traffic. Once you find those sites, double-down on the amount of time you spend on those sites. If you use other websites to share music with fans, see what those sites offer you in terms of analytics.
8. Flash Mob
Organize a flash mob based around one of your songs. Then hope it goes viral once you post the video on Youtube!
9. Segmented Email List
Don’t you hate it when people invite you to events and concerts on Facebook or other social networking sites when you’re not even in the same city? It feels spammy. Make sure that when you’re building your email list, segment your emails based on your desired target for each specific email. Services like Mailchimp help you manage large email lists and segment your audience.
10. Limited Edition Vinyl
Because all the cool kids have it on vinyl.
Sources that inspired this article and fuel for more ideas: