Josh Petruccio - Marketing Guide.docx

DISCLAIMER: This won’t guarantee instant sales, or success in selling beats online. Marketing is just a tool to help sell your product, people still must be willing to buy your product. Marketing knowledge is only 50% of what you need to be successful at selling beats online, the other 50% is the quality of the product. While I’ll teach how to sell, you should never stop improving at your craft, no matter how good of a salesman you are, it’s always easier to sell a nicer car, a nicer house, or in this case, a better sounding beat. Although there isn’t any secret sauce in this guide, and no secret tip that will instantly help you sell beats, there is a ton of knowledge and useful tips that will vastly improve your marketing skills, ability to sell, and help you stand out in this crowded market. Because of this, we ask that you not pass along this information. While I can’t stop you from sharing this with your fellow producer colleagues, we put a lot of time into this guide. It does benefit me for you not to send this to other people, but more importantly it benefits you. You paid for it, why share this knowledge with potential competitors. But as I stated before, the decision is yours. With that being said, let’s begin.

YouTube: In my opinion, YouTube is the biggest and most important tool to use when marketing music, or just marketing in general. Over 1.3 billion people were on YouTube in 2017. Simply put, if you are not marketing on YouTube, and not marketing well, you are making it increasingly difficult to be successful in online sales. Many people claim that YouTube is dead or too saturated for online beat sales because of the sheer quantity of people marketing their work through the site, causing many producers to mimic one another’s marketing techniques and style which can make it somewhat difficult to stand out against the competitors, especially those with large numbers of subscribers. As the supply rises, and the demand stays the same, this surplus causes people to take drastic measures, such as selling beats for 1$, or just give up producing entirely. However, despite the saturation, you can be successful in this market, and I’ll help to show you how.

How to rank? The first question I usually get when people ask about building their channel on YouTube, is “How do I rank my videos?” The short answer to that is, you can’t. YouTube’s algorithm is a complex and forever evolving machine, what works today, may do nothing for you tomorrow. Anyone advertising that they can teach you how to rank for any specific key word by buying views or likes is lying. There is no one secret way to rank #1 for every tagthat you use during the early stages of your channel, but there are ways to boost your traffic, engagement, and subscriber count. Over time this will lead you to rank for key words, further expanding your channel, and eventually lead to sales. Let’s go through some of them

Target Demographic: The first step to being successful when marketing on YouTube is to find your target demographic. Finding your target audience helps you to build a dependable and engaging fanbase from the ground up with like-minded customers who over time become loyal to your brand and product. Building a fanbase starts with gaining subscribers. Which in this saturated market can be difficult, therefore you have to market towards target demographic.

The key to finding your target demographic is to understand your own music style. Ask yourself What “Type Beats” do I enjoy making?” and “What “Type Beats” do I best make?” Usually these two answers will overlap because we often find ourselves being more focused and creative when working on something that we enjoy doing. You should never feel the need to make something out of your comfort zone. It’s definitely a good idea to experiment from time to time, as this can help you make more creative instrumentals, build your overall music knowledge, and sometimes help you overcome beat block, but never should you feel the need to make something you don’t like in order to make a sale.

Let’s say you enjoy making instrumentals similar to the kind that artist Lil Uzi Vert uses. Using a simple YouTube search for ‘Lil Uzi Type Beat’ should give you an indication of other artists that you should include, in order to target that Core Demographic. Here are a few of the artists that pop up for me. Famous Dex, Playboi Carti, Lil Yachty, YBN Nahmir, and Nav. These are artists whose fanbases overlap with one another, and I now have a rough outline of the artists that I need to stick with in my titles and tags (We’ll get into this in a minute)

The reason for using these similar artists, is that people’s interest in artists is often connected to that style of music. For instance, someone who has Lil Uzi Vert downloaded in their Apple Music or Spotify app, has a high percentage of also having Famous Dex, Playboi Carti, and Lil Yachty because these artists have a similar style. Too many producers attempt to hit every brand of Hip Hop/R&B by including every artist they can into their titles, but by using a select group of similar sounding artists on a consistent basis, you are connecting yourself with fans of these artists 10x better than those that are sparingly using Lil Uzi Vert and those other artists on an infrequent basis.

I’ll try to put it in simple terms through a scenario before we move on, so you can fully grasp the concept. For this scenario, let’s pretend I am an amateur skater. If I were to look for shoes, what brand leaps to the front of your brain? You likely said Vans. The reasoning behind that is because Vans connects with that core demographic of skaters. You might be asking, “How does this relate?” or “How am I going to reach more customers by only including the same 4-5 artists in all my titles?” Now think about how many other types of shoes there are out there. Running shoes, Basketball shoes, Cleats, Loafers, Sandals, slides, Low top, High Top, Expensive, Cheap etc. With such a small percentage of people who skate in the world compared to the number of people who don’t, how did Vans become so popular? The short answer, is by marketing their shoes towards a core demographic. By marketing towards this core demographic, and building from the ground up, they were able to build a solid foundation of fans loyal to their brand and gradually expand until their product became popular with the general public. Now You can’t walk more than 10 minutes without seeing someone wearing Vans.

This is how you should approach selling beats through YouTube. (For this example) Use those similar artists such as Lil Uzi Vert, Famous Dex, Playboi Carti and plant yourself in that target Demographic of artists of overlapping fanbases, until you have a solid group of loyal subscribers, and can begin marketing towards other artists fans. Vans is now so popular, they make several different types of shoes. Running shoes, Flip Flops etc. and you can do the same. Once you have that core audience that feels connected with you and your product, you can gradually expand and move towards different genres and areas of music.

Titles The title of your beat is usually what people first see when they look at your video. Often times, this will determine whether they play or skip your instrumental, regardless of if they’ve even began to listen to it. If someone doesn’t connect with the artist in your title, they will more than likely skim through your beat, or just skip over it entirely. Therefore, it is usually a good idea to include 2-3 artists in your video title. A good title would be “Lil Uzi Vert x Playboi Carti Type Beat – Nascar” short, simple and to the point. A similar way to title it would be “Lil Uzi Vert Type Beat – Nascar Ft. Playboi Carti” also short and simple. Try not to get too creative with your titles, your thumbnail and instrumental are usually what will help you stand out in the market. However, there is one area of titles that can either benefit or hurt your channel depending on how you use it, and that is the inclusion of the word “FREE” There is a lot of debate as to whether or not this should be used when selling beats. In my opinion, the inclusion of the word is just a marketing tool to help bring traffic to your page, and overall it serves its purpose of bringing engagement and building your channel, and here’s why.

1. The percentage of people who look for beats online for free/nonprofit use, compared to those that look online for beats to purchase is probably around 70/30% and that’s being very generous. By not including the word FREE in your title, you are already secluding yourself from 70% of the people out there looking for instrumentals. 2. People claim, “I shouldn’t market towards them because they aren’t paying customers” and while that’s true, they one day could be. Many of the people looking for free beats online are usually too young, or aren’t taking music seriously enough to pay. However, what happens when those young kids grow up and are still pursuing music, what happens when those older artists begin to take music seriously? They will now look to you because you gave them music when they had no money, and are now loyal to your brand. 3. Even if they aren’t paying customers, they are still bringing traffic. Regardless of if someone doesn’t buy the beat, these people are bringing views, likes, comments, and are subscribing, which in turn brings more likes, more views, and more comments. This helps build your channel and increases engagement, helping you rank and giving you a better chance of reaching customers who are paying for beats. 4. You don’t have to give away beats for free. You can allow them only to use it for nonprofit purposes, you can give them a lower quality version, you can give them a tagged version, you can give them a minute-long sample etc. these are all acceptable ways to market your beats as free without actually having to give them out for free. This might seem rude, or immoral from a business standpoint, but that’s what business is. You are no different than the thousands of businesses and producers using the same marketing tactics to get ahead. Once again though, the decision is yours to make. Tags The tags you use in your videos when marketing on YouTube is essential to how you will rank. As discussed above, once you have your target audience in mind, and have your set list of artists you want to use in your videos, you can begin using these to tag your videos in hopes of ranking for those key words. A good strategy to use is to try and rank for key words with low competition, for this I recommend using VidIq, it’s a free software that helps you keep track of your channels analytics and demographics, and most importantly helps you strategize which keywords to use for certain videos. The key is to look for words with low competition, and a high search volume. This means that there is a large quantity of people searching for this, and a small number of people using the tag in their videos. Ranking for low competition can also boost your rating, which in turn can help you rank for tags that have high search volumes over time. Using your producer name as the first tag is good idea, as you’ll usually rank #1 for it, giving you a better chance of ranking for other key terms. Let’s pretend I’m releasing a Travis Scott type beat, here are some tags I would use. [producer name] [travis scott type beat] [2018 travis scott type beat] [travis scott type beat 2018] [free travis scott type beat] [travis scott type beat free] [travis scott type beat no tags] [travis scott beat] [travis scott instrumental]

Upload Schedule Upload schedule is a key component to being successful through YouTube. The difference between an artist blowing up off a hit song, or having it flop can often be determined by when they drop it. The same can be said with producers. By using Vidiq or YouTube analytics, you can pinpoint the best days for you to upload. You can also view how your target demographic responds to your upload speed. Do you receive more engagement when uploading every day, or every third day? Do you receive more engagement on Wednesdays or Sundays? Figuring out the right upload schedule comes with trial and error. I have found that in my experience, uploading every 3-4 days usually gives me the best results as long as I am uploading quality work. The most important word in that sentence is quality. I would rather my favorite artist drop a hit weekly, than a mediocre song every day, and people expect the same of producers. If you can put out something on a daily basis and are happy with it, then by all means post it. But people will always respond better to quality over quantity.

The final tip I can give when starting out on YouTube is to hide your subscriber count. The reasoning behind this, is people like to subscribe to accounts they feel are popular. In what’s commonly known as ‘Herd Mentality’ we trust brands that other people trust. Logos like Apple and Google make us feel safe and welcome because everyone knows and uses their products. Having your subscriber count showing when you have such a small number of subscribers is immediately off putting. Would you rather enter the store with crowded with people hastily walking through? Or the store selling a similar off brand product that nobody seems interested in? The first answer is clearly the more popular choice. So, if you haven’t already, go ahead and head over to your YouTube settings, and hide your subscriber count now.

BRANDING: This first is probably the most important step when it comes to making sales online. You must be willing to see yourself as a business, and not just a producer. Once you have discovered your Target Demographic, and have begun posting your beats online, you must now make sure your branding is right. You are a business, and how people see and interpret your business, ultimately determines whether customers will buy your product. The key to branding, is to find the perfect balance between being personal, and professional. There is a fine line that should be maintained, in order to ensure that your brand is seen as both friendly and inviting to younger and less experienced customers, while professional and respectable to older, more experienced artists. Here are a few minor aspects, that with better branding can increase traffic and create more sales opportunities. Give your brand a common theme relative to your target demographic, and an aesthetic appearance appealing to artists.

Logo: The logo that you use is essentially the head of your brand. It’s the first thing that people see when viewing your social media, website, SoundCloud etc. You can either attract potential customers attention towards your brand, or turn people away. A good logo is something creative and memorable that suits your brand, while still simple and not overbearing. I recommend having a unique icon or symbol, that relates to your style. For example, Penacho uses a Skull with a Native American headdress as his logo. This is creative, unique and fits his style. The skull complements his style of Dark up-tempo trap beats. Using a symbol or icon like this isn’t a requirement, as style is subjective. Ultimately it is up to you on what to choose, be sure that you are happy with the final product. However, I do suggest that you get opinions from at lease 5 other people, both artists and producers before, fully implementing that logo.

Thumbnails: Thumbnails are key to attracting people on YouTube. In my experience, the difference in thumbnails will determine whether someone clicks on your video over a similar video in their suggestions. Again, your thumbnail should match your what Target Demographic you are trying to reach. Don’t be afraid to implement what other producers are doing with their thumbnails into your artwork, as long as you aren’t directly copying. For instance, many producers claim that cartoon and Simpsons images are “played out” and while I do find them annoying, if they help you reach your target audience, don’t be afraid to implement them into your channel. Remember you’re here to sell beats to artists, not producers. Don’t allow non-paying customers to influence you into not doing something that may ultimately benefit you. Similarly with the logo, whatever your design is, make sure it is simple, yet creative and attention grabbing. It’s best to get the opinions of artists when testing out new thumbnails, and not your producer friends.

Social Media: Social media is an extremely important tool to selling beats online. While not as useful as YouTube, good branding on Social Media can lead to a bigger online presence, as well as potential sales. As stated in the beginning, being successful on social media comes with finding the line between professionalism, and being personal. To start off, I recommend using an actual photo of yourself for your profile picture on all forms of social media. This helps people see you as a real person, and not someone trying to force them to buy their product. I also recommend never to use auto Dm’s, or messaging artists in general. Auto Dm’s instantly turn people off,

nobody likes being spammed with a message after following someone, even if it’s for a product they want. Messaging an artist is also usually never a good idea. For the same reason people don’t like to answer for door to door salesmen, they come off a bothersome, invasive, and rude. I have yet to meet a single person that has made a sale from either of these methods. There are times where messaging an artist can be beneficial however. If you feel the need to message someone that you feel may possibly be a potential customer, ask about their music, and their music only. Complement their work or ask something about one of their songs, don’t ever link your work or your music selling site. Messaging an artist Is like fishing, bait them in and wait for them to ask about your instrumentals, then bring up your work, never vice versa. Be sure to post about your music, however you should also remember to be relatable and post about your life as well. Again, to reiterate the main point, find the line between being personable and professional.

BEAT STORE We’ve gotten to the final stage. You’ve got customers to your store, now how do you close the sale, and squeeze as much money out of your customers as possible. The first step is to ensure that your beat store is properly set up. Whether you are using Traktrain, Beatstars, or any other service, make sure your design is clean. Your beat store should be aesthetically pleasing and easy to use on both phones and desktops. Here are a few key tips to maximize sales from customers entering your beat store.

Prices Prices aren’t as important as you think. When starting out, keep your basic lease price relatively low, 20-30$ is usually a good spot. However, don’t sell yourself short with 5$ and 10$ leases. For most people, an extra 10$ is not going to stop you from buying an instrumental you want.

Social media follows A lot of sites have the option to give customers free downloads, in exchange for follows on social media. If you are offering your beats to be free for non profit, this is a good way to build your brand as you can receive Twitter or Instagram follows, or even YouTube subscribers in exchanged for your “free” beat

Discounts This may be the most important tip of all. Many producers offer a buy 1 get 1 free for every lease, and this is wrong. If you are offering a buy 1 get 1 free sale for every lease, as a customer I now have no incentive to spend more money on a more expensive lease. Most customers don’t care about track stems, or a better contract if it means having to spend an extra 100$ or more. I offer 3 leases. Wav lease, Track out, Unlimited lease. I have track outs at buy 1 get 1 free, and Unlimited leases at buy 1 get 3 free. I am now giving an incentive to spend more money besides a “better contract.” As a customer, I feel like I am getting a steal. Two beats AND a better contract with stems for 80$ or 4 beats AND better contracts with stems for 200$ both now seem like better deals than the basic Wav lease. My Trackout and Premium sales have drastically increased since implementing this method.