In my Masters program I had to create a business plan. Before you can do anything in business you must answer several questions well. (1) What is your brand? (2) Who is your target audience? (3) Is there a need for you in the market or are you creating a new one?
I’ve talked to you about the importance of knowing your brand. You must decide this before you make any decisions because all decisions must center around this. Your brand informs you on your audience. So let us direct our attention there.
The following are questions you can use to define your audience.
1. What is the age of my fans?
2. What do they do for a living?
3. What do they do for recreation?
4. Do they drink alcohol?
5. Do they smoke?
6. Are they religious?
7. Where do they live?
8. What brands do they buy?
9. Did they graduate college?
10. How much money do they make?
11. Where do they vacation?
12. What do they wish they could have that they do not?
13. Are they emotional?
14. Are they responsible?
15. Are they married or single?
16. Do they have children?
17. Where do they hang out?
18. What kind of cars do they drive?
19. What are their favorite websites?
20. What are their fears?
21. What are their fantasies?
22. Who is on their Ipods?
23. What are their favorite sports?
24. Do they have a healthy lifestyle.
25. What social networks do they use?
26. Do they play video games?
27. What designers do they wear?
Underground artists are great at studying their audiences. Companies higher market researches to find out what consumers want and do not want. They leave surveys under the door. You can do something similar on your website. Simply ask them to opt-in to a questionnaire. Make the questionnaire simple so as not to take too much time. Enthusiastic participants will leave comments. You can also leave simple polls on your site.
Of course everyone is not going to be the same but creating a profile of your target audience will allow you to find brands that have similar target audiences. These are companies you can approach for sponsorships and collaborations later. In the meantime use the information you gather to reach your audience. If you know where your crowd hangs out you can go there and talk to them. You will be able to give them samples of your music and receive hits on your websites. These hits will translate to faces in the crowd and more downloads. If you know their favorite websites you can interact with them online.
Take advantage of the opportunities you get to speak with fans. Use the feedback you get from those who purchase your records to make your sound stronger and solidify your image. You can reward those who supply you information with something free like a download or access to an exclusive video.
Caramel Sara Jo 