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6:28 am
October 27, 2011
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QuoteHello all,
So I'm making moves toward an album release this fall (or winter) and as of right now I'm in a planning/strategizing phase. I'm in the Christian Hip-Hop market and have been exploring different traffic generation strategies. In my market we have a very popular and high traffic Christian Hip-Hop website called Rapzilla and they have a few advertising packages they offer. The one I've been eyeballing is a Direct Email blast they send out to their subscribers. It's a dedicated email (just for the artist) with no other content in the body. They have about 75k on their list with an average 25% Open Rate and 13% Click-Through Rate. They charge .03 per name so at 75k that's about a $2k investment.
I'd like your feedback on whether you feel like this is a worthwhile investment or is my $ better spent in FB ads.
I'm really excited (and a bit nervous) about FINALLY getting the ball rolling with my music. 
Thanks so much in advance for any and all input!
-Damien
8:52 pm
June 9, 2011
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Hi Damien,
Steve here. Before you dump 2k into an email blast, have you considered targeting Facebook fans of Rapzilla, as well as Facebook fans of artists Rapzilla has previously featured, then slowly dripping your ad budget there? While it's quite possible that the audience might be too small for a Facebook ad campaign, at least it's the same exact focus group for the most part, as people who would be on Rapzilla's email list.
This let's you take initiative with the audience and build familiarity. Then perhaps in the future, an email blast with Rapzilla might firm-up some credibility in the scene, but chances are you might be better at marketing to subscribers as an individual artist, rather than a company/organization?
This also allows you to drip the ad budget over time, constantly making adjustments based on your results, rather than the whole budget going all at once, to an email blast that may or may not have the impact or results you'd hoped for.
Does that make sense?
9:15 pm
June 7, 2011
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Hey Damien,
Partnerships like that can be very powerful and I have done well many times with these kind of paid promotions. That said, I have had some terrible experiences as well I have run blasts to similar size lists only to have 14 clicks. But as I said, sometimes these do really well for me. Some companies do some pretty sneaky things to exaggerate their list size. Some might even go as far as to send bot traffic in your direction.
Bottom line is you need to be highly skeptical with paid lists. If you know the company and they have a good reputation it might be a good thing. If not, I would tread carefully. My gut tells me they will not perform as well as they are claiming. But I could totally be wrong.
That works out to be about .20 per click. That would be a fair price if it worked out that way. As Steve mentioned, you could test things a bit by running a small ad to their audience and see how well they do. Another thing you could do is ask them if they will allow you to pay for a one-time test where you pay just $200 to blast to 10% of their list, with the promise that you will hire them for the rest so long as the test performs well.
Let us know how you make out.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
12:28 am
October 27, 2011
OfflineHey thank you guys so much for the great feedback! My biggest take away from this seems to be to tread slowly and test the waters first before going all in. Steve, I really like the idea of running some ads first to fans of Rapzilla's fan page. Never thought how this might help to "warm" them up to a possible future email and increase conversions. Plus I have more control and can adjust with FB ads. John I really like that idea of asking them for a one time test to a portion of their list! That would be golden if they go for that!
I think I'm going to use both of these strategies first before doing a full blast. I have a generally good feeling the list is strong and site really does have a solid rep but to minimize risks is the takeaway.
Thank you guys so much. This clears my head. Haha
12:06 am
June 7, 2011
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Happy to help. Let us know how you do.
Having trouble with your marketing? Wish you could have an experienced direct-to-fan marketing expert look over your actual campaigns, music, or content and offer feedback? Or perhaps you’re just looking for a little one-on-one assistance so you can ask questions that pertain to your specific goals and get a second, more experienced, perspective? Click here to book a session with me now.
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