Mark Roberge argues musicians don't need better marketing, they need a working funnel: capture attention on social platforms, collect emails and build relationships, then ask fans to buy tickets, merch, or support you on Patreon. He uses a merch table analogy to show how the same three-step sequence works online.
Most artists don't have a marketing problem, they have a funnel problem. And when I say this, I'm basically talking about how fans are discovering you on social media and on streaming platforms, and then from there getting them into your world and then getting them to take the actions that are going to grow you, such as pre-save your music, buy your merchandise, come to your show, ultimately spread the word about you, and then eventually maybe get them onto a Patreon, right? So those are call to action. So you got the top of the funnel where people discover you, right? You're posting content on social media platforms, people are finding it, and then from there you need to be able to nurture them from there get them into some type of community platform, capture their information, phone number, email, and then continuously, you know, speak to them, engage them, nurture them, and get them from, you know, a passive follower to maybe potential fan and turn them into an actual fan and a superfan. Now you're building a relationship with them before you're asking them to do things. And I think most artists immediately go from, you know, hey, hey, look at me, found me, cool, now do something for me, right? And it's— there's a disconnect there. And the way I like to you know, put this out there to all the artists that I speak with, is, you know, as an artist as well, I know this, right? You, you perform a show, right? And if, if you say you're the opener, right, nobody's there to see you, but you get their— somebody's attention in the crowd, you know, if you're doing— well, a lot of people, right? That's the goal, is to capture the attention. People that are there to see another band and then all of a sudden now see you, right? That's the top of the funnel. Boom, you got their attention. Now you get off stage, they want to come meet you, right? So they come over to the merch table, you speak with them back and forth, you build a rapport, right? You're not immediately going, hey, you buy a t-shirt. No, you're going, hey, thanks so much for coming to the show. Thanks so much. And they're going, you guys were great, it was awesome. And you go, awesome, what's your name? Right? And you build this relationship with them. Hey, awesome, where are you coming from? Oh, I drove like 5 miles, you know, 50 miles from blah blah blah to come to the show, and you guys were amazing. I didn't even know you guys were playing. This was so great. You're like, thank you so much. Oh, by the way, hey, you should follow us on Instagram so we can stay in touch. Awesome. Yeah, cool. I'm gonna DM you right now. But, you know, by the way, hit the QR code and you can sign up for our email so you know when we're coming back. Awesome. I'll do it right now. And then they're like, oh cool. Oh wow, that t-shirt's awesome. Right? And now you build a little rapport. So now it's easy. Oh, do you want to buy a t-shirt? Do you want to, you know, so we all know this, you know, if you perform, you understand this, this, uh, sequence of events from someone discovering you live to then building that and nurturing that relationship, you know, obviously at the merch table or a side stage. And then from there, then becoming a super fan and buying merchandise, coming to your next shows and now building that relationship where you're staying in touch. If you treat online the same way, it's going to work, right? So that's what I built with all of our systems on Maker Music with Fan Flowey. It's basically to reproduce that whole, you know, experience that a fan has when they come see you live for the first time and they've never, you know, never knew who you were. You interrupted them, right? They were there for another band and now they're like, oh wow, I'm actually a fan of this too as well, right? So you're interrupting them when they're on social media, on Instagram, on TikTok, on Facebook. They're there for something else and boom, you're interrupting them with a piece of content. Then from there, it's you gotta build that relationship. You gotta speak to them, you got to talk with them, you gotta find out information, you gotta let, you know, give them information about you. You gotta create a real, you know, human relationship with them. And you can do that online through DMs, through community, through email, right? Then they get to learn more about you and the, and your project, and then you can get them to take those actions. So you don't have a marketing problem, you have a funnel problem, and you're probably skipping the middle part. And ultimately, if you need any help with this, hit us up in the DMs. We're happy to schedule a call and basically do an audit on what's going on with you and how we can help.
