What Being in a Death Metal Band Taught Me About Digital Marketing

by Aaryck Enriquez

Being in a band used to be cool and I used to be in a band.
 
I am now 29 years of age with a slowing metabolism, so the definition of cool has drastically changed for me. I still secretly desire to play music for 24 people crammed in a smelly basement, but I have learned to count my losses and move on. So, yeah, adulting sucks.
 
Alas, from the ashes, a phoenix rises and that phoenix’s name is Digital Marketing! Call it a second chance at true love but I am still calling it Digital Marketing, because I’m not a weirdo.

All kidding aside, being in a death metal band taught me a lot about marketing that I never knew and I also never thought being in a death metal band would teach me anything...

------------------

• Consistency is neat!

In my band, we didn’t tour. Like, at all. We might’ve made the 30 minute drive to the least populated college town in America: Laramie, Wyoming, to play in an abandoned plane hangar, but that’s it. We normally only played in one town and one town only, but here’s the thing: KIDS LOVED US. These kids knew they could rely on us because we always put on one heavy show and they could always rock out with their socks out because of us. The same is true in the digital marketing world; when your marketing is consistent, consumers will notice you and will come to you.
 
My homies over at Forbes agree with me, “Brands are built through the consistent delivery of the brand promise.” Consumers, like the kids at our shows, are more likely to return to due to that consistent delivery of your own brand and marketing.

A wonderful (and brilliant) approach to consistent marketing is that of GymIt. GymIt is a small Massachusetts-based gym with a simple idea: keep the gym simple. What sets them apart is that their social media is consistently witty, humorous, and most of all, simple. Even they like consistency. Literally:

What can I say? Human beings like stability so understand your audience and your demographics and appeal to them! Let them rock out with your brand out.
 
• Network to Grow Your Net-worth!
 
Bands book tours ahead of time with show promoters or booking agents they know, because it’s all about “who you know” in the music industry and in life in general. Networking is an essential part of building a business…. Or a band.
 
“But Aaryck, didn’t you just say you didn’t tour as a band – how would you know this? Isn’t that how bands make money? Don’t they book shows and then tour? Don’t record sales (outside the first week of a new album’s release) not really matter much anymore for an income and now bands make most of their consistent income from touring and merch sales?”
 
Well, extremely knowledgeable reader, you are correct about that but what I am saying is that I still learned that networking is crucial for marketing from observing other bands.
 
See, when a smaller band wants to go on a tour of the country or their greater market region, they try to reach out to the few contacts they have to book a show. Then, they build upon that by making more contacts. The band makes more contacts by networking and marketing itself to grow and get these bookings for their tour. These bookings helps them get shows so they can get money. This complex algorithm I just made drives my point home: booking + playing show = money.
 
The same goes for you because networking can help grow your digital marketing presence just like how a metal band can increase their bookings. Here’s a few networking examples for you that can lead to success:

• Reach out to another business to collaborate with and showcase that on social media.
• Help promote local artists featuring your product or place of business and live stream it on Facebook.
• Host other businesses with luncheons, happy hours, etc. with inclusive e-invites.
  

There’s so many other ways to creatively network online that will lead to success in your digital marketing and it’s up to you to reach out to others and network. From my experience, the juice is always worth the squeeze.
 
• Being adaptable is what the cool kids do!
 
I know I said be consistent. I am not contradicting myself here. In fact, I am being consistent at being adaptable. See what I did there?
 
While being consistent in digital marketing is crucial, it’s also crucial to know your audience. So, what happens if your audience changes? [see: this section of the blog’s title]
 
I won’t get into details but one night, my band opened for three somewhat “satanic” bands that will not be named. Let’s just say they were the “opposite of what we stood for.” The lineup that night brought in a different audience than what we were used to playing for, too. Classic cat v. dog fight, eh?
 
NOPE.
 
While we didn’t compromise our beliefs to cater to the audience, we did adapt our approach. It was a great show and I made some great friendships with dudes I never knew I would be friends with.
 
The same goes for digital marketing: stay true to your brand but be flexible. You may never know what positive results might come of it. Look at what Wendy’s is doing to adapt to their growing younger audience: they are addressing their younger audience with funny twitter jokes, silly Instagram ads, and much more. Adapting while still staying true to their mantra of having the freshest food is paying off for them so it will pay off for you, too.
 
• Be authentic!
 
This has nothing to do with me being in a band other than Instagram came out at the peak of my band’s existence and we used it a lot for funsies.
 
Anyways, you probably saw “Be Authentic” as a quote on Instagram with that cool paintbrush cursive font. Your sister probably posted it and you snickered to yourself, “ha! Becky’s the least bit authentic.” But, you see, in digital marketing, being authentic is noticed by you AND Becky. Most consumers can tell what’s real and what’s hog wash because most consumers are looking for something real, something they can trust.

For example, be active in your online engagement - it’s a surefire way to build a relationship with your consumers. Comment on their comments, reply to their direct messages quickly and sincerely, interact with those who interact with you, and most of all, just be the “you” you wanted to establish with your brand. Being authentic is paramount in keeping the brand-consumer relationship alive. So do yourself a favor and don’t be a Becky; your target audience will see right through you like you did… with your sister Becky.

------------------

There are more lessons I learned about digital marketing but these are the key takeaways during my days as a front man. Obviously, you have to find what works best for you as a brand and digital marketing experience, but what’s important is to do the legwork to get to know your audience and key demographics and apply these principles. Your audience is what makes your world go ‘round and if you’re struggling with that, reach out to us here at Canopy Creative Marketing. We help with that, heck, we specialize in that. Heck, my job title is that!

Kids at our shows loved opening the pit up, and I, in plaid (slightly to the right), encouraged them.