Marketing; Thanks, I Hate It
By Ry
A.K.A
Rhath
Yo, Ry here, begrudging social-media marketing guru.
Nah, not at all.
I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.
BUT
Last week, we had one of the best turnouts we’ve had for The Dusty Sessions in ages! However, saying that, it’s also not a lot of people. And I say that, not in a disheartened way, but to draw attention to two things.
We’re a small collective running small events, which I like and which suits the community we’ve fostered
To take some pressure/expectations off myself when it comes to marketing events
I’ll tell you right now. I don’t enjoy marketing.
I do enjoy making the graphics, oh, big time. But the hyperbole, the proactivity, and the shear work load that dwarfs the fun parts of running events or being creative… not so much.
I’m sure it’s quite a universal feeling for most creatives. Certainly the ones I know personally. The dread of having already done all the work to make the thing means that you now have to basically sell it. Tell everyone why it’s worth their time.
And it’s a funny realisation for myself, having discovered running events is something I love, which means I’m in marketing. It’s most of the job.
Or rather, most of the job is for nought if I don’t market effectively.
I’ve actually done a small amount of marketing training in a small business course I did a couple years ago. And man, I hate customer/audience analysis. Breaking down our demographics so we know how to speak their language. Fuck it; I don’t do it.
I did for the course, but I knew very quickly that simply being sincere about what we’re doing and speaking with excitement and honesty works and feels way better for running small events.
But there are lots of hurdles in this space.
The audience is small, and the artists (including myself) have small followings. So using marketing techniques you learn for big companies or marketing a small business feels strange and insincere.
And there is only so much time and money.
This one really gets me. For any artist who has watched a YouTube video on marketing yourself as an artist or “growing your brand", you know there are a million tips and tricks you can use to get out there. And everyone has one to offer as well.
I’ll be straight with this one, I hate hearing “Have you used hashtags?” or “Are you printing flyers and running them all around town?”. First of all, yes to both.
But I think something needs to be mentioned more when it comes to marketing as an independent artist, small business, or just as a hobbyist. You need to find out how much you can actually do and what tactics work with your particular creativity, brain, and life.
For us, it’s a bit different, of course, as we’re running events; it is our job to market them. So I do try to go above and beyond, but there is only so much time in the day and so much money we can spend.
And more importantly, there is only so much mental energy to stretch so far. I’ve seen some people go to as many gigs in their scene as possible and hand out flyers to people for an upcoming gig, and it worked wonders! Seriously, amazingly effective.
But how many nights have you personally got free in a week? That’s not a dig or anything; this is very much just saying, figure out what tactics work for you.
I have learned so much over the past three years of running Vibe Union, and I’m really glad I’ve found many ways of marketing events that I can stomach and am good at. But there is a lot more to learn, not just “how to market”, but “how can I market?”.
Yeah, those are some thoughts on marketing.
I hope any other small independent artists feel a little more relaxed after this. This side of the job really stresses me out as I compare myself to everyone else and their tactics.
I do think you have to market yourself, of course. But your tactics might be different and might take more time to work. Vibe Union is certainly taking the long road, which works for me and, I hope, for our audience.
-Ry
If you enjoy what we do, if you want to support us (Purely optional mind you), consider supporting us on Patreon. A few dollars goes a long way in keeping the lights on, paying for our website and helping us do more cool stuff.
Graphics by Rhath