A Music Video Release Strategy Worth Using Part 1

As I'm sure you know, music videos are a key part of the modern day musician's marketing plan. Allowing fans to see you gives you a much better presences, and makes it a lot easier for people to relate to you and become your fan.

If you've ever tried to release one however, you'll know that it's not as easy as shooting a music video, putting it on Youtube and getting thousands of views with very little effort. The fact is, without marketing your video, you won't get very many views at all.

This is why a proper music video release strategy is needed when releasing your visuals independently. And guess what? That's exactly what I'll be sharing with you today!

Over this two part series (part two of this music video release strategy is out now, see it after you've read the below), I'll show you what is needed to successfully launch a music video. Of course, a lot will rely on your music video being good, as well as you being able to approach people properly. But assuming both of those things are in place, the below tips will get your videos a lot more views than they would have otherwise.

This isn't a set-in-stone plan, feel free to edit it to your needs. That said, do as many of the below as possible to maximize your chances of doing well.

With that said, here's a music video release plan you can start using today. Please share on forum and socially if useful.

First In This Music Video Release Strategy: Have Songs Out Before And Capture Fan's Details

Before you put your music video out, it's a good idea to have at least a small fanbase you can launch your video to. Places like Youtube look at the early interaction on your video, and if it's good, there's more chance they'll start ranking your video higher, which will naturally get you more views.

Chances are you'll have songs already out if you're thinking of making a music video. If not, it's time to record a couple. You want to use these songs to build up a small fanbase, although don't limit it to being small if things take off of course.

You'll want to get the email addresses of anyone who shows interest in your songs so you can contact them again in future. Getting them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram is a nice bonus, but them on the newsletter is them main aim. This guide shows you why, and how to get started building your newsletter. You should also check out this music release strategy to help you get started building up your initial fanbase.

Ideally you'll want at least 100 people on your mailing list before you release your music video, but if you have less and want to get started that's also fine. Your video, when launched right, will help you get the attention of new fans too.

Talk About Your Music Video With Existing Fans At Various Stages

Hopefully by now you have a small fanbase behind you. If so, it's time to start building up hype around the video. Many musicians make the mistake of only telling people about their new video once before it comes out, or even sometimes only when the video is released. This is a missed opportunity.

As humans we are generally more likely to buy something when there's hype built up around it. Furthermore, the more we're made to wait for it, the more we want it (as long as we're not made to wait too long without reminder, then we either get frustrated and give up, or we forget about it).

With the above in mind, you'll want to get fans involved at each stage of the process. Some ways you could do this (in order) are:

1. Ask fans which song you should make a music video for. Give them a choice of two or three maybe.
2. Once a video is chosen, ask them what concept out of two or three is best. Whichever gets the most votes go with that one.

1. You can socially update fans on the day of the video shoot, both before and after. A picture or two of the shoot on Instagram or other social sites should go down well. Possibly include this information and more in a later email update too. Just don't email too many thing about the shoot alone as people generally prefer these updates by social sites. You'll definitely want to email them when the video's out though.
2. You should release a ‘behind the scenes' type video a week or two before the final video is to be released. This will get people more ready to see the final thing. At this stage let them know the release date of the finished music video.
3. A countdown to the launch day. Let people know it's coming and that you'd appreciate if people could watch and help share it on the day.

These are the main stages you'll let people know about before your video is released. Mix it up, informing them of this info both on social sites, and the more important info via email.

Identify Relevant Music Channels And Websites, And Submit Your Music Video There

One important thing to remember, is you should submit your music video to channels, maybe Vevo, and relevant websites well in advance of your release date. If you do so a week before your video is to launch, you're not giving these outlets a chance to receive, process and schedule the promotion and airing of your music video.

My advice is to submit your video at least a month in advance of when you want it to air, if not before. This will give you the chance to get your music video on other platforms when it's supposed to be there.

Don't be too keen and just launch your video on Youtube before the other places have had the chance to process it. If necessary, push back the launch date so you've time to get everything in place. This is a good reason why you don't want to announce an official launch date to fans before you know when everything is happening.

You should actually begin looking for places which could potentially play your video even before you have recorded one. This is because even if you do a big search, you'll miss some places you could potentially get showcased the first time around. Some you'll find naturally over time, so it's good to keep your eyes peeled and note down these places as you find them.

Be sure to write down their contact details, as well as examples of similar videos which they've showcased in the past. You can use this as a reference of why you think they'd like your video when contacting them.

Conclusion

Part two is out now, read it here.

The above are some of the things you'll need to do before releasing a music video. As you can see, releasing a video requires a lot more than just uploading it on Youtube and sending out a tweet. A lot of planning is needed, and communication with fans at each stage is advised.

In the next part of this guide I'll show you the best way to upload videos to online streaming sites, what to do on the day of the launch, and what you should be doing after the launch.

I'll send you an email when part two is out. 🙂