Hello band people!
BandCentral, your trusty, handsome, hard-working online band manager, is a many-faceted creature capable of many very cool things.
Over the next few weeks we will be posting a series taking a closer look at exactly how a BandCentral Band HUB can help your band to get its act together.
Today we begin by showing you how BandCentral can help you build an effective fan database and get you talking to new and loyal fans with a walk-through of one of our more out-going features, the Band Promotion Manager!
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It’s difficult to overstate the importance of maintaining a relationship with your fans. If you want people to buy your music, come to your shows and quote your lyrics on their Facebook status updates, you’re going to have to be prepared to work for their affections. Like a friendship, if you neglect a fan they’ll forget about you, swamp them and they’ll avoid your phone calls, but respect them and they’ll never forget you.
BandCentral’s Band Promotion Manager has a bunch of features to help your band collect fans and keep them up-to-date with all of the cool things you’re doing.
Let’s take a closer look …
1) The Fan Database Manager
Keep a track of all of your fans in one central place online. Create a fan database, tend to it and watch it grow.
2) The Fan Collector Widget!
Use this fully customisable web widget to collect fans from any webpage and deposit them directly into your Band HUB fan database.
BandCentral's Fan Collector Widget
3) Send Email/SMS to Fans direct from your HUB
Got an important gig? Need to fill the venue with fans at short notice? Want to send weekly newsletters to your loyal fans? Send a city targeted SMS or Email alert with our ‘Fan Alert’ feature.
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Keeping track of your fans with the Fan Database Manager.
Every band has a fan list kicking around somewhere, whether it’s an excel spreadsheet, a mash-up of your different band members’ Facebook friends, or a beer-marinated contact form from a festival you played the summer before last. If you can get it all together in one place then you’ve got a very valuable asset for your band.
We’ve made it very easy to build and manage a fan database with the BandCentral Band HUB; you can upload existing fans, create customisable mailing lists for gathering fan info at gigs or just sit back and let our fan collector widget do the hard work for you. The Fan Snapshot on your dashboard gives you an at a glance list of Confirmed, Unconfirmed, and Unsubscribed Fans plus keeps a tally of new fans each day so you always have a full picture of how your fan database is growing and exactly who you are talking to.
When a new fan is added to your Band HUB, they are automatically sent an email asking for confirmation that they would like to join your mailing list. While you’re waiting for an answer they will be listed as an Unconfirmed Fan. When a fan consents to being added to your list their listing will be moved to Confirmed Fans, and you can start contacting them. If a fan declines your invitation their listing will be moved to Unsubscribed/Removed Fans and you will be unable to contact them. The logic is that if someone doesn’t want to be on your contact list, it’s probably best for both of you that they don’t keep receiving unwanted alerts. And by keeping the list clean, you can be certain that you are communicating with an interested audience, which is hugely powerful
Already have a BandCentral Band HUB? Here are the nuts-and-bolts for creating a fan database within your HUB:
Adding individual fans:
- Click on the Add a fan tab on the right hand column.
- This will open up a contact form where you can enter in First Name, Last Name, Mobile, Email, Street, City, Country and Postcode.
o Tip: Fill in as many fields as possible here. Although you’re probably not planning on phoning your fan, or dropping by for a cuppa, any extra information helps when you want to get in touch with your fans later on.
- Once the details are entered, click Save Fans.
o Tip: When you create a gig on BandCentral, don’t forget to print out a mailing list for the show. The professional looking template will help you collect fan details in a legible manner and crucially save you from losing out on potential fans!
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Adding multiple fans:
Two lightning-fast ways to upload multiple fans..
Option A: Simply paste in your fans’ raw email addresses and click Import these emails. That’s it.
Option B: Simply upload your CSV file and marvel as the contact details convert into neat individual fan listings.
o Tip: Get started by exporting your webmail fan contact lists into a CSV format. Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail all make this very easy.
o Help! If you are having trouble converting an existing Excel file into the CSV format, we’ve posted a link to a sample file for you to download. It’s on the Add multiple fans page, just beneath the Option B heading.
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Deploying the BandCentral Fan Collector Widget.
Embedding the BandCentral Fan Collector Widget into your band’s website, Myspace and Facebook pages is a great way to grow your fan base. When a fan enters their contact details into the widget they are imported directly into your Fan Database. If posted in the right places, this low-maintenance, conscientious gadget can make your band a lot of new friends.
Already have a BandCentral Band HUB? Here are the nuts-and-bolts for how to deploy your customisable fan collector widgets:
- Copy the embedding code by clicking on the Copy to clipboard button.
- Then follow the simple instructions for embedding the widget into your band’s website, Myspace and Facebook pages. It’s all very easy.
o Tip: Customise the Fan Collector Widget to suit the feel of your band’s sites by adjusting the colour and the corner radius.
o Tip: You can have as many of these guys working for you at once. Ask your friends to embed this widget onto their own pages. Ask your most loyal fans to post one on their blogs in return for a free gig ticket, merchandise or good karma. Do this by pasting the embedding code and instructions into an email alert.
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Now you have a well-tended list of loyal fans – It’s time to get in touch!
As we mentioned earlier, keeping in touch with your fans is an essential part of being in a band. Collette Weintraub from Deep Dive Marketing had two blog posts last month on Imogen Heap’s impressive use of the Internet to reach out to fans. Weintraub points out that if a fan feels that they have your respect “…they’ll be your eyes and ears and inform you about things in the periphery of your career you otherwise may not have known; they’ll tell their friends to buy your music; they’ll buy your music as a gift for their friends; they’ll be at your shows; they’ll offer their talents (design, tech support, photography, etc) to help you succeed….” It’s a compelling argument.
BandCentral’s Send Email/SMS alert features allow you to contact your fans direct from your BandCentral Hub. Why not try:
- Sending out a weekly newsletter:
- Sending a private message to a special fan:
- Sending out a last minute SMS alert to drum up support for tonight’s gig:
- Sending a promo code to fans for half-price entry to your gigs:
The possibilities are endless!
Already have a BandCentral Band HUB? Here are the nuts-and-bolts:
- From the Send Email/SMS to Fans tab compose your email and/or SMS alert.
- Once you are happy with the text, choose which fans you’d like to contact.
o Tip: Target fans by location so that you can make sure you reach those fans most interested in specific gigs. This feature is particularly useful if you’re touring or have an out of town gig.
- Click Preview this message, review what you’re about to send, and click Send this Fan Message.
o Tip: Save mail-out templates or old newsletters straight to your Band HUB for future use.
o Tip: Use the SMS feature to drum up support before a gig. It’s much quicker than using your own mobile phone and it’s also much more effective than broadcasting gig info via facebook or MySpace alone.
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That’s all for now – and I didn’t even get to our mind-blowing social-networking synching… next post coming very soon!
Kind regards, good friends,
B.C. Man Friday
