A big part of the business side of the music industry is sending emails.
Whether you're trying to reach out to bloggers or playlist curators, negotiating a licensing deal, or even responding to potential band members who've contacted you through craigslist, it's important that you write your emails in a way that makes people want to respond.
Not only is this important for outreach, but you also want to be able to craft emails that are sent to your email list in a way that get clicks on your call-to-action.
All of this is necessary if you're going to take your band seriously and treat it as a business.
Here are 5 things I've done that have helped me get more replies from my emails to help.
1. Write clickable subject lines
If you're going to get someone to respond to your email, you need to get someone to open and read it first.
Here are few small modifications you can make to your subject line to increase your chance of getting a click.
- Keep it short - Email subject lines will cut off if they're too long - especially on a mobile device. Since 77% of email opens are from a smartphone or tablet, it's important that your subject line stays at 50 characters or less.
- Tell them what's inside - Don't trick them into opening the email. If the subject line hints at something that isn't actually in the email, that will only frustrate the receiver of the email and further reduce your chances of getting a response.
- Stimulate curiosity - If you can make the receiver of the email curious of what's inside, your email is much more likely to get a click. Headlines like "Quick Question," for example, have worked well for me. They tell the receiver what's in the email, and make them wonder what the question in the email might be.
- Use their name - Using a name in the subject line adds a layer of personalization. The more you can personalize the subject line, the better.
2. Make it easy to read
It's very important that your email is easy to read.
If you cluster up your points into one long paragraph, people are likely to become overwhelmed and immediately ignore your email.
Here are some ways to make your email easier to read:
- Keep it short- Only include what's necessary. Don't include your backstory on how your band was formed, why you wrote a song, or your entire bio. If you're pitching a song to a blogger, for example, explain why the song is fit for their readers and include information that's necessary to support this point.
- Pay attention to spacing- Don't write your email as one long paragraph. Space out your email by including some white space between separate thoughts. Your email should consist of multiple short paragraphs to avoid overwhelming the recipient.
3. Don't include a link in your outreach emails
One of the best things I've changed about my email outreach strategy is to not include links in my initial email.
So when reaching out to bloggers or playlist editors, instead of writing an email that pitches your song with a link at the end, write a description of it in the email to make it sound interesting. At the end of your email, ask if they'd like to check it out.
This strategy makes you appear much less spammy and stimulates curiosity.
It also makes the initial response from them much easier. Instead of having to check out your song, form an option around it, then email you back, they can respond to your email almost instantly with a "Sure, send it over!"
These things combined dramatically increase the chance that you'll get a response.
When you do get a response from your initial email, send them the link. Since they've responded to the initial outreach email, they'll feel more obligated to respond to your follow-ups about the song.
4. Personalize the email - research your prospect before you reach out
Nobody likes spam.
Instead of sending out mass emails that are all exactly the same featuring a link to your music, start your email off with some personalization.
If you're reaching out to a blogger, read some of his or her old posts and mention them in your outreach email.
When contacting a playlist editor, make sure you actually listen to the playlist.
Above all, you want to ensure that your outreach efforts are relevant. If you're a hip-hop artist, for example, make sure you reach out to people within that niche. Otherwise, you're just wasting everyone's time.
To summarize this point, do your research. You may find that you and the person you're reaching out to have some common interests you can use to immediately connect with them in your outreach email.
5. Make it about them
If your first email to someone in the music industry is all about you, they're going to become uninterested.
Instead of pitching your music by addressing what the song is about, how you came up with it, or talking about your band, talk about why the song is a great fit for them.
Why is the song a good fit for their blog or playlist? What makes it different from other songs they may have heard? Do you have a huge email list or social media following that you can share their content to?
Frame your outreach efforts on what your music can do for them, not what they can do for your music.
Conclusion
Hopefully, these tips help you increase the effectiveness of your music promotion efforts. Email outreach is a huge part of getting your music off the ground, so it's important to do it as effectively as possible. Send emails with an attention-grabbing subject line, and a short, relevant message, and things will work much better for you.
Independent Music Promotions' (www.independentmusicpromotions.com) revolutionary music PR campaigns are the most effective in the industry. Submit your music to us today.
