Tis the season to be jolly with a fa la la la lot of sales! The holidays make people feel warm and cozy and they’re in the buying mood. Give them plenty of gift ideas with your music and merch.
Here are seven ways to use your website to increase your music and merch sales this holiday season.
1. Call-to-action header
When fans get to your site you want to grab their attention right away. You’ll also want to give them something to do with a call-to-action (CTA). A CTA encourages your visitor to move from being a spectator to being a participant on your site. Some examples of a CTA are:
- Sign up to my mailing list
- Watch this video
- Buy tickets to my show
To sell music, the perfect CTA is asking fans to buy from you. This is a prominent way to get visitors to notice your music and sell band merch online.
2. Pre-orders
Don’t have new music ready just yet? Create a pre-order for your album so fans can buy it during the holidays. Then when it’s ready you can release it in the new year!
This gives you control over when you’d like to release your music. It also lets you know how much demand you have for the album before you’re finished.
The preorder feature is also a useful tool to raise funds for your project as well. Fans who are interested will be contributing to the cost of the finished product. To make it even more enticing you can even add a perk like, “Free Bonus Track on the preordered version!”
Post the perk on your social media accounts to get people to your site to sell more music!
3. Discount codes
Be a secret santa hero by offering a short-term discount code to your loyal fans. They’ll appreciate getting some music or merch at a special ‘superfan’ price, especially during the holidays. You can also create fun codes and send them to different groups.
4. Sale pricing
If you want to be even more generous, put all your stuff on sale! This gives you a way to promote your music in a positive upbeat way.
Set an end date to create a sense of urgency. Then promote your items in creative ways each day of the sale. How about a 12 days before Christmas sale? Or an 8-day Festival of Lights sale? For an even bigger push you can do a “Last Day to Play 2017” sale on December 31st. The ideas are endless!
5. Physical & digital bundles
Have older albums / CDs / merch? Created special bundles for the holidays offering a discount for your fans. Two for one is always a hit with best friends or couples. Or create a fan frenzy box with five merch items. This is fun for the recipient and also gets your band name out there as they wear your merch.
Our music feature makes it easy to add the digital version of your album to a physical CD or vinyl purchase. That way your fan will get a digital version right away while they wait for the CD to arrive in the mail.
6. Mailing list
Whether you’re setting up a pre-order, having a sale, created a discount code, or package bundle, make sure to announce it to your mailing list. Your mailing list is better than Santa’s list because you don’t have to figure out who’s naughty or nice. All you have to do is make sure to keep your fans updated when you’re selling music online.
But don’t just blast fans with random newsletters. Make it more personal. The key here is building long-term relationships with your subscribers.
Remember the saying, “It’s better to give than receive?” This gem will take you far with email marketing. Always think about how you can add value to your fans through education, entertainment or gifts. Then write your email with that in mind.
7. Facebook & Instagram ads
In addition to email marketing, be sure to leverage your social networks over the holidays as well. This will help drive more sales through your website. Targeted Facebook and Instagram ads are a great way to reach your fans.
Not sure how? Give us a call at 972-489-1667 to setup a free social media consultation.
Although ads aren’t celebrated, their popularity increases around the holidays. It’s more convenient to buy gifts online, so seeing your ad can make the buying process easier for music loving friends and family.
These are just a few ways to maximize sales during the holidays. Give it a try and next thing you know you’ll be dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh to the bank!