SXSW Wrap – The Fan-Centric Future

The good folks at FanMail had a lunch at Threadgills during SXSW and some of the points which came up were a summation of how I and, by extension, Penny Distribution want to approach music marketing.

Here’s what caught my ears from the lunch-meet (all the slides used during the presentation are available here)

J.K. Rohrs – Exact Target:

– Traditional physical touchpoints are shrinking. Places where one can directly interact with a potential fan such as Retail, Radio, Print are all losing sway. Mass marketing is no longer massive.
– Fans are in control & they know it. They are the gatekeepers, not you. They control who they let into their worlds and also who gets bounced for being spammy or irrelevant.
– Old Marketing was like an Orchestra With marketer/pr company as the conductor, instructing fans how and where to buy.
– Fan-Centric Marketing is a Drum Circle Someone starts, others take part, some dance, some spectate and people leave and return fluidly but each individual decides how to participate.
– Turn Fans into Subscribers by…
– Optimizing touchpoints. What are you doing to increase the impact of those touchpoints with fans? Ideally, try to include 3 optimizers per touchpoint e.g. is there a download code on that ticketstub? what about CD giveaways in exchange for email addresses? What about a CD included with that Vinyl LP? How about just asking anyone who buys at your merch table for an email address?

1. Serve Individuals, not Lists
2. Honor their preferences – relevant content (e.g. they like only one band from a label, not the entire roster), frequency, channel (how do they like to receive content?) – put the control of these variables in their hands.
3. Deliver timely, relevant information that enhances their lives. Ask yourself “how am I helping / serving fan’s needs?”

I’ll have more from SXSW industy panels via Topspin’s Ian Rogers & William Morris’ Suzanne Brantner tomorrow…