7 Tips to Branding the Right Way

Amber Curtis - May 18, 2020

Companies are more than their products. Musicians are more than their music. It’s an experience. Consumers and fans connect to brands through the experience. Branding is the way you want to share your story with the world. It’s the way you communicate and interact with your fans or consumers. 

Whether you’re a musician or own a company, your brand tells your story. With millions of people trying to “make it big”, having a strong brand can make all the difference with fans and consumers. Every successful brand has the following components, make sure yours does too.

Create Brand Purpose

Creating a brand purpose is the first and most important step in branding. A purpose gives your brand a reason to exist and a reason for people to be interested in that brand, it’s the “why” your brand exists. Be the change you want to see. Give your brand a unique involvement in the industry. Ask yourself: What does your brand want to see happen? What does your brand passionately want to see stop? What is your brand going to do to make “the change” you want to see?

Research the Competition

The biggest advantage to checking out the competition is it can give you a better understanding of the industry; which is even more beneficial if you’re just starting out. It would be very difficult to create a successful brand while not having a knowledge of the industry. 

Your research should go beyond a simple Google search; try applications such as Google Trends, Google Alerts or SpyFu to receive updates on top search results and popular search keywords. Other helpful research resources are Gartner and Keyword Spy.

Free research methods such as social media sites, talking to industry consumers, and attending industry events can’t hurt your brand.

Determine Target Audience

The next step in creating your brand is to find your target audience. Ask yourself who can benefit most from your unique brand? Your target audience might consist of just one or multiple demographics, which can be determined by age, location, gender, income level, education level, marital status, occupation ethnic background, etc.

If you’re just starting out, testing your brand in front of a focus group with different types of demographics may help you to find your target audience faster. When choosing a variety of group members, it’s also important to evaluate them based on their personality, attitudes, values, interest/hobbies, lifestyles, and behavior.

Remember that as long as the world and the industry continue to change, you should continue to evaluate your target market as that may change too.

Establish Mission Statement

Writing a mission statement is the second most important step for your brand. It’s the “what” your brand plans to do when you get to where you want to go. Your brand mission statement should:

  • Be Unique, Specific, Measurable
  • Clearly explain what the company does (for customers, employees, and owners)
  • Define your target customer(s)
  • Explain the need or want your brand fulfills

Get help from key players around you to write, review, rewrite, and revise until you have a full, cohesive mission statement that fulfills the prompts above.

Outline Unique Benefits

Somewhere in your branding should be unique benefits your brand brings to the industry. They need to be clear, concise, and to the point about what separates you from the competition. This is where you outline your products, services, and other advantages. Think about how your brand will provide better value to your target audience and then give them a reason to choose your brand over the competition.

Build Brand Story & Message

Creating a story helps your audience to connect and relate to your brand. After you have a solid target audience, write the story and message in a way that fits that demographic(s) best. Use the answers from the questions asked in building your purpose to write a compelling, personal brand story. Make sure the story clearly lines up with the brand’s purpose (consistency is key).

Create Logo and Tagline

When creating a brand, the logo and tagline may be best to do last. By this point, you’ve done all the hard thinking: what your brand stands for, who your brand stands for, why, and how your brand will change the industry. Make sure it fits the theme or style of the rest of your brand, including colors, font styles, and tone. Make the tagline short, meaningful, memorable; make it yours.

If you don’t have a marketing/design department, you may need to outsource to a designer who can create a unique and professional logo.

Put Your Best Selfie Forward

Laurel Daggers - April 24, 2020

Most people get online several times a day to check in on their favorite influencers. Especially on Instagram, followers scroll through to see what other people are wearing or making and where they’re traveling to. With the proper strategy, people could be checking in on all the awesome things you do several times a  day as well. 

For those of us who have yet to reach Chrissy Teigen’s level of queendom on her social media, we could probably use some help with managing our own. Fortunately, growing your social media does not have to mean spending even more time working on it, so you’ll still have plenty of time to do other important activities, like scrolling.  

Be Yourself

It’s something your mom always told you when you were little and it holds true now, be yourself. Create a brand identity that is true to you and it will give your audience a human element to identify with. Defining your values, goals and work clearly to your audience will allow them to set expectations when visiting your social media pages. No matter what your brand is, talk to your followers like you would to your friends. 

Use the same profile image on every network

Not only will using the same high-quality image help your audience recognize you across all social media platforms, but the cohesiveness of using the same professional image will show them you’re the real deal. The image you choose should also be a more general image, which will give the image a timeless effect so that you don’t have to continue to change it all the time. Keeping the same image for a long period of time is recommended to keep a sense of familiarity to your pages.

Untag yourself From Unflattering Pictures and Posts

Especially online, your image is the main representation of your brand. It’s up to you to control how you are represented online. If anyone has tagged you in a post you don’t agree with or put up an unflattering image of you, untag yourself. Each social network has its own tag settings, usually, you can request approval before you are tagged in anything. With or without this photo firewall, you should still be checking your tags regularly to ensure proper representation.

Cross Promotion

Promote your other sites on each of your social media accounts. A multi-channel approach helps influencers and marketers cover all of their bases in terms of demographics. Different people use different social media networks for specific interactions. Make your brand available to all of the possibilities. 

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Planning posts for your sites ahead of time and scheduling them in advance will help you to save time while still being active. It’s the best way to maintain a constant presence and still be able to work on other endeavors. Some schedule posts weeks, even months in advance. While you don’t have to be that ambitious, the farther ahead you schedule the more time you’ll have to focus on interacting with your audience. Set one day aside to create and schedule posts ahead of time, either the same day each week or each month. It may seem like more work in the beginning, but once you get a routine down it will become less time and work.

Build Relationships

Followers will come as you build relationships, not the other way around. Relationships with your audience will grow as you take an active interest in their responses to your posts and to their personal needs and interests in general. Ask questions about what they want to see from you, respond to them, and then follow through. All of these steps will show your audience you genuinely care about them and not just getting a certain number of followers. Connect with other prominent people in your industry; i.e. other artists, influencers, singers, etc. Collaborating with them is a mutually beneficial way to gain followers who are genuinely interested in your specific area of passion. After all, loyal followers are the best followers

7 Tips to Working remotely from Home

Amber Curtis - March 31, 2020

More and more people are now making the switch to working from home and for some, it may be overwhelming. You are not alone. How do I stay productive? How will I correspond with coworkers? How do I separate work life from home life?

Like working in an office, working remotely has its pros and cons. It’s easy to focus on the cons, especially if you don’t know what you’re doing. Whether you’re new to working from home or have been doing it for a while now, it never hurts to get tips and new ideas to be productive and stay level headed.

1. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Communication is important in any relationship, especially work relationships. Even though you may be physically distanced from your coworkers talking to them is just as important when you’re working from home as it is working in an office. The first step is finding a communication service that works for you and your workers. Some services that are already being used for those working remotely are Slack, Skype, Zoom, and Google Hangouts/Drive. These services are exceptional for business and companies due to the ease of file sharing, instant messaging, and conference/video calls available. 

Social interactions and chats with your coworkers are also highly recommended, especially if this is something you’re already used to. It’s not an excuse to procrastinate on your work, but it can be beneficial to incorporate “water cooler” time into your work day. 

2. Have Reliable Tech

It may not be the first thing you think of when working from home, but having reliable technology is the most important concern when working from home. If you don’t have a desktop computer at home, a laptop or tablet can be simple substitutes. It’s also important to have a reliable wireless network (WiFi), so if you have issues contact your wireless provider as soon as possible. It might also be helpful to have a keyboard, a mouse, good speakers, a second screen, or a quality webcam available. 

3. Create a Work Space

Working from home can make it difficult to stay productive. That is why you should create a workspace in your house, separate from the relaxation spaces in your home. This means your workspace shouldn’t be in your bed, on your couch, or anywhere else you may lounge around. Not only will this help you be more productive, but it will also help separate your work life from your home life while they may be in the same place. 

Separating the two will also help you to relax in your off time. Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you have to compromise your relaxation and recreational time. 

4. Make a Daily Schedule

Working from home you can easily cause you to fall into a slump. To fight this you can create a structured daily schedule, make a to-do for your work day that is S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound), communicate to those you live with when your “do not disturb” time is and stick to it. Leaving your phone in another room can also help you stay on schedule. 

5. Don’t Wear Pajamas

It may seem like a good idea at first, but working in your pajamas will most likely make you less productive throughout the day. Pajamas and other loungewear puts your brain in “relaxation mode” instead of “work mode.” Some find it helpful to get ready in the morning as they would for a job outside of the house because it also helps your brain shift to “work mode” easier. Getting ready can also put your mind at ease if you find yourself having frequent video calls throughout the week.

This does not mean that you have to get all dressed up every day to work from your home, let’s be honest nobody has time for that. However, creating a morning routine will help you to function better during work.

6. Play a “Productivity” Playlist

Some people can’t work with sound or other distractions, but those that can look up “productive playlists” on Apple Music or Spotify. These playlists on major platforms were created specifically for individuals that need a calm work environment. Now’s the perfect time to take advantage of them!

7. Take Breaks

If you’re able to take breaks throughout your day, do it. It’s just as important for breaks in the office as they are at home. Whether it’s walking around the house for 5 minutes or around the block or do a load of laundry. Find something small to break up your workday because they can give your brain a chance to recharge. It may help you be more productive during the time that you are working, as long as you stick to that work time. Make no mistake, it is not normal or good to look at a computer screen for 8-9 hours straight.

How To Keep Raising Brand Awareness When You Can’t Perform Live

Laurel Daggers - March 27, 2020

The entire planet is seemingly in quarantine right now. For a performer, this can present many problems. You can’t do any live shows, release parties, or meet and greets. How is your brand supposed to survive the apocalypse? 

The good news is, there are numerous avenues an artist can take to grow their brand awareness. You can grow and measure brand awareness a number of ways, metrics from ads for instance and through analytics on social media. If you’re not a branding pro yet, there are tools out there to help you measure not only who is looking at your web pages, but when they’re looking, how often they’re looking, and where they’re from. 

Build A Website

If you don’t have a website, you definitely need one. As a performer, you represent your brand and you should treat your brand as a business. Most people don’t trust a business that doesn’t have a professional-looking website, especially not other professionals. Take a look through similar entertainers’ websites to learn more about how yours should be put together. Use professional photos and be certain to spell check any copy you add to your pages. 

Research SEO Strategies For Your Niche

Once you have a website, start researching SEO strategies to bring more traffic through your site. There are many tools online that a person can use to search the frequency and popularity of tags for specific keywords. Adding these keywords as tags to your website will make it more likely to pop up on the first page of a google search when people search for those terms. You want to be careful to add tags that have high search rates but low competitive rates. If most other websites are using those tags as well, your site could get pushed further down the list, and it’s unlikely it will get much traffic if it’s not on the first search page. 

Use Your Socials

Many entertainers are leaning on their social media now more than ever. Whether they’re live streaming performances and meditation circles, or TikTok-ing their way into our hearts, performers are finding ways to connect with their audiences on a regular basis. 

Create Branded Links

Simply put, a branded link is a shortened version of an URL you want to share online, in a place like social media bios and twitter posts. Generally, brands that create branded links like to create one that incorporates their name, what they do, and a unique keyword. Not only are branded links easier to remember and place in posts with limited word counts, but they can be used to track clicks and metrics as well. 

Start a YouTube Show

If you’re a performer, this should be a no brainer. Start filming yourself playing music or showing off whatever your talent may be and keep growing your audience. 

Partner With Other Performers

Even if you’re unable to get together face to face with other performers, there are apps and video creation websites that allow you to partner with other artists and collaborate together. Doing videos and social media appearances with other artists in your field introduce you both to new audience members as well as lend your brand more credibility by way of endorsement. 

Analyze Your Metrics

Now is the perfect opportunity to analyze your social media metrics and create a growth plan. Take a look at your audience growth rate, engagement rate, and influence (who’s talking about your brand).  

Social Media Contests

Create a giveaway or some other sort of contest on your social media to have more engagement opportunities with your followers. Set a goal for what you want your brand to get out of this contest (i.e. more followers, more engagement, etc) and research past social media contests that have reached that goal successfully. 

Social Marketing 

If your brand has the merchandise you want to sell, consider looking into some social media marketing. Marketing is also a great way to direct people to your website and to collect more valuable metrics. Do some research on your target audience and set specific goals for your marketing campaign. Doing this ahead of time will help you to find the best products and techniques to set up successful ads.

SEO is The Best Business Promotion

Amber Curtis - March 26, 2020

If you’ve been anywhere near the digital marketing world in the last 5 years, you’ve probably heard of something called SEO, or search engine optimization. Just because you’ve heard it doesn’t mean you understand it though, right? The idea of SEO can be difficult to understand at first. One of the reasons for this is because it’s a fairly new idea, that’s only been around since the late 1990s. 

SEO can be very beneficial to your business, but it would help to understand it first. Whether you’ve heard of it or not, read about SEO below. Hopefully, by the end, you’ll have a better understanding of the service, and your business needs it. 

What is it?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is anything that naturally increases a website’s ranking on search engine results pages, excluding those that are paid for. Every business’ goal is to increase traffic to their website, a large part of that success they desire has to do with noted search engine results. SEO is the process a business uses to improve its search engine results, organically or without the influence. There are three major aspects to successful SEO: quality, quantity, and organic. 

Quality refers to the quality of the clicks or views a website gets from search engine searches, such as Google or Bing. These searches need to clearly state the product(s) or service(s) your company offers. Quantity is the number of clicks or views that a website receives, and once you make sure you have quality views on your page, the more views the better. Finally, organic identifies the most important aspect of SEO. Both paid and unpaid, organic website placements have approximately the same success rate on search engine pages. Viewers usually click on those that are unpaid, because they seem more trustworthy compared to those that are paid. 

How does it work?

SEO involves a lot of trial and error, you have to test which combination of factors will work best for your website. The most important factors to experiment with are links, content, mobile-friendliness, and website design. For your business, you’ll want to use a combination of each of these aspects. 

  • Links refer to other websites that have a link to your website. It could be within a blog post or sponsored page. The more websites that have links to your site and the better quality those websites, the better it is for your company site. 
  • Content is the bulk of your website, it’s the words that are on your site. The way pages are worded on your site reflects directly back on your company. Your content should be worded well and accurately display the mission of the company. You’ll also want to use calculated vocabulary in order to attract the desired audience.
  • Mobile-friendliness is self-explanatory but can be difficult to accomplish. Most people will be looking at your company website from a mobile device. The coding for a desktop site is different from a mobile site. This means you’ll need to work with your tech team to create a mobile-friendly website. 
  • Design may seem trivial, but people will trust a website that looks clean and professional. People are more likely to recommend a website that looks professional, over one that doesn’t.

If it works correctly, your business’ web pages will come up as one of the first results, under the paid, sponsored results.

How Can It Help Your Company?

The following are all possible benefits of using SEO for your company website. Please note that these are just some of the many ways SEO can and will help your business. 

  • Better Cost Management
  • Builds Brand Credibility & Awareness
  • Can Increase Social Media Traffic
  • Gives a Leg Up on The Competition
  • Increases Quality Traffic, Sales, Leads
  • Provides Constant Promotion
  • Measurable & Flexible

Coronavirus update from AMW Group

AMW - March 19, 2020

We wanted to update you on how we are handling COVID-19. Our company is set up for remote work, and our staff and services will be completely uninterrupted throughout this time. Instead of in-person client meetings, we will schedule phone conferences as needed.

Industry-wise we see surges in traffic on streaming platforms and online outlets; this is a direct result of people spending more time online while being home.

So rest assured that we will continue to be able to offer you the same quality of service. It’s is a difficult time for everyone, but our recommendation is to keep moving forward.

If you have any questions, our support team is readily available to assist. We are wishing the best for you, your family and friends!

Sincerely,
Team AMW

PR Can Give Your Music Career a Leg Up

Amber Curtis - March 19, 2020

There is a lot that goes into creating your own music, building up a following, trying to make it in the music industry. It can be discouraging if you don’t know what to do, or have someone helping you. Even if you’re capable of promoting yourself on your own, it’ll take time away from doing what you love most: making music. It doesn’t hurt to get some help in your career, in fact, very few have made it without any help from someone. 

Hiring a PR, or public relations, professional can greatly change the course of your career. Reaching out to these professionals can only help you. Talking to professionals and asking them questions will get your name out into the industry and it never hurts to have friends in high places. Here are some things to know before choosing a PR professional:

Campaigns

The general goal of a public relations campaign, in regards to music promotion, is to increase awareness of an artist. The main goal, however, is to announce a certain focus on an artist’s career. A PR campaign consists primarily of the promotion of one thing at a time (i.e. a single, EP, album release, show). Whatever it is you want to promote a PR firm can create content to distribute to top contacts in the industry. Knowing contacts can be critical when it comes to promoting your brand, so it helps to have a PR firm that knows who to contact. 

National Exposure

Since most public relations professionals have a network of contacts in almost every industry. This allows them to help you connect nationally, and if you’re lucky internationally. If a PR firm’s contacts and networks are only regional or focused on the area you’re already in then it may be smart to save your money. Your goal as an artist is to reach as many people as possible. Only PR firms with a larger and broader network can help you get that national, and sometimes even international, coverage you seek. 

Networking 

Business networking is the practice of creating and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships within your respective industry. The purpose of networking is to communicate your brand and meet others in the business that can help boost your music and your career. Other benefits to networking, and meeting lifelong business friends include:

  • creating and advancing investments in lifelong business friendships
  • becoming more noticeable in the music/entertainment industry
  • gaining new opportunities that wouldn’t otherwise be available
  • receiving advice and possibly new perspectives from industry veterans

Expertise

It’s a PR professional’s job to stay up to date with everything in the industry, they’re constantly in that world so you don’t have to be. They know how to word your content in such a way that grabs any audience. They know the ins and outs of the industry. They know who to talk to, how to get them interested in your music. In a sense, a PR professional knows all. Hiring PR professionals is the best way to ensure that your business’ image will be in good hands so that you can focus on running your company. They do what they do best so that you can do what you do best.

How To Promote Your Music On TikTok

Laurel Daggers - February 28, 2020

TikTok calls itself the “destination for short-form mobile videos”. 500 million people use Tik Tok every month and 66% of them are under 30. Many of it’s most famous users are under 20. If that’s the demographic for your music, you need to be on TikTok. The platform is not only great for finding and engaging with your audience but monetizing your music and earning revenue when other people use your music. 

There are many artists that have even seen an uptick in their numbers on their Spotify and YouTube accounts as well. So what is the best way to promote yourself on this platform? It’s obviously important to put your best foot forward when you’re trying to set yourself apart in a crowd of 500 million. Keep reading to find some tips and tricks to get your music the attention it deserves. 

Take Notes

Study the platform and take note of what successful influencers are doing whose brand is similar to yours. Take a look at how many times per week they’re posting and what type of content they’re putting out. It’s a quick and easy way to learn more about your market and decide what type of content you want to start creating. 

Look For Ways To Engage

The best way to engage with your followers (and get more) is to create a challenge, such as a dance routine, to go along with your song. TikTok emphasizes participation more than mass broadcasting and there are many instances where an artist has a smaller following on other social media sites gaining massive exposure from TikTok. 

Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork

Team up with an influencer using TikTok’s duet feature and record a surprise duet. To pack an extra punch to this tactic, make sure your lyrics are published to Reddit and Genius beforehand so people can search for them right away.  Like all of the other social sites, you should also be following and interacting with other musicians in your genre. 

Use Those Hashtags

The ever-important hashtag is still a major part of this social media campaign. Create a unique hashtag to go along with your video, like Lil Nas X did with his #yeehawchallenge. Share a mix of relevant hashtags as well alongside your videos that will appeal to strangers. 

Cross Promotion 

Share your TikTok videos across your other social media platforms. It’s a good way to bring the audience you already have with you. 

The bottom line is, if you’re a musician with a younger demographic, TikTok is a great way to engage your audience and grow your brand. It’s free to use, you can monetize your music, and best of all it’s fun!

5 Ways Your Company Can Kill It Online

Amber Curtis - February 26, 2020

It’s no secret that the internet and other new technologies have taken over. This very post is likely being read on the internet, whether on a computer, phone, or on another electronic device. Everything and everyone is on the internet today, your company should be too.

Yes, it may be everywhere but does your product really need to be on the web? The short answer, yes. People today rely on the web for new product choices, if a business doesn’t have a web presence people are less likely to trust the brand and its products. Using the web can be overwhelming to use, especially when doing it to increase awareness and traction to your brand. So, here are 5 ways your company can succeed in the digital age:

1. Brand HQ

The best and most important web presence you can have for your product is a website. This gives your brand credibility. When creating this site, you’ll want to make sure it looks pleasing and is user-friendly. Easy navigation will prevent frustrations and having professional design and photos will show your audience you’re the real deal. Your website is the hub for everything relating to your brand. It should contain your company’s story or history, important dates, announcements, and direct contact with your product. Having a website can also help you increase enhance online presence, build strong relationships within the industry, showcase brand and product, increase sales, and more.

2. Social Media

Communication between you and your audience is now immediate with the help of social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are the leaders in social networking sites. You should be on at least one of these, but all of them if possible. The more sites you are on and the more frequently you are posting, liking, and commenting on them the better your chances are to have a solid relationship with your audience. Your brand and/or products can be shared easier and quicker than ever before. A simple post, even on your story, can generate attention and buzz around your merchandise. Also within most social media apps is a trending page. These types of pages help you to better know what people are talking about, which helps you to be a part of the conversation. 

3. Creativity

People will know your company by its brand, so make it memorable. If your brand stands out from others in its industry, people are more likely to remember it. Make your brand unique to you and the style you’re promoting. Creating a unique style can also help you relate to your audience & help them to get to know you better. Creative ideas include: join in on the discussion of popular hashtags, participate in popular internet challenges on TikTok, photo and video contests, caption contests, street advertising just to name a few.

4. Expertise

It can be difficult to get started, and even after you do it’s hard to know what is the best option for your brand. It can also cause your product to take a hit because most, if not all, of your time, can be spent focused on your web presence. In this case, hiring a professional web developer can be crucial to the success of your brand. Hiring professional website developers can give your website custom design, fast-loading pages, reinforce your brand, save lots of time for you, and compatibility with the latest mobile technologies.

5. Company App

If your brand is gaining traction, developing an app may be the next step for your business. They provide a quick and easy way for your audience to reach your product. It can also function as a mobile version of your website. On average, people look at their phones about 80 times a day. Being a downloadable app on their phone increases their exposure to your brand exponentially. Mobile apps can build customer loyalty, increase customer engagement with your brand, help you stand out from competitors, and improve visibility for your customers.

4 Reasons Social Media is the Best Music Promotion

Laurel Daggers - February 14, 2020

Millions of people are on social media every day, it’s become the easiest way for you to communicate and connect with your audience. Thanks to social media it’s easier than ever to get your name and music out there. Which is why it should be an intricate part of your marketing campaign, if not the main part. 

You can use social media to promote new announcements, merchandise, build rapport with your audience, and easily connect your audience with your music. People want information fast, so having a bigger online presence can form trusting bonds and interest in your music. Here are 4 basic tips & tricks to getting your social media accounts to help your career take off:

Benefits

Your brand and/or products can be shared easier and quicker than ever before, with the right audience. A simple post, even on your story, can generate attention and buzz around your music. Through in-app analytics you can see how many people are engaging, how they’re engaging, and when they’re engaging with your social media accounts. These analytics will help you to find the right target audience. This tool can also help you to know when and where to post most often. 

Within most social media apps is a “trending” page, these types of pages help you to better know what your target audience is talking about. Getting help from social media experts can assist you with content schedules and other proven strategies will exponentially develop, grow, and manage your social media accounts.

Videos

Right now, videos are the most consumed posts on most social networking sites. People want to see you and how you live your life, whether in a post, live video, or IGTV. Posting videos can be a good way to increase engagement. They also help your followers to see you more often and in real time, which humanizes you and helps them to better connect with you. Be careful not to over saturate your social media with videos, too many videos can just as easily create disinterest in your followers.

Semi-regularly engaging in live videos is the best way for you and your audience to connect. It facilitates real time interaction, which helps you become more of a real person to your fans. Live videos can be used for upcoming announcements or events, Q&A’s, how-to’s, and more. Read some comments and respond to them in the video so your viewers know you’re interested in interacting with them just as much as they are with you.

Images

Although videos may be the leader in post engagement, images are a close second. It’s the first thing they’ll see when they go to your social media page. For this reason, your images must be exceptional. Simple, high quality/definition, and they should fit with the aesthetic established for your social networking sites. Even the feature images for your videos must look good, the look of the first image could be the deciding factor of whether they watch the video or not.

Give Back

While sharing your life through social media can help your followers connect with you, it’s also important to participate back with them. Think of it as a two way relationship, they show you love, you show them love. You can follow some of your more active fans back, like their posts, and even comment every once in awhile. Not only is this exciting for them but it encourages them to engage back with you. If you have a show coming up let them have a say in something you wear or a song that can be featured at your next concert/performance. Doing this shows them you care about them, and makes you more real to them. Lastly, don’t forget to thank them because without them you wouldn’t be where you are. 

Top Music Promotional Strategies from AMW

Laurel Daggers - January 17, 2020

It’s time to get your music promotion kicked off on the right foot. If you’re creating quality music, it’s time to create a promotional strategy to go along with it. There is a multitude of talented musicians out there and sadly some of them will never get the audience they deserve. Don’t let yourself be one of them. 

This happens so frequently to so many talented performers because they don’t factor in promotion as an important part of their career. Promotion is so exceedingly important because that’s how you, as a musician, are introduced to the public – who will potentially become your fans. If the public doesn’t know you exist, you have no audience. If the public does know you exist but doesn’t like what they see ( or has no feeling about you one way or the other, which is almost worse), you have no audience. You don’t have to have an audience to be a musician, but you absolutely do if you want to be a successful one. Let’s talk about the best promotional strategies for the upcoming year.  

Brand Yourself

Everyone has a defining “story” that’s driven them to become an entertainer that stems from an important place in their personal history. Successful entertainers know that digging deep and finding that human element will help them to create a foundation to build their personal brand. It does this by giving their audience a solid place to connect with them. 

Create And Monetize Your Own Website

Even if you’re starting out with a small budget, creating a professional looking website has become fairly simple these days. Use high quality photos and keep your information up to date. Set an attainable posting schedule when you’re just starting out so that you can continually drive traffic to your site. Once you have consistent traffic, you can monetize your website by joining affiliate programs, selling your merchandise and music, and adding a donation button. Adding a link to your email list on your website will also keep your audience updated on any new releases or events in your career. 

Launch A PR Campaign

Bringing in a professional in to help promote your releases and events is important. Public Relations professionals exist for a reason, it’s a specialized field that takes extensive planning and strategy. They also have professional contacts and relationships with media professionals, which means they’re more likely to take you seriously and want to cover your work if they are introduced to you via a PR expert. 

Do Your Own Research

While it’s always beneficial to obtain a pro to help with your outreach, it’s equally beneficial to do your own research about the basics of promotion. There’s no excuse these days not to know at least the bare minimum of what promotion entails and what to expect from a reputable company, especially if you want to work with one (you do). It’s always ok to ask questions of the people you work with, however, you get a lot farther in the business world when you ask educated questions. Treating your music as a business and presenting yourself as a professional is the best way to ensure success. 

Pinkfong Reimagines “Baby Shark” Video With Yellow Suit-Guy from “Gangnam Style”

Naomi Grandison - January 8, 2020

Viral Phenomenon Joins Forces with Entertainer Yoo Jae Suk

(Los Angeles, CA) January 8, 2020 — “Baby Shark” is back with a brand-new twist inspired by trot, a 100-year-old retro style of K-pop music well known for its repetitive rhythms and vocal inflections. For this video, Pinkfong has collaborated with the “yellow suit guy” from PSY’s “Gangnam Style” video, Yoo Jae Suk (also known as Yoo San Seul). The video is available on Pinkfong’s YouTube channel and quickly achieved over 880,000 views from its release date of December 31st to January 6th.

They’ve already teamed up with US DJ and producer Jauz to release a “Baby Shark” EDM remix last May, Pinkfong has also collaborated with BT21 to create a “Baby Shark x BT21” video which achieved 6 million views in just two weeks.  

The new “Baby Shark” video, better known as “Baby Shark Dance (K-pop Retro English Version)” is out now on Pinkfong’s YouTube channel. 

Pinkfong’s flagship video series, the original “Baby Shark” has become one of the biggest viral explosions in children’s digital media history, with 4.2 billion YouTube views and a 17-week streak on Billboard’s Hot 100 as Top 50 since January 2019. It even spawned an international social media challenge with over 700 thousand covers of the video. The song has become beloved not only to the masses but to many celebrities such as Ellen DeGeneres, John Legend, James Corden, and Kylie Jenner as well.  

Go to Pinkfong’s website for news and updates, and subscribe to its YouTube channel for the latest “Baby Shark” videos. You can also follow the company on Facebook and Instagram. 

About Pinkfong

Pinkfong is a global entertainment brand that creates award-winning kids’ content for families around the world. The company has produced over 4,000 songs, stories and games that are available on multiple digital platforms. Pinkfong’s YouTube channel alone has 45 million subscribers, not to mention 23 billion views across the globe. It goes without saying they are one of the most influential channels for kids in digital media, with its award-winning mobile app series achieving 200 million downloads across 164 countries to date. Their flagship song and video “The Baby Shark Dance” is now the 4th most viewed video in YouTube history. Go to Pinkfong’s website for news and updates, and subscribe to its YouTube channel for the latest “Baby Shark” videos. 

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Introducing Gift Cards From AMW Group

AMW - December 20, 2019

Talk about a gift that keeps on giving! If you’d like to give a truly special gift this year, AMW has a selection of gift cards your friends and family can use towards a promotional campaign for their latest project. 

AMW’s gift cards are digital, so they’re even great as last minute gifts. This holiday season you can help your loved ones pay for part or all of any of our services with this array of gift cards. Below is a list of just a few of the services your gift card could go towards. 

Digital Boosts

Our range of digital boosts include services such as blog placement, press release writing and distribution, and Spotify music placement for their singles. Learn more

PR Plus Campaign

The PR Plus service creates a tailored strategy for each client and includes major media outreach. The artist will also be appointed a dedicated campaign manager for the duration of their publicity campaign. Brand and social media consulting are also included in this highly sought after service. 

Photo Shoots

For our LA-visiting clients, we have a selection of photoshoot packages in partnership with Sergio Garcia Studios. Professional wardrobe, hair and makeup, and catering services are also optional add ons within these packages. Learn more

Social Media Management

There’s no brand that can get off the ground without a solid social media presence. In fact, maintaining a successful social media presence has become basically a full-time occupation in and of itself. AMW’s social media services can help anyone build a brand and grow a successful following. 
Learn more

Check out our gift cards now and send one (or a few!) to the people in your life who’s brand could use a boost!

Get your Gift Cards here

What To Expect From Social Media Management

Laurel Daggers - November 16, 2019

Maintaining a social media presence has become a full-blown job occupation. Social media’s main importance to a brand is that it humanizes it. People will innately bond with a face, not a product. Social media gives your audience real-world proof that your brand holds up its end of the bargain because it allows everyone to see how you interact with your consumer base. 

Reporting and analytics are available with any business profile on social media. Not only can you see who is watching, clicking and buying your products, but it also gives you the ability to look into the age ranges, geographic areas, socioeconomic status and interests of the individuals as well. Which takes a lot of the guesswork out of planning for the future of your brand. 

However, unless you have ample time and know-how to manage your own social media for your brand, you might want to consider finding a professional to manage your social media for you. A professional social media manager can help you see how you’re currently interacting with your customers, and how you can do that more effectively. They can also take all of that useful information and adjust your social media to better serve your audience. If you’re wondering whether or not you should hire a social media manager (and what they can even do for you), keep reading. 

Quality Content

There’s a huge difference between ‘content’ and ‘quality content’. The photos, writing, and hashtags may seem like silly, little things to some people but to someone building and maintaining a brand, each tiny step counts. Photos should all be high quality, high resolution, eye-catching images. A social media management team will help you to put your best foot forward along each of these lines. 

Expertise

Obviously, using a professional service will give you the benefit of their expertise. Different brands thrive better on different social media platforms, depending on their demographical reach. A professional social media service will help you to target the specific channel that will serve your brand the best and promote it in an effective way. Because they’re familiar with the parameters of the usual social media outreach, you will also benefit from their out of the box thinking that will set your brand apart. 

Return On Investment 

With this type of marketing, you need to think of it as an investment in the future of your brand. An investment that you’re likely to get a good return on. You will get more customers, more followers and your sales will go up with a strong social media. If you or an employee are posting at random on your social media with no plan, you are doing your business a disservice. Your audience needs to know they can come to your social media for consistently good content, just like any other product you put out. 

Planning

A social media manager will be able to take in all the other campaigns you’re working on and build them into your social media campaign. A solid social media campaign that is tied in with other important announcements or events for your brand will create a higher interest level from the public, exponentially increasing your success rate. If your efforts are not as effective as you initially hoped, a social media manager can switch tactics to ensure the success of your campaign. Over six million brands are currently advertising on social media. Planning, engaging successfully and putting out the best possible content is your brand’s lifeline to your audience, so it’s important to make sure you stand out. 

What To Expect When You’re Marketing

Laurel Daggers - October 19, 2019

A frequently asked question about digital marketing campaigns is “ What can I expect to get from this?”. After all, it would be nice to know that you’re going to get a return on your investment, wouldn’t it? In a world seemingly obsessed with overnight success stories, unrealistic expectations will kill your campaign (not to mention industry connections) before you have a chance to get your brand off the ground. Fortunately for you, there are realistic and useful results you can expect from a digital marketing campaign and we’ve laid them out for you below. 

First, you need to know precisely what it is. Digital marketing is a way to promote brands and products online through other channels of digital media. This particular avenue of business promotion helps you to obtain measurable results by calling your audience to action for a particular event your brand is involved in, i.e. ticket sales for a concert, selling merchandise, etc. 

Transparency 

With digital marketing, you can track your direct results, practically in real time. As people click on your ad you can see who follows the links, who look at your website and who is purchasing your merchandise. 

Information

You can gain more information about your audience from digital marketing as well. Information such as what time of day they spend the most time online, what type of products they’re the most interested in, and what type of ads they respond to the most. When you create digital ads, it is common to do A/B split testing to perfect your ads by trying out different versions and seeing which ones get the highest response. 

Specific Media Coverage

There is some media coverage involved in digital marketing, however, it’s entirely paid placements. For the most part, it will be ads, but in certain publications, there are opportunities to pay for reviews or brief articles about your brand as well. 

The Timeline

You can absolutely expect to see results from a digital marketing campaign, but how soon? It will likely take at least a few months to really start seeing the fruits of your (or your publicists) labor. Brand awareness will start rising earlier than that, but tangible results will start coming in around 3 months. 

Results 

There are many different benefits to digital marketing. Search engine optimization (SEO), growth of social media engagement, business to customer direct contact, and accurate data collection from your audience are all results you can expect from different types of marketing campaigns. Not all campaigns are created equal due to individual brand needs, capabilities and budget. However, with the right plan and the right marketing team behind you, your business goals are attainable in time.