1. Email Your Fanbase
It seems simple enough, but often gets overlooked. Gently remind your fans where your music is available for purchase. It always seems less “sales-y” if you can include this info as part of a larger email announcing shows, new videos, albums, special Holiday singles, etc.
2. Record a Holiday Single
It might sound like a hokey idea, but hell, the Beatles did it and it certainly didn’t hurt their career. Record your favorite holiday song and, for just $9, upload it to CD Baby for worldwide distribution. You could also make it an exclusive track on your website, give it away, or email it as a special offer directly to people who purchase your albums. Fans will get a kick out of it and they’ll be reminded of your music in general, thus planting the seed for gifting your albums.
3. YouTube Videos
You don’t have to be Bing Crosby or Aimee Mann to make compelling Holiday videos. With affordable camcorder and iPhone technology you can easily create a video for your holiday song. Or simply refresh your regular video content with some updated material. Link viewers directly to your CD Baby artist page.
4. Change Out Those Tired Old Links
If you’ve been using the same graphic hyperlink images forever, maybe it is time to enliven your websites and social networking profiles with a new look. Check out CD Baby’s MusicStore on Facebook and Music Store Widget! You could even enlist your design-oriented friends to help you make some holiday-themed images for your links, or to upload as the banner image for your MusicStore on Facebook. Also, make sure all of the links you’ve got out there on the internet are still active.
5. Stock Up
Make sure you have enough stock of CDs, T-shirts, download cards, etc. to meet demand. Don’t be scrambling last minute to fill orders that people are going to want in-hand before the Holiday Season. Just need a few discs printed up? Check out CD Baby’s short run duplication service.
6. Download Cards Make Great Gifts
They’re small, light, and come customized with your album art — perfect for stocking stuffers! Also, there are a number of promotional uses for download cards. You could do a Twitter contest and use them as prizes to generate excitement for your music around the holiday season. Give them to particularly awesome fans. Or bundle them with your regular CDs so the buyer can share your music with someone new.
7. Book Your Holiday Shows Early
Don’t get left out in the cold. There are plenty of high-paying holiday events that need live music. Get in on some of that easy money or book your own show. It doesn’t have to be holiday related, either. December is a very slow month for music journalists and they tend to have far less interesting news to cover, so it is also the perfect month to book a big CD release show and get some press coverage while you’re at it.
8. Leverage Social Networks
Social networks are the perfect place to get people talking about your music. Make sure your fans know they can purchase your music right there on Facebook using CD Baby’s MusicStore on Facebook. Share some of your own personal picks for the season. Stir a little excitement with a giveaway contest. Encourage fan involvement. Remember, social networks are most effective when you converse with your followers, so don’t just shout at them like a desperate street vendor.
9. Buy One — Get One Free
Use CD Baby’s quantity discount to encourage fans to buy two discs for the price of one. Then they’ll have a gift for someone on their list, too. If they’re remotely interested in purchasing your music in the first place, this bargain could seal the deal.
10. Run a Limited-time Holiday Sale
Announce to your email list and social networking friends that from now until the Holidays you’ll be selling your discs on CD Baby for a reduced cost. Then, after the holidays, just go back into your account and raise the price again.
Check out more tips in CD Baby’s Holiday Planning Guide.
