Your band’s mailing list is its best method for keeping in touch with fans and alerting them to upcoming shows, CD releases, and other events. You should be making consistent efforts to grow that list, because if the list is growing, that means your fan base is growing, and that’s certainly a good thing. Here are some tips on how to make your band’s mailing list grow and keep growing, to build your fan base and help you accomplish your musical goals.
1. Bring a paper and pen to every show. The old fashioned way to grow a mailing list is still one of the best. Bring a paper and pen to all of your band’s shows, and pass it around to ask your fans to sign up to your mailing list. Tell them that you don’t send out emails too frequently (and, by the way, make sure that you don’t). Keep the pen and paper at your merch booth for anyone who buys anything from you to sign with their name and email address.
2. Offer something to fans that join your mailing list. At shows, it can be something like a sticker, which you can buy for cheap online (stickerguy.com is one great website to use for band stickers). On your band’s website, you can offer a free mp3 to anyone who signs up to your mailing list. Make sure that everyone’s got an incentive to join, and remember to tell them that you won’t be spamming them. For most potential fans, this is the biggest concern in signing up for a mailing list.
3. Have a monthly contest for your mailing list. In addition to the minor freebie mentioned above, offer something more once a month. This will make sure that your fans keep reading your mailing list letters, to see if they’d won. Something like a CD or poster is perfect for this type of contest, and if you’d like you can change it up every month. Select the winner at random, and don’t forget to send out the prize in a timely manner.
4. Use word-of-mouth. In every mailing list email, encourage fans to forward the message around. Tell them to tell their friends and family. Provide fun and unique content in each letter, don’t spam, and you’ll be surprised and delighted at how fast your mailing list grows.
Do you have tips for adding names to your band’s mailing list? Post in our comments section below.
