E-Mail Marketing for Musicians - Expert Talk with Music Coach Brianna Ruelas -

„Being a Creative is no cake walk. You have to fight for it and find a way!“ It was this sentence on Brianna Ruelas website that caught my attention! Why? Because it is true! And yet, being a creative is a blessing more than a curse! It means you are probably one of the people that never get bored, always find solutions and deeply care to share ideas with others! It is a way of life and one that can be nurturing to yourself and your surroundings!

Nevertheless, Songwriters and Indie Artists often struggle to see the value they add to the world, and that´s why it makes sense to get a mentor to help you see clear.

Brianna, a strategy consultant to Indie Performing Artist and a Singer/Songwriter herself, is that kind of a mentor. She is based in Dallas/Texas, where she runs a restaurant together with her husband and works as a music coach and author.

Brianna was among the top 100 finalists of American Idol season Four; she is the author of “The Performing Artist Pathway” and a sought after online music coach.

She has just launched a complete course on “Mailchimp for Musicians”. E-Mail Marketing is the artist´s own responsibility these days and Brianna is kind enough to give us some insights into her top tips.

Brianna, thank you for taking the time to walk us through some of your E-mail Marketing tips for Musicians. First of all, why is E-mail Marketing such a big deal and does e-mail still reach younger peers at all?

E-mail Marketing is a big deal, because it’s a form of communication that you own and is not going away any time soon. Your e-mail list is yours and yours alone and you get to dictate your level of connection.

To speak to whether e-mail reaches younger peers, I’d love to provide you with some stats below:

There are 3x more e-mail accounts than there are Facebook, Instagram & Twitter accounts.
Organic reach (i.e., the number of your fans who actually see your posts) has shrunk to 1-2% on Facebook and Instagram over the past two years.
On the contrary, open rates for E-mail Marketing messages are in the 20-30% range, which means that your message is over 10x more likely to be seen through e-mail, versus social media.
Lastly, click through rates for e-mail are in the 3% range vs the .5% range on social media, which means the next time you’re launching new music or new merch, you’re 6x more likely to get a download or purchase through e-mail.
Social Media Platforms come and go, but e-mail is has been consistent for decades.

I am a HUGE advocate for multiple streams of communication, and social media is certainly a large part of building your audience, but these e-mail stats above prove that when you couple e-mail with social media, you have a winning combination.

Wow, those are powerful stats! Totally makes sense to invest in building up E-Mail lists! You are an advocate of Mailchimp for Musicians. Tell us a bit about why you would recommend Mailchimp?

I’m the Creator to Mailchimp For Musicians Online Course. My course takes you through all the things you need to know to get started on Mailchimp, and is designed to help Musicians have all of their Mailchimp firsts:

- Your First List
- Your First Import
- Your First Lead Magnet
- Your First THANK YOU Landing page
- Your First E-mail Optin
- Your First Automation
- Your First Template
- Your First Campaign
- Your First Report

That´s amazing! But tell me, in order to grow a mailing list from scratch, will I need to spend a lot of money for advertising or creating gimmicks that people love?

Absolutely not and that’s why I love Mailchimp. Mailchimp is the only E-mail Marketing platform that allows users to have up to 2000 contacts for free! Inside the course, I show you how to grow your e-mail list from scratch, by offering something you know people will love. I encourage each artist to take an authentic, personal approach to E-mail Marketing, so that it’s not “salesy” or “gimmicky” because ultimately, each artist knows their fans best and relationships and true fan connections are created over time in a real, personal way.

Love that! I´m sure people worry about the workload. On average, how often should I send out newsletters?

In general, consistency is really important, so I recommend at least twice a month (bi-weekly). But be flexible on days and times, etc. because through Mailchimp analytics, you’ll be able to check open rates, engagement and ultimately determine the best time to send.

Tell us, what is one big mistake people make when setting up E-Mail campaigns?

One big mistake people make when setting up e-mail campaigns is their lack of personality and voice. Many people tend to write e-mails, that are supposed to be similar to a personal conversation with someone, in a very robotic manner. It’s almost like, they’ve been transported back to their old English class and are afraid their writing teacher is going to pull out a ruler if they make a grammatical error and speak plainly. That’s not to say, you shouldn’t keep things grammatically correct, but don’t forget, you want people to hear your voice through the screen.

To succeed with E-Mail Marketing, name us 3 top priorities that indie musicians should focus on in their Marketing strategy?

Be Consistent
Be Personal and Real
Utilize Automations & a Series to Welcome New Subscribers

You are a Singer/Songwriter and performer yourself. What is an important skill musicians need to build in today´s markets?

Sales.

You are in Sales and your product is your music. You must learn online business strategies to market and sell your message, your music, your brand, your story.

No, you are not selling out. Your music and gifts/talents are designed to be shared and if you want to make a music impact, you must learn how to communicate effectively.