Music Marketing 101: The Importance of Goal Setting and Release Calendar Planning
Setting clear goals and planning are two of the most critical steps you can take to foster success. I’ve met numerous bands who’ve wanted to start running ads, hire a manager, or seek label representation without knowing why or what they’d get out of each engagement. Defining and truly understanding your goals, and then crafting an actionable plan to achieve them is what separates bands who continue to grow from the ones who stagnate. Making good music helps, too.
Goal-setting allows you to craft the right plan. Whether you're aiming to get more streams on Spotify, increase your social media following, or sell more merch, a well-thought-out strategy can make all the difference. After all, different approaches yield different results, and at our level, we don’t have the bandwidth or budget to waste on the wrong initiatives.
Setting clear and realistic goals is the foundation of your strategy. Without defined objectives, it’s easy to lose focus and subsequently any opportunities to maximize the impact of your music. As musicians, we often spend years writing and recording songs, only to have a few weeks of significant promotion. Understanding your goals helps you get the most out of each release in the limited time you have to promote it.
In this post, we’ll dive into tips to help you maximize your efforts and achieve your goals.
Setting SMART Goals for Your Music Career
When setting goals, the SMART criteria—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—can help ensure they are well-defined and realistic.
Specific:
Be clear about what you want to achieve. Instead of saying, “We want more fans,” try “We want to gain 50 new Instagram followers in the next month.”Measurable:
Ensure your goal can be tracked. For instance, “Get 10,000 streams on our next single” is a goal you can monitor and measure progress against.Achievable:
Set goals that are challenging yet realistic. If your last single got 1,000 streams, aiming for 5,000 on the next one might be achievable with the right strategy.Relevant:
Make sure your goals align with your long-term vision. If growing your fanbase is more important than selling merch right now, focus your efforts accordingly.Time-bound:
Assign a timeline to each goal. For example, “Hit 2,000 followers before our next single comes out” (assuming you’ve picked a release date). This allows you to create a realistic plan. I find that without a timeline, implementation lacks.
Questions to Ask When Goal-Setting
Now that we’ve laid the foundation for what our goals should consist of, it’s time to actually set our goals. These questions are ones that I commonly asks musicians when I just start working with them:
Are there any musicians in your network who you think are doing well? What makes you think they’re doing well?
Can you pick a primary focus from the below, or come up with your own definition of success? Picking a couple priorities is okay, but try to avoid chasing them all at once:
Get more streams, get more followers, sell more merch, book more shows, get bigger crowds at shows
Do you feel like you’ve grown in the past month? Six months? Year? Two years?
What do you think has been the biggest obstacle to your success?
Why do you make music in the first place?
These aren’t the only questions worth answering, but they should prompt you to truly understand what you want to accomplish with your marketing. One of my favorite definitions for success is “I want someone to reach out to me after hearing my music and tell me how it resonated with them.” Goals don’t always have to result in sterile numbers and charts, they can still be human. While the latter might be harder to plan for, there are still ways to help make that happen.
It’s also important to remember that these won’t necessarily be the same goals you have a year from now. Once you define these goals and creaft plans to accomplish them, it’s natural that they’ll evolve over time. Setting a goal of getting 1,000 streams on a song might be a lofty goal now, but my goal is to help you achieve that and make it seem trivial. (Okay, maybe that wasn’t a SMART goal, but you get my point.)
The Foolproof Strategy, Regardless of Your Goal: Know Your Calendar
I know I just said that each goal requires its own tailored strategy, and that’s why we go through the exercise of goal-setting in the first place. I know.
But there is one thing you should always do, whether you’re trying to bust your streams, book shows, sell merch, etc.
Understand your calendar.
When you regularly release new music, you increase your chances of being featured on playlists like Spotify’s Release Radar or Discover Weekly, which can significantly boost your streaming numbers. We’ll talk about the Singles vs. Album debate in a future post, but for now it’s important to understand that each time you release something, you have about 4 weeks of increased chances of showing up in someone’s feed.
It doesn’t just stop at streams though, and you can plan your calendar beyond just releases. It’s important to be cognizant of the content supporting each release, or in the scenario where you don’t have new music on the horizon, the content that bridges the gap. A well-planned content calendar also helps you avoid the dreaded “hype drop” that often happens when an artist releases an album and then disappears for months. By spreading out your content and consistently engaging your audience, you keep the momentum going and give your music the best chance to succeed. Once you understand what music you will or won’t be releasing, the next step is to fill in your calendar with other types of content.
Remember, regardless of your personal goal, consistency is key. You should aim to always have a shot at landing in your audience’s feed with quality content. Whether the feed is organic content on social, their streaming app, paid ads, etc. is up to the goals and strategy you’ve established for yourself.
How to Plan Your Release Calendar
Map Out Key Dates:
Start by identifying the key dates for your releases. This could include single drops, album launches, music video premieres, or live performances. Avoid releasing new content during periods when your audience might be less active, like major holidays.Stagger Your Releases:
Instead of dropping everything at once, stagger your releases to maintain a consistent presence. For example, release a single every few weeks leading up to the full album launch. This strategy keeps your name in the conversation and allows for multiple promotional opportunities.Coordinate Your Marketing Efforts:
Align your social media posts, email newsletters, and promotional campaigns with your release dates. Planning ahead ensures that every piece of content supports your overarching goals and maximizes the impact of each release.Build Hype in Advance:
Start promoting your releases well in advance. Share teasers, behind-the-scenes content, or even sneak peeks of the new tracks to build anticipation. The more excited your audience is, the more likely they are to engage with your new content.
Get Expert Help with Your Music Marketing Strategy
Setting goals and planning your release calendar can be challenging, especially if you’re trying to manage everything on your own. That’s where professional music marketing services come in. If you’re serious about growing your fanbase, increasing your Spotify streams, or getting more followers for your music, I can help.
With years of experience as a musician and in the marketing industry, I offer tailored strategies to help local and independent musicians reach their goals. From goal-setting to release planning and everything in between, I’m here to support your music journey.
Ready to make your next release your best one yet? Contact me today to discuss how we can work together to achieve your music marketing goals.
Final Thoughts
Setting clear goals and planning a well-structured release calendar are two of the most important steps you can take to ensure your music career thrives. By staying focused, consistent, and strategic, you can maximize your marketing efforts.
If you need help crafting a music marketing strategy that works for your band, don’t hesitate to reach out. Let’s work together to make your next release a success!