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In this day and age, you have to pivot on a moment’s notice as things can change rapidly. But, story will never grow old. It is interesting and engaging and everyone has one. What story are you trying to market?

For example, let’s say I was going to strategize a marketing campaign for a music video (substitute what you want to market here).

Is it their first video or one of many (episodic)?

Did they create it or is it someone else’s (a cover)?

How was it created?

Where are you marketing now and/or where do you want to target this message?

For this music video, let’s say it was created on a cell phone using an 8mm filter. This means I could suggest reaching out to the phone provider, cell creator and app creator for a partnership or at the very least tag them in a social media post (to get their audience viewership as well, which could be in the millions).

This music video was also a cover, which means they have to give the copyright holder credit. Be sure to do your due diligence on the how-to for this. You would also want to promote, hashtag, tag, etc., the artist/band, location and genre on socials as well.

The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?

When asking about the duo, this is what I discovered. They used to live in Los Angeles, but now live in Nashville for family and music reasons. They toured, have a following and tour dates coming up. A 30-day strategy could look like:

Week One: Share how they met, where they lived at that time, and their first song together. All posts lead to their website and sign up for gig news.

Week Two: Share their touring days, which is a great way to get followers in the cities and countries they toured through hashtags, links to music to buy, and their other socials.

Week Three: Ask social media fans what songs they like best, where have they seen them live and where would they like them to perform. This one opens the door to booking and selling tickets if there is enough response.

Week Four: The story of the music video, the app, the cell and what is next.

Take the above stories and find all of the places you can put it — visual ads, gifs, newsletters, magazine interviews.

Marketing can fall short if you don’t have your sound. Sound is more than marketing, though. I think that on a sound level, sound is a current, So if you don’t have sound, you don’t have that current. Sound vibrationally does something to you and the planet. When you’re a singer-songwriter, and you’re new, even though you have a following, it’s very hard to hold them for the entire night, with only your own music. But to get bigger rooms and higher paying gigs, you sometimes have to be a general business — a cover band. A rule of thumb is you play two to three covers and then you slip one of yours in — rinse and repeat. Soon your regulars are just hearing your originals, and they’re just thinking they’re hearing something they already know, and that’s one way to build a music career. Be honest with your brand while being creative and innovative.

Building your sound and marketing yourself go hand in hand. While trends and followings can change at any moment, remember that your story is steadfast and marketing yourself through your story can bring your sound to more people.