Written by Kathryn Holeton, Brand Designer for Musicians and Writers
Kathryn Holeton is a multi-talented creative with a knack for poetry and lyrics. She is a Brand Designer for Creatives, has collaborated on several musical projects, and is the author of "You're a Deity: An Inspirational Poetry Collection."
As a musician, your songs and words are your message. It’s easy to put pen to paper or record that awesome hook, but sometimes it’s hard to relay your message through social media or real-life settings. But it’s something everyone needs to learn because your message is the reason why people want to follow you or go to your shows.
Your brand is like a Dungeons and Dragons character. To play the business game, no matter your industry, you need a character set up. Otherwise, no one will be able to find you or relate to you. Your message is the first thing to focus on when setting up your “character.”
This article is all about the set-up stage of your character. This step is important, so don’t skip it. Skipping this crucial step in creating your brand will only hurt you in the long run.
1. What is brand messaging?
“Brand messaging reflects your brand’s personality and how you want to be perceived.” – AOR
Your brand message should include your why, purpose, values, and everything you care about. This is the meat in your sandwich. Without it, you would just have bread. Your message is important for your brand because it gives your audience a reason to care about you.
Think about your favorite artists. Sure, they have cool t-shirts, designs, awesome stories and great music. But you won’t buy from them unless you have a good reason to. You’re not going to support someone who abuses animals or is racist.
As a consumer, you would be more willing to buy from someone who supported mental health awareness, cared for the environment, and supported women-owned businesses. It’s the inspirational background stories that people care about, and the why behind your support of it.
2. Finding your message
It's ok to start simple. As your brand grows, your message will, and should, evolve. If you’re just starting out, you can start with the basics, like advocating for better mental health or helping the environment. What’s important is that you’re known for supporting something. Below is an exercise I give my clients to help them find or revise their message:
Step 1: Writing utensil and paper
Step 2: Think about all the subjects in society you care about (mental health, support the elderly, help the homeless/ less fortunate, veterans, etc.) Write down everything that comes to mind.
Step 3: Pick one overarching topic that will be the basis of your message. (explain in a minute), this topic should be the driving force behind your music. Your music should speak about it.
Step 4: From that one topic, you’ll need to craft your message from it. When you’re starting out, it can be as simple as, “There should be more awareness about mental health.” As your music starts gaining exposure, your message will, and should evolve, either with each album or music release. Your message should be visible in your actions, your socials, your website. Your message should be everywhere.
This exercise helps you get clear about what you want to support and what you want to be known for beyond your music. Again, defining your message is all about speaking your truth and helping your audience care about you.
3. Using your message
Once you have your message, you can then work on the rest of the pieces of your brand, such as your brand story, mission or vision, tone and voice, and personality. – AOR It’s like playing Dungeons and Dragons. You have to do a lot of set up on your character, but once you have your character, you can finally play the game.
After you have your character set up, it’s time to release it and let it play. Your message should show up everywhere you are, online and in real life. So, for online purposes, it should be on your social media, your website, press releases, podcast interviews, articles, music, and more. You can also use your message to attract brand partnerships.
For musicians, partnerships can be song collaborations, tours, festivals, and more. The more you use your brand character, the more you market yourself. And the more you market yourself, the more you expose yourself to new audiences and new avenues for potential revenue.
The more you talk about your message across all mediums and platforms, the more people will learn and care about who you are and what you do. People will advocate for you, and share your story to their friends, then their friends will share with their friends. Your message is how you will generate word of mouth, which will then bring you more business.
Of course, you should be careful not to overshare your message. That will push people away. By oversharing, I mean don’t bring it up in the wrong settings. You wouldn’t talk about business at a family member’s funeral.
You will also want to find different ways of saying the same thing. If you “copy and paste” the same message over and over, it might come across as fake. I wish I could say that there was one easy and set way to use your message, but sadly that’s not the case.
However you use your message, it should be authentic and unique to you.
In closing
Having a clear understanding of your message and how you will use it will set you and music or writing apart. It will give you an extra edge that will make people want to support you by any means. How you share your message ultimately comes down to you, and what feels authentic to you.
Regardless, you should share your message as often as possible because your message is important, and your artwork is important. And we, the world, want to see what you can do, we want to see who you are.
If you found this article helpful, follow me on social media for more content like this. I also have a messaging PDF that includes more information about crafting your message, which you can access here.
Read more from Kathryn Holeton
Kathryn Holeton, Brand Designer for Musicians and Writers
My name is Kathryn Holeton. I am a Brand Designer for musicians and writers based in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was a musician and writer for many years but found I had a knack for brand design when I was finishing up my Bachelor's in Professional and Technical Communication.
After I graduated, I worked in several industries, most notably music, poetry, and publishing, which you can read about in "My Creations."
One thing I found consistently lacking was the conversation of having a brand. No one was actively discussing this important step in the creative industries, and it annoyed me.
My mission is to help musicians and writers create a brand that supports their creative practice. Because you deserve to be successful, you deserve to grow. Your work deserves to be heard and seen.
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