Valentines Day Feature Flash 3 - Texting In During Contests is Easier for Your Fans

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

• Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
• Pay What You Want
• Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
• Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the third - Texting In During Contests is Easier for Your Fans 

In the past, when a fan texted get to 444999 when you had a Contest running, they would get a text back with a link that brought them to your Home Page. Then they would click on the link on the Home page to get to the Contest page and, after entering their Name and zip code, would enter the Contest.

Now, if someone texts in while a Contest is Active, they get a text back that reads: Thanks, u have been entered into Contest. Stay tuned. More info: http://adva.us/?i=xxxxxx. That link will bring them to the Contest entry page where they can offer up more info - their zip code and name, for example. However, they don't need to - they are already entered in the Contest. The rest of the Contest feature works as it does now.


The upside for Artists is, I think, that now it's a lot easier for your Fans to enter a Contest. The small downside is that we won't automatically force the Fan to provide their name and zip code before they can enter the Contest. However, we can capture that info in other places.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 2 - Pay What You Want

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

• Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
• Pay What You Want
• Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
• Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the second - Pay What You Want

We've added a feature to our Artist Mobile Store where you can put up an item for sale and let Fans choose what they want to pay for it. 

Pay What You Want has become an attractive alternative for Artists who have digital content especially (music, podcasts, videos) that fans typically acquire/download for free but, as studies have shown, would pay for these items to support their favorite Artists if that option was presented to them. 

We were at a recent Independent Musicians Conference and one of the Keynote Speakers said "If you don't give a Fan the ability to buy something from you, it's not their fault!" 

We rest our case.

Valentines Day Feature Flash 1 - Stripe and Bitcoin

We're feeling the Valentines Day love and giving some of our own with new Features just released that strengthen the Adva Mobile Platform. Read on to check out

• Stripe Payments and Bitcoin
• Pay What You Want
• Texting In During Contests is Easier for Fans
• Texting in to capture a Fan's Zipcode

Here's the first - Stripe Payments and Bitcoin

Stripe Payment Processing - On your Mobile Store, we have changed from using PayPal to process payments to using Stripe.

This shouldn't mean anything to you or your fans.

Except we now accept Bitcoin for payment of your physical and digital goods. Which is kinda cool. Maybe not now, but it's a "tip of the hat" to the future.

Survey Your Fans - Do They Like Texts?

Ask your fans:

How's our Texting?

 Do you wonder if your Fans like getting texts from you? Here is a GREAT IDEA to 

• Ask your Fans if they want more or less Texts From You

• Check out the Survey Engagement Feature on the Adva Mobile Platform

• Gain more info about your fans (we'll capture their Zip Code) 

AND THERE'S NO CHARGE TO SEND OUT THIS SURVEY TEXT! HOLIDAY PRESENT FROM ADVA MOBILE!

We'll credit your account with the number of texts you send to your fans.

 Here's What To Do:

1. Go on to your Adva Mobile Dashboard and click on the "Surveys" Tab

2. Where it says "Set up promotional message on your home page", enter "Take the Survey - Do You like Texts?"

3. Here are Four Options to ask your your Fans: 

o I like getting Texts from you once a month

o I would like a Text from you more than once a month

o I only want a Text from you when you are coming to my town.

o I don't want any more Texts from You

4. Schedule your Survey (2-4 days is OK). You can also give them some complimentary content if you want. Here is what your Web App Home page and the Survey Page will look like:

5. Now, send a SMS Text Blast to your Fans. Here is a message you can use:

"How's our Texting? Help us help you get only the messages you want by telling us how often you want texts, right here:"

When you set up your SMS Text Blast you can select "Surveys" on the drop down box and the link we automatically add will take Fans right to the Survey Page.

That's it! You'll learn valuable insights from your Fans, you'll engage them on your web app (always a good thing!) and you and your Fans will have fun using the cool Surveys Feature of the Adva Mobile Platform. Check it out!

You know text message marketing for musicians has gone mainstream when Justin Bieber is launching a text messaging campaign.

In my opinion this is gamechanging. Lot's of smaller Artists use text to connect with fans, many using deep linking. A stronger validation when someone the stature of Bieber endorses text messaging to engage fans. Thoughts?

http://bit.ly/AdvaBieberSMS

More Insights from the CD Baby D.I.Y Conference

More musings and take - away notes I took at the terrific First Ever CD Baby D.I.Y. Conference for Independent Artists:

• Pay what you want (for music) is a strategy that works. Many fans pay more than the suggested list price. Tip Jars are also OK.
• Lifetime memberships was a unique idea, and subscription services (fans pay something monthly for ongoing content) is another unique business model.
• The Label route isn't always the most productive. Once you're into a 360 deal, you have to use all the services offered by a label. So you can press your own CD for about $1 but the label service costs you $3. You can have a T-Shirt printed up for $1 but the label T-Shirt company wants $5. A lot of the advance money you get from the label is swallowed back by the label. They have someone pushing music onto radio, but with limited slots, you're competing with others trying to get a hit onto radio.
• The marketing for musicians mirrors most other small business challenges - awareness, capture, engagement, monetize.
• Always be thinking about the lifetime value of the Fan.
• Most Artists do not offer fans a way to engage them except when they release new music on Fridays.
• Blockchain and bitcoins are going to be a big deal for musicians. 
• People read on phones, so all your digital presence should be mobile optimized.

Already looking forward to next year and being part of the event!

Adva Mobile at the first CD Baby DIY Conference

CD Baby organized their first DIY Conference a few weeks ago, and it was a success. More than 1,000 independent Artists showed up to learn from the pro's about marketing, career advancement, and making great music.

Here's a group of photo's from the event, including yours truly with Adva Mobile Artist Sean Ardoin and Zydekool (text getkool to 444999 to check out Zydekool and their terrific Cajun sound).

My favorite take-away from the event - Keynote close speaker Martin Atkins (Public Image Ltd, Killing Joke): "If the fans are looking to buy your merchandise and there's nothing for sale, it's not their fault!"

More Take- Aways from this inspiring  3 day event:

• There were 1,050 Artists at the Conference and 15% have a database of more than 500 names
• There was a lot of push for email.... apparently text is not yet mainstream :-) . Email address and zip is core, leading to using data to drive decisions. Contact data is key. 
• Fans are fascinated by the creativity of Artists so don't just show them the end product - show them the process. Don't think that what you think is boring is boring to your fans. The story of how it's happening is exciting. 
•  17% of fans think of themselves as superfans and represent 61% of sales
• Make money showing how you make things, not selling the end product.

I'll have more posts about specific details of the conference that were particularly relevant for Adva Mobile. I was left inspired by the passion of Independent Musicians, and you sure do need the kinds of tools we're building here at Adva Mobile to engage your fans.