Image via WikipediaToday I’m focusing on the “street team” –which is really something that I never really got.

I’m a total business nerd and I love talking about marketing, pricing strategy, branding, financial management, and any number of other topics that are probably tripping your gag-reflex. That being said, I think that there are way too many buzz terms in the business world and I really hate when they become commonly used by people, even though most of us can only contextually (if at all) guess what they mean. What the hell is a street team? It conjures images of teenage redbull product reps from 10 years ago, and all the “truth” and anti “big tobacco” commercials that played a lot after the big lawsuits several years back. For me, those images are really comprised of irritating, quasi-hip/quasi-urban youth with cargo pants, sneakers with grind plates on them, and backpacks filled with free product samples and promotional goodies.

This still doesn’t answer the question; “what is a street team, why do I need one, and how do I get them to promote me (especially because I have no money)”.

Guerrilla Marketing, as defined by Jay Conrad Levinson (inventor of the term), is the process of accomplishing ordinary marketing objectives in extraordinary or uncommon ways. In the case of a musician, artist or band –this is EVERY marketing and promoting action you do, because you likely don’t have the marketing budget borrowed marketing budget from a big record label to purchase air time, national TV spots, ads in Rolling Stone, Vibe and the like. This means you have to think unconventionally about all your marketing so you can keep in under budget and be able to have the time in which to do it.

The street team is your personal group of disciples who go out and preach your band’s brand to any and everybody. For one of my customers, his best street team would be made of screaming female teenagers (that were all younger than he is). For another group, it might be wealthy retirees that want to contribute to an arts scene. In any case, the street team for the musician will largely consist of people willing to do work for free, or more often, in exchange for scenester points or other perks –like free back stage passes, a free t-shirt, or a public recognition from stage. These are the people that will take your brand message and email it to their friends, cross-post it on their own blogs/myspace sites, and even run around to record stores and coffee shops to put up posters and drop off flyers. Converting somebody into being your brand evangelist, especially before you have reached a modicum of success, means that either you’re compensating them or they are you close friend or family member.

Your goal is to make it as easy/likely as you can to get your evangelists out there preaching the gospel of you. Here are some examples:

1. Hold a design contest and encourage all your fans to participate. The winner should get something of monetary value (a CD, T-shirt, guest list for a year, cash, or gift card for a free lunch) -AND- their design should be your next album cover, T-shirt, Rock Poster, 1″ button etc. etc. Make sure you consult with your printer to get the correct format specifications for the contest and to make sure you have the number of colors and other specs set before you run the contest. No winner wants to be told that their design won’t be used after all. Your winner will tell everybody they won, and probably make all their friends buy the shirt or album.
2. Give your street team the tools to help market you. Include a few free stickers with every merchandise purchase, leave small piles of cheap promotional goods at record shops, music stores, cafes and the like. People will take the extras and hand them out, stick them to their car or backpack and do the advertising for you. Some saavy branders will have a page on their website that has screen savers, myspace layouts, posters to print at home for free, and a host of other user-driven items that allow people to download your brand and disseminate it.
3. Bribe them. I mentioned this earlier in the post, but it’s always okay to pay your marketers with free merchandise, a shout-out (online and on stage), or guest list access.
4. Be really good at music. Though it’s obvious, sometimes the best way to encourage people to spread the word is to just be really really good at what you do.
5. Thank Them. Relationships are the most important assets that humans can ever have. Make sure that as you build your band or music business, never forget that people come first. It’s astonishing what a little recognition and thanks can do to foster a relationship. Don’t use people, thank them.

HAPPY WEEKEND!