Hey there and welcome back to The Habit Weekly.

In this week’s edition:

• Lollapalooza’s docuseries.

• Yung Gravy’s vs Rick Astley.

• What’s Snapchat’s Spotlight?

Great Ideas For Marketing Support Gigs

Credit: Anna-M. W

Performing as a support act is one of the best ways emerging musicians can gain exposure and expand their fan base.Today, we’re looking at marketing tactics that can help artists make the most of their support slots.

Collaborative ContentThere's plenty of ways main acts and their supports can collaborate on content, whether they prepare artist vs. artist interviews to pitch to media, collaborate on live videos on social media, or film promotional content together.By cross-promoting this content, both acts can help to increase the support’s reach. They’ll also be able to provide this audience with content that can spark meaningful engagement. Co-hosting Facebook Events

To boost interactions with fans, support acts should make sure they're listed as a co-host on any relevant Facebook events. This allows them to post directly to the event, and reach attendees with notifications ahead of their shows. As a co-host, artists can also use the Event to create a Facebook Custom Audience based on Event responders. You can read more about that below. Targeted AdvertisingInstead of focusing on their existing audience, artists can extend their reach by targeting the main act’s fans and other users connected to the event. Here's some ways to approach this in Facebooks Ads Manager:

1. If the headline act is established enough, support acts might be able to create an Interest-based audience to target. They can also refine this group by targeting fans in specific locations.

2. If the support act is a Co-host of the Facebook Event, they can create a Custom Audience to target punters who have responded to it.

3. Lastly, artists can target event attendees, shortly after the performance with Location targeting. This is as simple as selecting the venue location at the Ad Set level, and using the 'People recently in this location' option.

To make the most of these options post-performance, the key is to ensure that ad creative is relevant to the chosen audience. Advertising using content from the event is a great way to tick this box.Advertise During the EventIt’s important to remember that attendees tend to arrive to events at scattered times, so simply introducing a support act once or twice during a set might not cut it. Where possible, support acts should utilise promo materials like physical flyers and stickers. They can ask friends or family to hand them out, or if they have the budget, hire a street promo company - it's not as expensive as some might think.

Artists should also ensure that their logo is on display with other options like audiovisual screens, branded kick drum skins and well positioned merchandise.The Old Fashioned WayThere's one thing that the live shows themselves will offer that online promotion won't - a chance to interact with punters face-to-face. If they can, artists should dedicate some time to hanging out in the venue during their show, meeting fans and selling merch. Whether it's for one show or a whole tour, a support slot presents an opportunity to introduce an act to potential new fans. Support slots of all sizes. Can be amplified with the right marketing approach.

Campaigns

Lollapalooza’s three-part docuseries is on its way to Paramount+. Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza will reflect on 30 years of the event, while unveiling never-before-seen archival footage.Tourism Western Australia has taken Empire Of The Sun’s ‘Walking on a Dream’ to elevate their campaign by the same name. The Walking On A Dream ad is a global showcase of WA, soundtracked by a cover of the Aussie duo’s 2008 hit. Super Bowl season has well and truely kicked off. Musicians are joining forces with brands for pre-game advertising. Dave Grohl has partnered with Crown Royal, Ozzy Osbourne's lending his acting talents to HR/finance software provider Workday and Meghan Trainor is Pringle's muso of choice.

Trends

Spotify is currently testing a new Friends tab on mobile, which is already gaining positive reviews from users. This is in addition to Spotify testing a Community tab last year. It’s common for Spotify to be testing new features, and there’s no guarantee these will roll out. However, it seems Spotify is eager to introduce better social interactions between users, which we think would be welcomed news.Buzzfeed is jumping on the AI bandwagon. While the platform says it “remains focused on human-generated journalism“, it will be utilising OpenAI to write quizzes and other content.Yung Gravy is one of many artists using sampling to his advantage. Now, he’s being sued for topping his sample off with mimicry. The rapper’s lawyers say they obtained permission to interpolate Rick Astley’s ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ on his single ‘Betty’. Astley’s team now argue that the new tune, which includes a mimicry of Astley, has gone too far. Instagram’s co-founders have launched a new AI-powered tailored newsfeed, called Artifact. They’re currently testing a feed featuring posts by the accounts that users follow, including commentary. They’re also testing a private inbox for articles of interest.

Learn

Twitch is planning to enhance its advertising experience. Updates will help advertisers have more visibility and control over when ads roll. They’ll also be making changes to how and where ads appear on the platform and offering an ad-free tier. Snapchat’s Spotlight is the platform’s answer to Instagram’s Explore and TikTok’s For You. It features an in-app music library, Topic settings, Replies, Trending content and Challenges.

Fast Facts

👉 56% of TikTok users have purchased a product promoted on the platform.

Written by Olivia Gliku