Over the past few years, Topspin has powered hundreds of successful campaigns for bands of all sizes. During that time, we’ve learned a lot about what strategies work best in the direct-to-fan world. The rules of the new game are beginning to reveal themselves, and the marketers, managers and artists who master these new tactics have the best shot at succeeding in the modern music business. Today, we want to share a case study of a great campaign that features three key elements: bundles, exclusive merch, and smart email marketing.
Drive-By Truckers have amassed a dedicated audience over the band’s decade-long career. For their most recent studio album, they wanted to run a direct-to-fan pre-order campaign. They offered the new album in digital, CD, and vinyl packages along with a Deluxe bundle with limited-edition artwork that any DBT fan would drool over. They also offered an exclusive t-shirt that was only available as a $15 add-on to pre-orders. Topspin helped them build a dedicated landing page that included all their product offerings, plus a streaming music player and an email-collection widget. The pre-order ran for six weeks, and the band sent a couple of email blasts to market the pre-order to their fans.
The result? A success by any measure:
- Over 2,300 units of the new album were ordered.
- 23% of those orders were for the Deluxe package (priced at $75+).
- The average transaction across all orders was $35.
- Over 38% of pre-orders included the exclusive t-shirt upsell.
That’s just a basic summary. Lots more information, plus pretty charts and graphs, can be found in the complete case study; click here to read the whole thing. Keep your eyes peeled for more in-depth case studies in the coming weeks. We’re proud of our clients’ successful campaigns, and we hope you find inspiration in their stories. If you would like to be featured in a Topspin case study, send an email to marketing@topspinmedia.com and we’ll be in touch shortly.
