This, I guess is a part 3 of the Rockstar marketing series…
The 1st 2 posts dealt primarily with how Rock Stars enroll their audience, building and solidifying relationships, before “closing” the sale.
In this installment of “Marketing Like A Rock Star”, I am going to take a different approach – talking about a Rock Star building her social capital and using an ethical bribe to increase her Twitter following!
The “who” in this story is Tina Sugandh, the “Tabla Girl”. Tina and I have been friends (in the social networking sense) for years going back to MySpace.
Tina has an amazing story. She has been performing with her family since she was 5 years old – this is from her website bio:
Growing up in New Jersey (her parents moved from Bombay when she was five months old), Tina Sugandh was immersed in music. Naturally gifted with an enchanting voice, Geeta, the matriarch of her close-knit family sang on the radio and at various functions (when she wasn’t carrying out her responsibilities as a marketing professional); while the patriarch, Kanaiya, was a charismatic and charming master of ceremony, singer, and comedian (when he wasn’t teaching at his University). Together, they were an enthralling couple, entertaining friends at gatherings and parties.
Tina and her sister, Seema, traveled with their parents to all of their performances. It was at the age of five that Tina had found her calling. “The first time my parents allowed me to sing on stage was at a fair,” she recalls. “I was five and I sang a ghazal, which is a type of song you can sing only if you have a trained voice. As soon as I got up there, I tried to take over. My parents were surprised when they realized I was trying to steal the spotlight! They recognized that I loved performing and wanted to be a part of the show. They encouraged me and supported my love of music and performing. They also kept me focused and gave me a strong work ethic by insisting that I could continue performing as long as my grades at school remained high.” That started “The Sugandh Family” music legacy.
Like in every great story, sometimes there is tragedy. On December 3rd of 2009, Tina’s “Ma” Geeta lost her battle with breast Cancer.
This, however, is where this take on Rockstar Marketing takes a turn – by using the following techniques Tina accomplishes 3 (three) different marketing goals:
- She gets people to visit her site
- Has visitors take action using an ethical bribe, and
- Raises awareness of a good cause!
Let’s break these down for you so you, too, can use them in your own business.
1. Getting people to visit tinasugandh.com
Tina uses the “giveaway” (I like to call it the “ethical bribe”) method. Visit the website and I will give you a free download of my new song. Using email and social media sites, Tina made the offer of the free download…
Once you get to the site, here’s what you see:
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, get a FREE DOWNLOAD of the what Tina calls the most important song…
Notice how #3 starts right at the beginning. We click the link and we are instructed how, exactly to claim our free download.
2. Getting Visitors to take action with the ethical bribe
This is so great! Here Tina reinforces her calling attention to a good cause and gives instructions on the action the visitor must take in order to receive their free music download.. This from her site:
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month! In honor of those whose lives have been affected by cancer, Tina has written and recorded what she calls the most heartfelt song of her career, entitled “Snake Charmer”, and would love to share it with you all. To receive your free download link, join Twitter and follow these easy instructions:
No I’m not going to post the instructions – you’ll have to visit her site: Tabla Girl’s Free Download – to do that.
So, in order to receive the free download, you first must follow Tina on Twitter – Great way to build your follower list on Twitter, don’t you think?!
3. Raising Awareness of a good cause
Now how about using your platform, in addition to giving your clients/customers/fans/followers something of value for free, but also taking the time and using thee opportunity to introduce them to something that is meaningful to you. Just as Breast Cancer Awareness means a lot to Tina.
Do you think you can apply these 3 steps to a promotion in your business?
If you have found this post helpfful or insightful – please leave a comment or Tweet it using the button above.
Thanks,
Lennie
Tags: breast cancer awareness, ethical bribe, giveaway, good cause, marketing, MySpace, Rock star, Rockstar, Social Networking, Tabla Girl, Tina Sugandh, Twitter, Twitter following
