In this article, we will explain how your existing fans can be your best free marketing tool. This will take some planning on your part. But, in the end, this simple strategy will help you engage with your current fans, reward your loyal fans, and draw in new fans.

The Concept

Nothing beats FREE stuff. People see the words FREE and it's like instant brain candy. They scramble to figure out what they have to do in order to get something for nothing. In fact, if the item is good enough, people are willing to do some pretty outrageous things to win. I mean, c'mon, we are all competitive in nature. We all want to be #1 or deemed the winner. This could work in favor of your marketing strategy.

Here is how. It begins with determining a prize. This will dictate how crazy your contest can be. The contest must include your fans doing something that promotes you. The fan incorporating your name will draw attention, the curiosity factor will draw attention and that competitive nature will draw in more people to participate. This generates even more attention.

Prizes

Remember, the more you give, the more you can ask. It has to be a desirable prize. You need to know your fans and what they want. It also depends on how large your current fan base is and how well known you are. Below you will find some suggestions that may get your creative juices flowing to determine what you can offer.

- There is 1 universal thing that no-one will say no to. And that is cash. This could be a $50 - $100 prepaid Visa gift card.

- Nothing helps people listen to your music anywhere like a portable blue tooth speaker. These start out at around $20. Mp3 players and flash drives with your music loaded onto it work too.

- If you plan on creating a video anytime soon, you could let the winner appear in it.

- For more well-known producers, the prize could be a day in the studio with you.

- A merch pack. This would include things like pre-released tracks on a USB drive, shirts, hats, stickers and anything else you have your name on.

The broader the prize, meaning the more it appeals to everyone and not just a specific group, the more people you will have wanting to participate.

The Contest

Have fun with this. Encourage creativity and things that have endless possibilities. People do crazy things all the time and you never know which fan of yours could be creative enough to go viral with there entry.

*Disclaimer*, Of course, it needs to be legal and safe. You don’t want to see who can consume the most toxic substances and stay conscious the longest while wearing your t-shirt.

Here are a few contest ideas. Keep in mind whatever idea you go with you need to consider and set rules, determine a start and end date, how the winner will be selected and notified, and of course how you are going to spread the word in order to get your fans involved.

- Tag, You’re it.

Create a promo post. Each fan that reposts and tags 3 of their friends are entered into a drawing.

- Best Selfie.

Have fans post a selfie with your producer name/logo in the most creative way possible.

- #Collab

A more intensive contest would be #collab. Offer up stems from one of your tracks and let fans develop their own remix.

- Lip-Sync

Fans make their own video and lip-sync to one of your tracks.

The best way to generate traffic to you is by encouraging people to vote. If you run a contest and have 3 finalists, you would then host the judging on your page and fans would drive traffic to it.

This technique has been done repeatedly so you will really have to draw up something new and exciting. It also helps if your contest involves social responsibility.

If you are ready to have your fans market your music here is what you need to do next.

Start Planning

In order to pull this off you need to determine:

- The Prize

- How the prize is won

- Rules

- How long the contest will run

- How you are going to promote the contest

Take some time and really think of something that is engaging, positive, fun, and most importantly involves your music. It can be as small or as large as you want it to be. The more you put into it, the more engaged your fans will be. The more engaged your fans are, the more fans they will attract to you.

Do you want even more attention drawn to your music? Set up your contest or challenge and post the information in the comment section below.