Successful DJ marketing requires a comprehensive plan covering everything from your websites and social media pages to the content you intend to share.
Whether you’re a budding mobile DJ or hope to perform at major venues and festivals, the marketing activities listed below will set you on the path to long-term success.
Read on, and we’ll break down the ten core steps to marketing your DJ business, from establishing your brand to working with influencers and developing a dedicated fanbase.
DJ Marketing: 10 Steps To Promote Your DJ Business
Marketing yourself as an independent DJ takes a lot of time and effort, and with plenty of options at your fingertips, it can seem overwhelming if you’re new to the business.
So, to help you get started, we’ve broken down the process into ten simple steps covering everything you need to do to ensure your venture has the most chance of success.
Step 1: Conduct Industry Research
The first important step when creating a plan to promote your DJ business is to research your competitors to see how other DJs market their brands.
Select a handful of DJs most relevant to your genres and style, then investigate how they approach marketing across various measures.
Next, dig into where these DJs share their music and DJ sets. Are they uploading audio-only mixes to SoundCloud and MixCloud, or have they put together music videos for YouTube and Spotify playlists?
The venues and events they work on are also helpful to inspire your marketing plan, giving insights into the level of competition you can expect in a given domain.
Finally, figure out what media coverage they’ve had, whether it’s interviews or artist profiles, so you can compile a database of potential contacts to reach out to.
If you conduct your research thoroughly, you’ll be left with a comprehensive “To Do” list that reflects a professional-level DJ business to help get you started.
Step 2: Create Your DJ Brand
With plenty of industry research under your belt, you’ll have a much clearer idea of how professionals create and promote an eye-catching and memorable brand.
Now it’s time to put your DJ brand together, choosing the style, vision, and ethos that sets your DJ business apart from the competition.
Your brand is the first thing potential venues and customers will see, so if you’re aiming to perform at weddings and parties rather than bars and nightclubs, you’ll want to tailor it to make this clear.
When determining how to build a DJ brand, you must identify your niche, whether playing the latest EDM chart hits or specializing in underground techno.
Once you’ve established a niche, you can identify the market you’re hoping to attract and understand the online habits that might lead them to your content.
Ultimately, your brand should reflect your vibe at a glance so your target audiences, such as club promoters, venue owners, and other potential clients, can easily see if you’re a good fit.
Step 3: Choose Your DJ Name
Another small but painstaking step to building a strong DJ brand and business is choosing a DJ name that encapsulates your brand in a few words.
Some DJs opt to use their birth name as their DJ names, such as Calvin Harris, Carl Cox, and David Guetta, while others prefer to choose something new and unique.
There are a couple of factors worth bearing in mind if you’re considering using your real name: such as how good it sounds and whether you want to retain some anonymity.
Alternatively, you can use a nickname or stage names, such as Diplo or Kygo, or even a completely made-up name like DeadMau5.
This option gives you more room for inventive logos directly relating to your name (think Aphex Twin), so how your DJ name integrates into your overall branding is worth bearing in mind.
For a unique approach, you can choose an acronym or numbers, such as the DJ 999999999, although this is more appropriate for electronic music DJs than wedding DJs, for example.
Step 4: Build Your DJ Website
Setting up a DJ website is the next step when working on your DJ marketing strategy, whether you’re becoming a mobile DJ or hoping to headline big festivals.
Here, you can present your brand loudly and proudly, sharing your DJ bio, photo galleries of your previous gigs and live streams, and host archives of your DJ mixes.
A website is the first port of call for potential clients and can be regularly linked to from all your social media channels and the content you post.
If you don’t have experience, you can hire a web designer/developer to plan and build your website to ensure everything functions correctly and has a professional look and feel.
A great DJ website is more than just a repository for your content; you can use it to sell branded merchandise and other cool accessories your fans will appreciate.
While some DJ businesses prefer to stick primarily to social media for their DJ marketing, a dedicated website indicates professionalism that potential future clients will look for.
Step 5: Create A Press Kit
A DJ press kit is designed to encapsulate your brand in one simple-to-read package, which can be shared via email as a PDF with promoters and other event organizers.
This fusion of marketing materials should cover your DJ career up to this point, clearly branded with your DJ logo and linking to all your social media pages.
It’s worthwhile investing in some professional photographs from your DJ gigs, for example, if you’re already playing in your local music scene.
Include clear information on your availability and instructions for how a DJ agency can make a booking if they’d like you to perform at their venues.
If you’re creating a physical media press kit to hand off directly to DJ agencies, include a business card, so they have a quick point of reference to keep on hand.
Step 6: Secure Your Social Media Accounts
When it comes to effective DJ marketing tips, crafting a strong social media presence is one of the most important aspects to address.
Social media channels are where you can quickly showcase your DJ skills and reach your target audience instantly, creating a sense of community in forums such as Facebook groups.
These pages are also where a lot of networking occurs, so at the bare minimum, you should set up Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts and start building a following here.
Make sure the social media handles for your brand are available, then sign up to all the relevant platforms and change the logos and banners to reflect your visual branding.
Based on your industry research, you’ll know which platforms best suit your needs, as uploading content and posting regularly across all platforms can be time-consuming.
Once you’ve decided which channels to post to, it’s time to create a comprehensive content plan to help build awareness of your DJ activities.
Step 7: Publish High-Quality Content
Now that your social media platforms and website have been set up, featuring a well-designed DJ logo and consistent branding, it’s time to start sharing content.
This means signing up to a DJ pool to gather tracks and sharing your latest DJ mixes on your YouTube channel and other platforms regularly.
Here, you can really let your content shine, demonstrating everything from your understanding of how to use DJ sound effects to your diverse taste in musical genres.
You can also share curated content, which means reposting content from elsewhere but with your own unique commentary and insights to promote conversations.
If you’re using Twitter, take advantage of their trending topics and hashtags to further drive traffic to your account and piggyback off industry trends.
If your DJ marketing plan has a reasonable budget, you can also use paid advertising methods directed toward a target demographic to drive this content to a specific niche audience.
Step 8: Reach Out To Brand Ambassadors & Influencers
One of the most effective ways to promote your business and leave a lasting mark on the DJ world is to work with brand ambassadors and online influencers willing to share your content.
Influencer marketing is becoming increasingly popular, and establishing a healthy relationship for all types of DJs with an influencer can help promote your DJ services to millions of followers.
Likewise, a great brand ambassador can serve as a gateway to your target audience, promoting upcoming gigs around the local scene.
Brand ambassadors don’t have to be expensive, with some DJs hiring university students to hand out flyers and other promotional materials on campus.
Many people hire DJs based on established credentials and word of mouth, so working with influencers and brand ambassadors is an excellent idea if you want to nudge the organic growth of your business.
Step 9: Host Free Gigs Supporting Local DJs
Building an online presence and creating networks is crucial for developing a DJ venture, but it needs to be paired with real-world activities to be as effective as possible.
This means getting out there and working with local venues and other DJs to put on events and establish your reputation as a DJ who is worth hiring.
Many DJs will collaborate to host events in bars or nightclubs where they can showcase their music genre and style, the success of which paves the way for more gigs.
The advantage of working with other DJs is pooling resources, encouraging more people to attend, and building an audience that can promote future events via personal social media accounts.
These events can also be used for content creation, recording your sets for uploading to your website and other channels, and building a portfolio to share with followers.
Step 10: Produce Your Own Music
If you’re looking to take your DJ organization to the next level and want to stand out over the competition, producing your own music is a must.
Some of the best DJs in the world have taken their careers to new heights by producing music and introducing a new revenue stream in the process.
Music production can certainly be complex and time-consuming, but it can also be learned gradually over time.
Once you become proficient at production and have mixed, mastered, and finished a selection of tracks, you can use your DJ skills to try them out on a crowd and gauge their reaction.
While there is a difference between a DJ and a producer, they share many complementary skills, so if you have the time to diversify your talent stack, production is well worth considering.
Summary
That wraps up this step-by-step guide to DJ marketing and promotion, exploring everything you need to know about creating an online presence and building a network of fans and clients.
This process is a starting point for aspiring DJs and established pros to build brand awareness and refine their marketing strategy over time.
Whatever your genre of choice or intended audience, these ten steps should help you find the ideal clients and mark the beginning of a successful career.
Build a library of unlimited music and effects packs and take your DJ business to the next level by signing up to ZIPDJ today.