Ali & the DT_s Digital Marketing Plan Aug 1st 2014

‘Ali and the Dt’s’
Digital Marketing Plan Aug 1st 2014
Saoirse Sheridan, Student No: 13117190, GCM
‘Somewhere over the rainbow way up high’
For DR Theo Lynn
Digital music sales in 2011 exceeded physical sales in the United States for the first time in history (Fisch,2010).

Table of Contents
Introduction… ‘We Will Rock You’...............................................................................................2
The Band Background, Current Digital Performance and Metrics… ‘Blood, Sweat and Tears’ 3
Metrics...........................................................................................................................................4
The Market Competitors Digital Performance…. ‘Staying Alive’ .................................................5
Digital Marketing Implementation Plan…. ‘Shake that Money Maker’ ........................................7
Recommendation One Building a Web Site & implement Google Analytics.........................................7
Ideas for the Website Content: ....................................................................................................8
Home Page Content Ideas:..........................................................................................................8
Music & Videos Page Content Ideas: ..........................................................................................9
Events & Gigs Page Content Ideas: ............................................................................................9
Photos Page Content Ideas:........................................................................................................9
A Possible Fun Campaign...............................................................................................................10
Band News Page Content Ideas (Blog): ....................................................................................10
Google Analytics...........................................................................................................................12
Recommendation Two Set up a Email Marketing Campaign… ‘Call Me’................................12
Recommendation Three Use Social Media… ‘Living La Vida Loca’.........................................13
Ideasfor Social Media Content:......................................................................................................14
Recommendation four Blog - What’s New Pussycat?.......................................................................16
Recommendation five SEO - What is SEO and Recommendations ....................................................18
Recommendations for SEO:...........................................................................................................19
Keywords:....................................................................................................................................19
Quality Content:...........................................................................................................................19
Back linking:.................................................................................................................................19
Social Media:................................................................................................................................19
Images:........................................................................................................................................20
Meta Tags: ...................................................................................................................................20
Recommendation 6 - Target Market ‘We Want You’ .......................................................................20
Conclusion…. ‘Grove is in the Heart’.........................................................................................22
References.................................................................................................................................23

Selection of readings undertaken for assignment:...........................................................................24
Appendix 1: Example of MailChimp Email Marketing Campaign.......................................................25
Hello everyone we are back ..............................................................................................................25
Appendix 2: Stick this on your wall and review review review!! .......................................................26
Appendix 3:Strikingimagesthatcreate qualitycontent,stiremotionmake usquestion,feel,think,
laugh and cry. Tell a story, build your brand and get the world’s attention!!....................................27
Appendix 4: Bonus Recommendation & Evidence of Metrics Research for Theo ...............................28
‘

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‘The best mind-altering drug is the truth. - Lily Tomlin’ Twitter

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Introduction… ‘We Will Rock You’
According to (Leeflang, P) the internet has become one of the most important markets
for the transaction of goods and services. Furthermore he states the digital revolution in
society and marketing creates tremendous challenges for firms. The music business for
one has been impacted profoundly by the digital revolution.
This digital marketing plan is for the band Ali and the DT’s. It’s been prepared to help
the band better promote themselves online through their digital marketing activities.
The plan discus’s a number of recommendations that will work in an easy to use
integrated way, with the objective of enticing ‘misfits, followers, obsessed fans and
lucrative paying customers’ towards the website and beyond. The goal is to generate
music sales, increased attendance at gigs, grow the emailing list, and social media
following and all round engagement.
By applying concepts such as inbound marketing - creating quality content and using
SEO, along with using the digital platforms with intelligence, creativity and flair these
goals will be achieved. The plan will furthermore review their current basic metrics and
benchmark against local competitors ‘The Hot Sprockets’ and ‘New Secret Weapon’.
The insights gained from this review will be used to make the band’s own online
marketing activities more effective.
The time frame for the recommendations to be successfully implemented is three
months. With a financial budget of ‘empty wallet’ and a passion budget of a million,
recommendations have been made to get the band digitally diligent.

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The Band Background, Current Digital Performance and Metrics… ‘Blood, Sweat
and Tears’
They got on stage and just blew the crowd away with their particular take on blues-
music.' - Niall Toner, RTE Radio 1's Roots Freeway
Ali and the DT’s are an 8 piece group from Dublin originally formed in the summer of
2006, when they started playing old blues standards in Beat clubs around town, taking
their influences either from Chess Records artists such as Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters
& Sonny Boy Williamson, or Motown & Stax performers James Brown & Otis Redding.
Well know on the live music circuit they have taken some much needed time out to
recharge their batteries and focus on other projects. Now ready to get back on stage
where they belong with some new songs the band are now looking to review their digital
presence and see how it can support their efforts to conquer Dublin and then maybe the
world.

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Currently Ali and the DT’s can be found on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube and their
album ‘Revolution of the sexes’ is for sale on ITunes which is their only online
ecommerce platform so driving traffic to this site is crucial for conversion.
Metrics
‘In a world of infinite choice, the ability to pick critical few metrics to focus on is well..,
critical. It is the difference between plodding along, or winning big.’
Avinsh Kunshik Google, Co-founder
When reviewing Ali and the DT’s online accessible social media metrics, one can see a
direct coloration between numbers of followers, posting of content to the success of
these platforms. The current lack of vitality on these platforms is to be expected as the
band have not been engaging with their online audiences, resulting in Facebook and
Twitter showing a low level of new followers, interaction, favouriting, retweeting or
sharing of content. Interaction on social platforms is important and I recommend that
Ali and the DTs review and follow suit with what their competitors are doing as their
social media platforms are buzzing with interaction. Also the band should use social
media tools such as ‘fan reach metrics’ which help measure the appeal of content to an
audience. The more engagement (clicks on your content) indicates that more people
have interacted with your content, suggesting that they are quality followers or fans with
a potential to create greater revenues. Social Media tools allow you to track and
understand the relevance of such information and how to use it effectively to improve
your online performance.
I recommend the band use Facebook, Twitter and Youtube tools that specifically focus
on social media metrics, such as Sproutsocial and hootsuite for Twitter, Raven for
YouTube and kissmetrics for Facebook. Outside help with this may be advisable if it
proves to frustrating or time consuming for the band to carry out themselves.

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The bands followers are a loyal community with many influences (other singers,
musicians, bands, Dublin venues) who have in the past and can again share Ali and the
DT’s content with their own followers. This is a positive plus that I recommend the band
should use to extend reach through social media channels. This action could lead to
conversions through new visits to social media pages and the website, sign up to the
newsletter, sales of the band’s music on ITunes and attendance at gigs. Simply asking
your online friends to share your content should prove effective.
The Market Competitors Digital Performance…. ‘Staying Alive’
The Dublin Music scene is very alive and it’s quite competitive too, this competitiveness
adds to the creative process and the surfacing of some high quality local bands playing
in venues, bars and ‘streets’ around the city. It is also quite a small community with
strong networks, and communities ‘Everyone knows everyone’. Current competitors
who Ali and the DT’s can learn from in regards to their digital activities are the Hot
Sprockets, and New Secret Weapon. These bands have all at times moved in the same
circles and played the same venues to similar audiences. The audience in its broadest
sense ‘target market’ can be described as between 20 and 40 years of age,
international due to Dublin’s cosmopolitan demographic, digitally well connected and
passionate about live music. Getting in front of these live audiences and remembering
to encouraging them to check out your website and social media sites is really
important. I highly recommend making a habit of referring fans to the bands online
platforms, once or twice during a performance.
“Remember to check out our new song on our website and sign up to the news letter for
a free download; you’ve been a great audience”

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The Hot Sprockets
The Hot sprockets have a great web site with strong calls to action, engaging lively
images and regular updates, their Facebook page has close to 10,000 likes and is
updated daily with pictures of the band, where they have been, and what they are up to.
They also share other fun, interesting and entertaining content with their followers.
These kinds of activities ‘tactics’ are basic digital marketing rules for engaging with fans
online through social media - the Hot Sprockets are doing a good job. The Hot
Sprockets are likewise using Twitter in a similar way to promote gigs, share interesting
media stories with their followers and talk about their music. Furthermore Youtube
provides a rich source of music videos from the band. Overall there is a lot to see, sign
up for, buy, get drawn into and follow – this is a worthy competitor to benchmark
against, and learn from. By implement similar strategies on a regular basis – you
should see healthy growth through this new acquisitions and conversions.
New Secret Weapon
New Secret Weapon have their own website which is streamlined, stylish and direct it
fits with the bands image helping to define the bands brand. It also has some strong
calls to action ‘Buy the Album’ and a great ’Press Info’ section which I strongly
recommend Ali and the DT’s review and implement into their own website. New Secret
Weapon are currently creating a buzz and receiving some well deserved media
attention which they have shared on their Facebook page, they haven’t uploaded it to
their Twitter account or blogged it into their website this is a missed opportunity for the
band and one that Ali and the DT’s can learn from. Make sure such quality content is
posted across all the digital platforms to ensure maximum exposure.

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Digital Marketing Implementation Plan…. ‘Shake that Money Maker’
‘There may be some debate about whether anyone is actually making money selling
music and related entertainment merchandise online, but there is little argument that
there is money to be made’ (Marilyn A). The digital world is one that we cannot afford to
ignore or use haphazardly.
As stated above a time frame of three months to allow the band time to digest the
content in this report and carry out the recommendations is suggested. The goal is to
see a healthy increase in social media following, traffic to the website, sign up to email
newsletter and ultimately attendance at gigs and sales of music through ITunes. Pay
per click has not been used in this plan a review of this marketing strategy will be
considered for use in three months time as a way to drive traffic to the website and
generate sales.
Recommendation One Building a Web Site & implement Google Analytics
Currently Ali and the DT’s are on Facebook, Twitter and You Tube I strongly suggest
setting up a website and using a suggested free site www.wix.ie. Along with this it is
essential that you apply Google Analytics and Google Ad words to your site the reasons
for this will be discussed later in this paper.
Your website is your home base and your headquarters it’s the place where you have
the most control. It’s where you can tell your story in your own style, gather contact
information from your fans (their email) and differentiate yourself from everyone else.
There is no excuse for not having a web site if you want to be a contender on the music
scene, luckily they are quite easy to set up and can be set up for free (www.wix.com) is
a good one. 95% of qualified prospects on your website are there to research and as
many 70% will buy a product from you or your competitor (Marketo). As more and more
people are going online to find information about products and services you need to

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have yourself up there with the best of them presenting a polished well defined web
presence. According to CDBABY when it comes to establishing your web presence,
your band website is more important than any single social media platforms; social
media platforms come and go (MySpace) your website is here to stay.
The purpose of the website for Ali and the DT’s is too
 Enhance online presence, creditability and find-ability
 Build the brand, educated audiences through regular quality, images and content
 Sell music, (merchandise – not just yet), promote gigs and gather emails
So Remember every action, post, picture, blog should have an objective ask how ‘will
this action enhance our online presence, build the brand, Inform the audience –
promote gigs sell music. Make us look great?’ Keeping this mantra in mind can help to
keep a focus on what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you want to
achieve.
Ideas for the Website Content:
Home Page Content Ideas: From Hot Sprockets to Bon Jovi (one of biggest band in
the world) the homepage is where you use your ‘call to action’ i.e. sign up to the
newsletter and get a free download, follow us on Facebook, Twitter etc. Buy our new
album now (link to ITunes for Ali and DT’s). These are all ‘calls to action’ that actively
look to engage followers and build relationships, sales and status. Freebies are a tactic
used by digital marketers to hook in followers with the WIIFM ‘what’s in it for me’
customer concept. I recommend that it is part of your plan to implement these actions
into your home page. Likewise applying Google Analytics will allow you to measure the
success of your activities (more about that later). Strong visual images, use of colour
and placement of the Bands logo all need to be thoughtfully considered ‘Creating strong
organizational brands has become a dominant theme in marketing and organizational
communication literature. An organization’s brand is the mental image that an individual

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has when he or she hears the organization’s name’ (Cliffe & Motion, 2005) Therefore it
is well worth keeping such considerations in mind during the decision making process
for layout and uploading of content - think, think, think.
Music & Videos Page Content Ideas: From my research I found that a lot of bands
have both a page for music and one for videos. Ali and the DT’s do not have a
significant amount of content to post to require two pages. I recommend combining
music and videos on one page. Tagging all your videos with relevant keywords
(Keywords discussed later) will again raise SEO, tagging videos and pictures is a less
competitive SEO activity so you have a better opportunity to do well with this effort.
Knowing what your key words are is crucial to success.
Events & Gigs Page Content Ideas: Straight forward enough but there is nothing
worse than an events and gigs page with no events or gigs on it! Make sure to keep
this page up to date and why not let it motivate you to get out there and do a few more
gigs. Making sure the information is accurate – time, date and venue is another point to
watch out for as an error could cause a minor or major disaster. The events and gigs
page should be popular page for visitors to your site (Google Analytics will let you know
for sure) who want to find out this kind of information. Including quality pictures and call
to actions ‘sign up to our newsletter for latest news, tour information and other cool stuff’
‘buy our latest album’ (link to ITunes) will add momentum to your marketing and
conversion efforts.
Photos Page Content Ideas: As a band you should go all out with this page and
get lots of content up for all to see and enjoy it’s an ideal way to tell the story of the
band through pictures and send an emotional message through the images both of
which help to enhance and define the individually ‘Branding’ of Ali and the DT’s.
Tagging every image with the right key words will raise SEO. According to (Cliffe &
Motion, 2005) brand is much more than a visual or auditory message; it represents the

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entire identity based on an individual’s experiences with the organization. Give your
audience an exceptional user experience this is a definite strength of the band and your
current resources.
A Possible Fun Campaign which is photo orientated which can be uploaded on the
website, distributed through email marketing, and social media is to have an ‘Ali and the
DT’s do China’ ‘Ali and the DT’s do India’ etc. it would be good fun to create a few
photos of the band and the singer in photo images with lots of Chinese people making a
mock up of a trip to China this could be a genuinely creative photo shoot with potential
to create a good social media buzz through likes, shares and comments. The objective
of this campaign would be to bring the band back into focus, raise awareness, drive
traffic to the website, and encourage sign up to the email, attendance at gigs and on line
digital sales of music. I would recommend playing around with how often you post the
image you could start out with posting one or two images and see the reaction (using
Google analytics) if it proves to be popular post more. Also remember to respond to
comments, mention the website, your next gigs and new music.
Band News Page Content Ideas (Blog): Posting regular blogs will give your website
visitors new content to read, engage with and enjoy. Keeping your website fresh and up
to date with relevant content is a key aspect of ‘inbound marketing’ and helps to raise
SEO which ultimately makes you easier to find. Keeping an eye on what your website
visitors like to read or view can help you to decide what you should be writing about

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more and what you should be writing about less (Google Analytics). Ali and the DT’s
are great at producing visual images and music videos which have been shot on mobile
phones, this again is a strong point that the band should draw on when posting content.
It is also a way to stand out, generate buzz and get some positive attention. When
posting content weather it’s through a blog or your social media sites - you’re got to be a
little obsessed with your followers, and look to understand and engage them with a
personalised approach across your different digital cross points. You’ve got them to
your website so make it worthwhile and a satisfying experience so they stick around
with you for the long haul.
Contact:
Relatively straight forward but important to get right as this is how people, media, record
labels may look to get in touch with you, I recommend:
 Setting up a special email for contact questions and making sure this is regularly
checked so as not to let an opportunity pass you by.
 Having links to your social media sights listed on this page.
 Listing any upcoming gigs and events.
 Inclusion of email sign up to the newsletter ‘Join our mailing list’ ‘love to have you
on our mailing list’.
 Keep this page clear precise and easy to navigate make it easy for the user to
understand and contact you.
So you’ve built your well thought out, customer friendly, creative website. Submitted
your URL number to Google but your ranking is low with most people not clicking past
the first page, getting good ranking is a job in its self and this is where SEO and Google
Analytics strategy comes into play.

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Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool (you can pay for an upgraded version) that you will need
to set up and use for your website. Google Analytics will give you a wealth of valuable
information about where traffic is coming from when it arrives at your site - links, blogs,
social media etc., and how people are using your site pages too. This information can
help you to shape and improve strategy for your site and online marketing activities.
(Watch Google Analytics in 60 seconds on Utube to learn more)
Learning about how the website can convert more users into customer, which keywords
are ultimately leading to conversions on the organic search and what online activities
such as postings on social media, email campaigns are working the best is all
accessible with Google Analytics.
Recommendation Two Set up a Email Marketing Campaign… ‘Call Me’
Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to stay in touch with your fans and
give them information, bring in revenue. Mail chimp is a free service to build email
marketing campaigns. Likewise Wix have a great email marketing platform ‘Shoutout’
included in the website platform. (Email mockup for Ali and the DT’s in the Appendix)
‘Despite the huge popularity of social media, EMAIL is still the most effective form of
online marketing. Whenever you encourage fans to purchase your music, watch a
YouTube video, or leave a positive review, you’re going to get better results from a well-

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written email than from a series of tweets or Facebook posts’ Marketing your music 101
tips for getting your music out there.
A key recommendation is to use email marketing as a way to engage with your fans
and drive traffic to your ITunes platform to stimulate sales of your music (Example in
Appendix shows how to do this using strong calls to action, authentic communication
and striking brand building image)
Recommendation Three Use Social Media… ‘Living La Vida Loca’
Social Media is a two way conversation where you have the opportunity to build
relationships with your fans by ideally engaging them with quality content. Social is a
great way to get yourself out there in front of your audiences in a way that is easily
accessible to them. Old, new or potential fans can look in at what you are doing
whenever it suits, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, whether they are in bed or on the
bus. According to Erik Qualman at Redstone ‘we don’t have a choice on whether we do
social media the choice is how well we do it’. It’s vital from a business perspective that
you keep in mind your goals when posting content and keep track using analytical tools
of how what you are doing is performing. These insights will inform you of what you
should be doing more of and what to do less of.
I recommend that you focus on your Twitter, Facebook and Youtube accounts before
considering branching out onto other social media platforms. Such as Pintrest and
Google Plus which are becoming more popular with other bands. Below are some
suggestions for the three social media sights which are in keeping with industry
practice. I also recommend using HootSuite across the three platforms to manage
measure and schedule postings.

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Be nice and share.....
Ideas for Social Media Content:
Twitter:
Ali and the DT’s posted their latest song on Twitter three months ago and have not
tweeted since overall twitting is very low and lacks spark. I recommend
 Interacting more, share more news about your music, respond to tweets, and
engage with influences.
 Follow more people in your related industry blues, rock, magazines, influences
Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters & sonny boy Williamson, James Brown are some of
your contempories find their communities online and join in.
 Be consistent if its once an hour, once a day or once a week (probably not
enough) set up a schedule and stick to it people will get used to hearing from you
and become familiar with what you are delivering and what to expect.
 Make sure you twitter page looks visually dynamic with great pictures and a link
to your website and ITunes to buy your music.
 Follow and share other peoples content so they start doing the same for you
 Make your tweets fun, interesting, informative or inspiring to read - don’t post
anything you will be ashamed of, be authentic.
 Tweet in the evenings and closer to the week-end this is rush hour tweet time
and if the information is important ‘Surprise Gig this Saturday’ make sure to tweet
if a few times and ask your followers to tweet it too.
 Finally set up HootSuite or TweetDect so you can see who is talking about your
band your music and topics related to your music career.

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Facebook:
Facebook is the most visited website in the world with over 750 million active users and
it’s a really powerful marketing tool that you can influence to your advantage. Facebook
allows you to maintain direct relationships with your fans and gives them the opportunity
to share your content with their friends, who can then share it on again extending the
potential reach of your music and helping to draw in more fans. Depending on the kind
of content you post you can influence people to ‘check out our new music on Ali and the
DT’s great new website’ or ‘hope to see you all at the gig this week-end in Sweeney’s’.
These types of online activities ‘calls to action’ generate interest and sales. Ali and the
DT’s Facebook page has had no new posts in the last few months and there is no link to
ITunes to encourage sales of music. This should be quickly rectified with an iTunes link
being clearly put in place in the top left hand corner of the page where it can be easily
seen, with a call to action ‘buy our music’ . Based on the current status of your
Facebook page I recommend the following:
 Think about and create strong engaging and creative content to share - photos,
music videos other interesting relevant content your fans will enjoy.
 Set time aside to post content and be consistent in your activities.
 Posting in the morning when people are on the way to work or evening when
they are on the way home is good, bed time is good too. However the best time
to post is when your audience is going to look at it - to determine this you can
use Post Level Data from Facebook insights.
 Develop your online voice so those who follow get a feel for you and how you
express yourself - it should read naturally.
 Link the Facebook page to ITunes to sell your music and your Website when it is
set up.
 Promote your gigs on Facebook by setting up events and inviting everyone –
make sure to give people plenty of notice so they can make it a priority.
 Keep the music videos and pictures from your gigs, recording sessions, photo
shoots, interviews flowing onto your page – your Facebook page should be rich

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and stimulating both visually and through the written word for your valuable first
time visitors and your tried and trusted fans who want to see what you have been
up to lately.
Youtube:
YouTube is a great way to build your career online it’s how Justin Bibber was
discovered too. It’s also the number one search engine for music fans (CD Baby) and
a way to generate ad-revenue from your music videos. Ali and the DT’s currently have
content up on YouTube the quality of the content both on a visual and sound level is
good however there is a limited amount of content and nothing much posted in the last
2 years. I recommend the set up your own You Tube Channel with links well placed
back to the website, to drive traffic in that direction. It is important then to create a
steady amount content so that returning visitors to your channel have new content to
view, get excited about and recommend to their friends likewise the content should
support your image and branding - make you look cool and sound great.
Recommendation four Blog - What’s New Pussycat?
Jonathan Schwartz, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Sun Microsystems, notes that one
of the biggest advantages of blogging is that it ‘‘lets you participate in communities you
want to cultivate’’ (Schwartz, 2005, p. 30). This is something Ali and the DT’s should be
making a consistent effort to do in order to reestablish the band in the market.
Furthermore according to (Tanuja Singh) Blogs are strong marketing communication
tool, with research suggesting that customers value a unique, more personalized
message. As marketers continue to seek opportunities that will deliver their message in
innovative and interesting ways’. It’s important to remember that:

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 Writing a blog for your website gives visitors new content to read and keeps the
sight fresh and up to date it’s good for SEO too.
 Blogs are a way to communicate with and buildup followers.
 Your blog should be well written take the time to hone it to perfection as song
writers this is something you will be naturally able to do.
 It’s important to be a reputable source in regards to what you are communication
so keep your blog focused on what you know - writing music, touring, wild nights
out. This is also what your followers are interested in, with Google Analytics you
can see which blogs people are reading or not reading.
 Writing relevant entertaining and informative content for your specific audience is
a great way to engage followers and keep them coming back.
 Blogging is a way to learn about your audience there likes and dislikes this
information can be used to offer your audience more of what they want.
 Use your blog to discuss the band’s latest news – gigs, events, media exposure.
 It’s a great way to share new information, tell the bands story, connect with fans
in a unique and personal way.
 Blogging can come across as a relaxed natural form of communication but it is a
great business strategy to build loyalty and drive traffic to your website.
 When done right blogs add real value to your online activities, create buzz and
build trust and loyalty with followers.

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Recommendation five SEO - What is SEO and Recommendations
SEO Search Engine Optimisation is a process of increasing website presence on the
organic Google listing and other search engines, Yahoo, Bing. The purpose of this is to
achieve high ranking and make sure you are easier to find – ideally being on the first
page as most people don’t go to the second page and over half of people only check
out the top three rankings (Wolfgang Digital). Your web site needs to be constantly
tuned into the search engines ‘algorithm’ it’s the algorithms that pick up on the signals
coming from your site and help people to find you give you a higher ranking.
Explanation SEO: Google is like the lighthouse the beamof light is the Algorithm and you are the boat,
the boat needs to ‘optimise’ with its SEO activities to be identified ‘picked up’ by Google.
The following basic SEO recommendations will increase your vibration / find-ability
(making you more attractive to the algorithm). However I highly recommend investing in
some time with a consultant to keep your SEO actives current, relevant and well
informed, as SEO is a constantly changing and innovating activity. Wix have SEO app
built into their service which are easy to use but without depth of understanding
effectiveness in using this service may be missed.

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Recommendations for SEO:
Keywords:
The keywords are the words that people Google when they are looking for something
on line ‘hair salon city centre’ ‘Indian takeaway Dublin 6’ having a good idea about the
key words that people may use to find you online is something to spend time
brainstorming over as keywords are of the essence to being found online. I recommend
using Google Adwords which is a free tool you can use to help you find out what the
best key words are to drive traffic to your website. (Keywords - blues, funk, soul, rock)
Quality Content:
This is where you can distinguish yourself by producing quality content for your website;
and give your visitors an exceptional user experience. Key words should be fed into
your written content this will help to raise your online ranking. Some current thinking
suggests that it is your content that truly sets you apart makes you a voice to be listened
too and an expert in your field / niche. Content is an aspect of SEO that Google are
placing more emphasis on leading to higher rankings.
Back linking:
Back linking is another way to raise SEO and requires other companies to link in to your
website – it’s important to link in with authentic contacts as random links to your site will
be black marked against by Google. Blogging is a good way to get other people to link
into your site and direct potential customers to your site in search of relative information.
Asking people you know other bands, music contacts, journalist to back line into your
site is a further recommendation.
Social Media:
The SEO algorithm are tuned into and picking up on your Social Media activates which
gives you more reason to use social media to raise SEO and drive traffic to your site.

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Your social media activates send out signals to the search engines that also signify your
influence and authority.
Images:
Uploading quality images on your site is another strategy to increase SEO. The file
names on these images need to contain the relative key words – these images when
uploaded with key words rank well with the search engines also it is a less practiced
activity so there is more opportunity to do well.
Meta Tags:
Meta tags HTLM (Hyper Text Markup Language) provide search engines with
information about your site they are not visible to the user but a part of coding when
building your site. Good tagging will make your site more appealing to the search
engine. Having an awareness of Meta tags HTML will make you more astute when
building the content in your web pages. I recommend getting some outside SEO
advice. Also reviewing clips on Youtube is advisable for self education on this aspect of
SEO.
By understanding the significance of SEO and implementing the above SEO
recommendations, you will begin to optimise your site – however SEO is quite
complicated activity to get right. As I suggested above investing in SEO by consulting
with an SEO professional is well worth spending some money on to make your digital
marketing plan is more successful.
Recommendation 6 - Target Market ‘We Want You’
Knowing your target audience is a vital part of any digital marketing plan as all of your
activates need to revolve around who’s attention you are trying to get –the people who

21
are going to buy from you. Knowing what social media platforms your potential
followers are on LinkedIn or Facebook, Are they male or female, twenty-something or
forty-something, how much are they prepared to spend for your product or service and
how often, are they local or international, do they buy online or offline. All this
information helps to build your marketing approach. Google Analytics can give you
much of this information to help you target your campaigns more effectively. Ali and the
DT’s Audience we know from our Facebook metrics are 25 to 36 years, both male and
female with this kind of insight you can create a more targeted marketing campaign.
We know that they like music, and in particular what makes you niche, they like punk
ass blues music. We can group our target market into global those who can find you
online follow you on line and buy your music online and local those who can do all of the
above but also pay to attend your gigs. Targeting both of these segments can be done
slightly differently to give the user a better experience. I recommend creating content
that is mindful of an international audience. Furthermore I suggest you let your
international audience, know that you are open to performing in their countries this is a
strategy that has worked for your competitors and helped them to launch into new
markets.

22
Conclusion…. ‘Grove is in the Heart’
In conclusion all of the listed recommendations should give you a good road map for
getting digitally up to date, on track and functioning alongside your local competitors.
A digital strength of the band is the ability to produce mood evoking content, previous
digital experience and a solid if small online fan following. I propose that when the
recommendations are implemented Ali and the DT’s will begin to see increased
engagement, acquisition and conversion. What I would like to see personally is online
sales of music through ITunes which I see as a realistic accomplishment through the
activities in this plan, as it regularly places well measured emphasis on promoting sales
of music through ITunes. A potential weakness in fulfilling the goals is consistency;
consistency is a vital key to the success of making all of the above work and something
that the band needs to be mindful of. This is perhaps the greatest threat to succeeding
with the objectives. However with the bands previous success’s, knowledge of the local
music scene, contacts, reputation and talent there is real opportunity for Ali and the
DT’s to do, I would imagine, exceptionally well.
‘The project succeeds due to the sheer quality of the singing and playing. While
primarily a blues record, First Layer of Civilisation seems to draw influences from far
and wide, De Mora, whose voice is part Jim Morrison part Nick Cave and part Blind
Willie Johnson, is the star – but he’s backed by a super-tight band. Ali be praised we
have a new contender in our midst.’ Rowan Stokes, Hotpress

23
References
 CD Baby (2014) ‘Marketing Your Music 101 Essential Tips for Getting Your
Music Out There’ [Online] Available from
http://members.cdbaby.com/campaigns/music-marketing-101.pdf [Accessed 29th
May 2014]
 Leeflang, P. S.H., Verhoef, P.C., Dahlström, P. and Freundt, T. (2014)
‘Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era’ European Management
Journal, 32(1), pp. 1-12
 Singh, T., Veron-Jackson, L. and Cullinane, C (2008) ‘Blogging: A new play in
your marketing game plan’ Business Horizons, 51, pp. 281—292 [Online]
Available from
http://ebiz.bm.nsysu.edu.tw/2009/m964012010/references/blogging%20-
%20a%20new%20play%20in%20your%20marketing%20game%20play.pdf
[Accessed 29th May 2014]
 Waters, R.D. and Jones, P.M. ’Using Video to Build an Organization’s Identity
and Brand: A Content Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations’ YouTube Videos’
Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, 23(3) , pp. 248-268. [Online]
Available from: http://flhtc-techpath-
teacherresources.wikispaces.com/file/view/Using+Video+to+Build+an+Organizati
on's+Identity+and+Brand.pdf [Accessed 14th July 2014]

24
Selection of readings undertaken for assignment:
 Dou, W. et al (2010) ‘Brand Positioning Strategy Using Search Engine
Marketing’ MIS Quarterly 34 ( 2) [Online] Available from
http://www.misq.org/skin/frontend/default/misq/pdf/appendices/2010/DouLimSuA
ppendices.pdf [Accessed 29th May 2014]
 Farmer, D. K. (2009) ‘Twitter’s Complex Simplicity: How Small Is the Next Big
Thing?’ Music Reference Services Quarterly, 12(1-2), pp. 25-27
 Habibi, M. R., Laroche, M. and Richard, M.O. (2014) ‘Brand communities based
in social media: How unique are they? Evidence from two exemplary brand
communities’ International Journal of Information Management: The Journal for
Information Professionals, 34(2), pp. 123-132
 Jolley, W., Lee, A., Mizerski, R, and Sadeque, S. (2012) ‘Permission email
messages significantly increase gambler’ Journal of Business Research 66
[Online] Available from http://www.deepdyve.com/lp/elsevier/permission-email-
messages-significantly-increase-gambler-retention-pA6T2r07M3 [Accessed 29th
May 2014]
 Kaplan, A. M.(2012)If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile marketing and
mobile social media 4x4 Business Horizons 56(2), p. 129-139
 Kirtis, A.K. and Karaham, F.(2011) To Be or Not to Be in Social Media Arena as
the Most Cost- Efficient Marketing Strategy after the Global Recession, Procedia
- Social and Behavioral Sciences 24, pp. 260–268
 Leeflang, P. S.H, Verhoef, P. C., Dahlström, P. and Freundt, T. (2014)
‘Challenges and solutions for marketing in a digital era’ European Management
Journal, 32(1), pp. 1–12
 Wattenhofer, M., Wattenhofer, R. and Zhu, Z. (2012) ‘The YouTube Social
Network’ ICWSM [Online] Available from
http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//pubs/archive
/37738.pdf [Accessed 29th June 2014]

25
Appendix 1: Example of MailChimp Email Marketing Campaign
Hello everyone we are back
http://youtu.be/iawfuVsCcl0 listen to our new song – Ardour
It’sbeenagesand we wouldardourto see some of you,all of youat our nextcouple of gigs
overthe summermonths.We will be playingsome of ournew tunesandsome of our old
ones,we will be shakingupthe foundationsandtearingdownthe walls sojoinus this
Saturdayat Sweeney'sonDame Streetfora wildnight.Invite yourfriends,and pleaseshare
thisinfothroughyouronline,offlineandimaginaryworld.Letsmake itanightto
remember.
Back witha Bang
Ali andthe Dt's
Don't forgetto checkout our new songon Facebook,TwitterorYouTube we'll be settingup
a newwebsite more aboutthat later.
Strongcall to
actins
Linkto social media
Stylishbrand
buildingphoto
Authenticvoice of bandand
call to action
Catchy language
Secondreminder- call to
actionand linktosocial media

26
Appendix 2: Stick this on your wall and review review review!!
http://www.kaushik.net/avinash/best-web-metrics-digital-marketing-own-rent-strategies/
Avinash Kaushik Author, Digital Marketing Evangelist - Google, Co-founded
Context #1: A Reminder about the Importance of ABO - I believe in always focusing on the complete
customer-business journey. In earlier posts on this blog, I've simply defined the journey as Acquisition,
Behavior and Outcomes.
Each stage focuses on a unique facet of the digital business
Are we able to efficiently find the right people and influence them? Can we deliver an
incredible experience that blows the mind of our current and future customers with its
sheer beauty, intelligence and simplicity? Do the customer and the company both end
up with a win-win (they get joy and task completion; we get some current revenue and
possibly a long term repeat customer)?

27
Appendix 3: Striking images that create quality content, stir emotion make us
question, feel, think, laugh and cry. Tell a story, build your brand and get the
world’s attention!!

28
Appendix 4: Bonus Recommendation & Evidence of Metrics Research for Theo
Do this and you will prosper says Mr. Top Hat
Followed by Hot Press.
Nialler9 @Nialler9 Jul 29
Applications for #GuinnessAmplify close July 31st so bands looking for recording time, gigs & workshops
see https://www.guinnessamplify.com
 RETWEETS44
 FAVORITES32

1. GuinnessAmplify.com - Guinness Amplify
Adwww.guinnessamplify.com/
o
Play Ireland's Most Iconic Venues. Upload Your Music to Register Now.
o Workshops
Advice from Music Experts on
How to Make it in the Industry.

29
In a world of infinite choice, the ability to pick critical few metrics to focus on is, well…, critical. It is the difference between plodding along, or winning big. Avinash Kaushik
Author, Digital Marketing Evangelist - Google, Co-founder
Choosing what to focus on is hard focused on the right things.
Screaming Jay Hawkins, - videos conversations on twittern
James Brown, cool pictures and videos on twitter
Creedance Clear Water Revival cool music videos on twitter
, Otis Redding, follow him on twitter engage
Howling Wolf, cant find much on twitter you could revive it blog i t
Robert Johnson get in on these interesting communities share there quality content on your twitter site and build up a network with these strong influences to bring in interest for ali and dt’s
1. Blues Music @bTV_Blues_Music 3h
Robert Johnson's Legacy by grandson, Steven Johnson http://qza.cz/zRQih
Expand
o Reply
o Retweet
o More
2. WNMC Radio Playlist @wnmcradio 14h
Now Playing, Robert Johnson — 32-20 Blues from King of he Delta BLues Singers #music #unset
Captain Beefheart lots of cool pictures of captain beefheart on twitter share them with your followers become a influence int roduce your fans to quality music and rains your own profitle in the proces s.
The Rolling stones
Joined Facebook 12/14/2008
Genre Blues/Soul/Roots/R&B
SOUL BLUES PUNK FOR THE MASSES, SEE MUSIC PLAYER BELOW
Biography

30
Ali & The Dts are a 8-piece Blues and Soul group from Dublin City, Ireland.Originally formed in the summer of2006, they started by playing old blues standards in Beat clubs around Dublin.They took influences
from Chess Records artists such as Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters & Sonny Boy Williamson and also found inspiration in Motown & Stax performers James Brown & Otis Redding.
0
People Talking About This
914
Total Page Likes
0%from last week
0
New Page Likes
0%
MOST ENGAGED INSIGHTS:
 Age group
25 to 34
No events posted in last year link in with venues and look to get gigis up and running again and promote on facebook page cho ose a spmall ventue to start to get the place filled
Ali & The Dts shared a link.
11 February
One of our New songs provisional this one is called Ardour
http://youtu.be/iawfuVsCcl0
Ardour
Ali & The Dts
8Like · Comment · Share
Last post makde on the 11th
ofFeb 2014 8 likes and no share’s Irecommend band share this tune a number of times and ask fans to share it on their faceb ook page – its time to share creating a buzz again!!
Contact Info
Website http://www.aliandthedts.com ( this is out of date)

31
Press Contact info@aliandthedts.com
Booking Agent aliandthedtsband@gmail.com
Hot sprockets
People
891
9.5K
Total Page Likes
2.7%from last week
246
New Page Likes
22.9%
This week
Last week
 CityDublin, Ireland
 Age group25-34 years old
Contact Info
Website http://www.thehotsprockets.com
Press Contact Paul Cotterell
Booking Agent info@thehotsprockets.com
Also On
 Rdio
 Spotify
 iHeartRadio

32
 Deezer
 Slacker Radio
 MOG
 Myspace
 Rhapsody
New Secret weapon
246
2.6K
Total Page Likes
0.8%from last week
20
New Page Likes
11.1%
This week
Last w
 CityDublin, Ireland
 Age group
25 to 34
Contact Info
Website http://newsecretweapon.com
Press Contact mgmt@newsecretweapon.com
Booking Agent mgmt@newsecretweapon.com
About
Debut Album OUT NOW
iTunes : http://tinyurl.com/ktgqkf4
Biography
New Secret Weapon somehow magically formed on a make-shift stage in the campsite for KnockanStockan Music Festival in 2007.

33
Description
meat and potatoes
Band Interests
denial
Artists We Also Like
Absolutely Curtains
The Hot Sprockets
@thehotsprockets
Brothe nature our 2nd LP out now!
Dublin,Ireland
thehotsprockets.com
Joined March 2011
Don’t miss any updates from The Hot Sprockets
Sign up for Tw itter
TWEETING LEVELS ALL THREE BANDS
ALI AND DTS
 TWEETS216
 PHOTOS/VIDEOS10
 FOLLOWING122
 FOLLOWERS98
 More
Ali & The Dts
@aliandthedts
A Blues Soul band from Dublin. Muddy Waters meets a Modern Day Doors.

34
Dublin Ireland
aliandthedts.com
Joined October 2009
10 Photos and videos
Rob Smith @robsmithireland 19 Oct 2011
Going to the Phil Lynott Exhibition at 5pm later to do a tune or two. The good folk at @hotpress will be filming it. http://bit.ly/oHpYlQ
Hot Press @hotpress 18 Oct 2011
Rob Smith and Ali & The DTs for Phil Lynott Exhibition: There's a double-whammy of great live music coming to St... http://bit.ly/rjExMr
1. Followed by CD Baby
Ali & The Dts @aliandthedts 25 Aug 2010
Come to "Ali and the Dts " Saturday, August 28 from 10:30 pm to 3:30 am. Ali and the Dts play Sweeney's (Le Cirq)... http://fb.me/AOFXq8mg
Expand
o Reply
o Retweet
o More
2. Ali & The Dts @aliandthedts 23 Jul 2010
If you can't make it to Knockanstockan , you can have Ali & the DTs and Mutefish all in one night and on one stage next… http://lnk.ms/9c0f2
Expand
o

35
o Favorite
o More
3. Hot Press @hotpress 1 Mar 2010
latest news DTs land US label deal: Ali & the DTs, a seven-piece blues and soul group from Dublin, have signed on ... http://bit.ly/aQk
o More
4. TUN Records @TUN_Records 3 Feb 2010
Here's another chance - USe code di3v-1goy at http://tunrecords.com/dl and get a free copy of Ali & The Dts Album.... http://bit.ly/cYKepq
TWEETS FOLLOWINGFOLLOWERS
14.7K 247 2,019
User Actions
Follow
Rob Smith
@robsmithireland
Musician, DJ, writer & ex-captain of Barça B. My thoughts on football for @hotpress at http://wordpress.hotpress.com/robsmith Currently bearded.
Dublin, Ireland · robsmithdjsets.com CATCH UP WITH THIS INFLUENCIAL TWITTERPERSON TELL
 HOT SPROCKETS

36
 5,303
 PHOTOS/VIDEOS254
 FOLLOWING94
 FOLLOWERS2,727
 FAVORITES3,085
NEW SECRET WEAPON
 282
 PHOTOS/VIDEOS16
 FOLLOWING505
 FOLLOWERS386
 FAVORITES111
The Hot Sprockets
@thehotsprockets
Brothe nature our 2nd LP out now!
Dublin,Ireland
thehotsprockets.com
Joined March 2011
254 Photos and videos
New Secret Weapon
@newsecretweapon
formed at the drop of a hat within the confines of what grew to be more beautiful and dangerous than previously imagined with less sarcasm and more venom?
Dublin
facebook.com/newsecretweapo…
Joined February 2010

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