How To Promote Your Band With Your Own Postage Stamps
While it's easy for famous dead people to get on stamps, what about the living? Especially those with unique marketing needs that require them to find ways to connect directly in a meaningful manner with their fans. That's why I think putting your band's pics on postage stamps and sending, at the least, a unique postcard or, at the most, a special package to select fans would be an awesome marketing move.
Stop right there. Postage stamps? That means snail mail? What century are you living in Clyde?
Glad you asked. I live in a century in which people are so compelled to follow the crowd that they forget about great things. And when they're reminded, they sometimes start spending significant amounts of money on those things. Like vinyl.
When something's scarce, like a physical item hand delivered to your door that is associated with something you care about, then that thing takes on greater value even as its numbers diminish.
See The Stamp, Be The Stamp
But you knew all this. And that's why I'm telling you about this great free iOS app from 20Stamps (via Tyler Hayes) that makes it easy for you to take a pic and create stamps. You can even import pics from Facebook and Instagram.
It's a U.S. only offering and you can only use the stamps for U.S. delivery. I doubt it's the only option in the States and I bet other countries are making similar moves so if you're interested in pursuing this idea be sure to consider alternatives.
The 20Stamps app has more info on what they're offering in their FAQ.
Pricing
You have to download the app and go through some stage of ordering to get the pricing. That's typically a psychological technique to bypass people's initial pricing blocks. It may not be intended that way but it's that or they're not thinking it through.
That said, here's some example pricing via Apple'N'Apps:
"There are ten different postage rates to choose from, but for a base line, a sheet of 20 $0.49 stamps costs $20.55, showing each stamp costs double to customize over buying standard stamps. It also costs $3 for standard shipping, but the app includes 15% off coupons just by sharing through social media."
Does that sound high? To me it doesn't.
If you try this out for marketing purposes, please let me know.
Hypebot Senior Contributor Clyde Smith (@fluxresearch) recently launched DanceLand. Send news about music tech startups and services, DIY music biz and music marketing to: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.
