Marketing for Success Your studio’s success depends on your plan, your marketing strategy, and your ability to connect with your market. By Keith Hatschek | June 2008
For most recording junkies, it doesn’t take much to pull us into the studio. Trying out a new piece of gear, tweaking a mix, or just laying down tracks with some friends would suffice for an evening’s entertainment. Many studio owners have spent literally hundreds, if not thousands of hours, mastering their craft wringing the utmost out of both studio and equipment.
However, when the subject turns to marketing studios to maximize potential earnings, a good number of studios simply spread the word to their friends and acquaintances and hope that this will be "good enough." Over time, most studio owners find that this isn’t enough to create a steady profit. This month, PSE talks to Disc Makers’ Studio Partner and master guerilla marketer Doug Kupper, founder of Hartford, CT-based Tapeworks. Doug has managed a successful studio business over more than three decades using savvy marketing techniques that any studio owner can afford.
In addition, this month’s second feature considers how to stage a series of "how to" recording workshops at your studio that can increase traffic, awareness, and future bookings.
How did Tapeworks get its start?
I didn’t set out to own a recording studio. After I finished school in the early '70s, I went on the road as a working musician. Meanwhile, my family, who was in the advertising business, was experiencing problems with some of the jingles they had purchased.
They just didn’t sound right, so they asked me if I could help by producing better-sounding jingles. While Hartford is midway between two major cities (New York and Boston), the recording studios in town at that time were pretty meager. It made me realize there was an opportunity to have a well-appointed studio in the area. So I took the plunge and opened Tapeworks.
How did you first market the studio?
Our first location was next door to an ad agency, so we got a lot of work from them. We were doing commercial work for Sears, AETNA Insurance, Milton Bradley Games, and other clients. In the early stages, Tapeworks grew strictly by word of mouth, which I believe is ultimately the most effective form of marketing for any studio. In my opinion, traditional marketing such as taking out ads or big spreads in the Yellow Pages is a waste of money. Tapeworks grew because we were able to develop a strong rapport with our clients and service the heck out of every single one. You might say we 'over-delivered’ to insure each client left the session very pleased with the results. Using strictly word of mouth, we did well enough for many years, but over time, business sort of leveled off.
What was your solution to bring in new business?
Fortunately, a technology breakthrough in the early '90s probably ended up saving the business, as I learned that by installing ISDN lines at Tapeworks, I could literally deliver to anybody and everybody around the world without ever leaving Hartford. Ironically, when I called my phone company to order up the lines, they had absolutely no clue what I was talking about, so I ended up bringing them up to speed to get the new service up and running.
At the same time, quite a few well-known actors who also did a lot of voice-over work, such as the film and TV star Brian Dennehy, lived nearby. They wanted a quieter lifestyle than that afforded by living in Manhattan. By offering ISDN connectivity, I could easily hook up with talent via studios in every major market, from New York to Los Angeles and beyond. And for the established actors living nearby, I was a godsend: they could drive to our studio, cut the voice over, and be back home in an hour or two instead of spending a whole day commuting down to New York City.
What’s Your Studio’s USP (Unique Selling Proposition)?
The story of how Tapeworks became the first in the region to offer ISDN service to a wide range of clients near and far, while also allowing top talent living nearby to do sessions for clients all around the world is a perfect example of considering your local market’s needs and finding a niche that no one else is filling.
Every studio needs its own USP. What do you do better than anyone else in your market? It’s really not enough to say that you’re a nice guy and you know how to operate your studio. What I see today in terms of marketing from studios is the message that 'You Won’t Find Cheaper Recording Anywhere,’ which is sort of the McDonald’s approach to recording. There’s really very little difference between studios competing strictly on price. Instead, if you make the best beats in the state, go after the hip hop market with that message. If your studio specializes in acoustical recording, go after the folk and bluegrass artists in your region.
What do you see as the most obvious business gaffe made by studio owners?
When it could cost as much as a million dollars to design, build, and equip a professional studio, it resulted in a real barrier to entry for most people. You needed to have a well thought out business plan to go along with all the debt most of us incurred building commercial studios back in the day.
Today, the lines have really blurred between a personal studio and a for-profit business. The easy availability of very powerful gear has changed the landscape of what it takes to have a studio. The total investment you make kind of creeps up on you and pretty soon you have to ask if there’s any way to generate some kind of return on the money sunk into a personal studio.
Unfortunately, any kind of plan to actually make money from the studio is usually put in place after the investment has been made, which is totally backwards. I sometimes joke that I’m going to write a book titled, 'Honest Honey, This is How I’ll Make Some Money With the $30,000 I Sunk in My Studio.’ It’s not too far from the truth."
What marketing strategies would you recommend for studio owners?
First, you have to look at what your area needs. Then determine if you have the necessary expertise to be the best at that service and the funding to add it. If you do, then go for it and get the word out to your region about the new service. Second, what can you provide that isn’t bound by geography? For me, in the '90s, it was being the first to jump into the ISDN marketplace. Today, we use iChat and FTP to collaborate with clients and artists all around the world in real time.
Ultimately technology can give you everything except a client. Without clients, all the gear in a studio is nothing more than scrap. If you want to make money with your studio, you have to develop the ability to attract and retain clients. I’ve had one of my agency clients for over thirty years now, and I’ve learned that you should never give clients a reason to look elsewhere for recording services. If you do, they will find someone else who can meet their needs.
Any advice on how to build your studio’s brand?
It’s critically important that you know your market intimately. If you’re in a mid-sized market, research every single studio in a 50-mile radius and really understand what they do, not just what kind of gear they own. Look into every aspect of what they are doing to be successful. Talk with clients who have worked at your competitor’s studio, equipment suppliers, studio musicians, or voice talent and really get the low down. Then, create a matrix of all the competitions’ features and services and match it against your own studio. Find out exactly where you fit in the market and then work to develop your own unique strengths.
Second, determine just how you define yourself in the eyes of your prospective clients. Are you an engineer, an engineer/producer, a composer, or an editor? Do you specialize in a particular style of music? As an example, there is a studio in New York City that specializes in classical music, particularly chamber music. The engineer/owner is a classically trained musician himself and an expert at following the score and editing seamlessly. He has a beautiful sounding acoustical space, ideal for chamber music, a pristine signal path, plenty of high-end mics and good relationships with most of the classical players in town. He’s not trying to be everything to everyone. That’s a great example of someone who has defined themselves perfectly to serve a niche market that’s big enough to support his studio nicely.
Would you say you’ve found more than one niche for Tapeworks?
Yes, as a matter fact. We realized that we are within driving distance of a very high concentration of universities. Most people don’t know how popular a capella vocal groups are on many of these campuses, so we thought, 'Why not develop a specialty in producing high quality a capella albums for these college groups?’
I found a talented young engineer to help us out who also has a degree in vocal performance. He manages our a capella division which has grown to be very successful. You have to do your homework and one thing we discovered about this market is that these musicians actually want to own and sell a physical album, so it’s a market that is not abandoning the CD format.
We also made an investment in a superior grand piano that beautifully complements our tuned, acoustic space. This instrument has brought us a great deal of serious jazz and classical work. Nobody else in the market has a fine recording piano, so we actually draw work from a greater distance. It was a big investment, but it has paid off.
You also mentioned some guerilla marketing tactics. What examples can you share?
As much as possible, I work to develop low-cost and no-cost ways to keep the name of our studio out there. As an example, for many years, I have produced a series of parody songs for the top morning radio show in our market. Every time a new parody song debuts, our studio name is all over the airwaves and mentioned in print.
Another way is to get free PR by asking any celebrities who work at your studio if you can take a picture of them at the studio for a news release. Actor Richard Thomas (of The Walton’s TV fame) was in town recently as part of a touring theater company and stopped in to do a voice over. He graciously agreed to a photo op and the next day we sent it out with a news release to a number of local newspapers which gave us some wonderful free exposure.
Finally, find out what your clients are doing and help them out. To meet more advertising agencies, we volunteered to help out the local Advertising Club. For corporate types, find out what their pet projects are and assist them. If you are targeting musicians, you’ll have to hang out in clubs and build a relationship with the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow. No matter what market segment you want to attack, you have to build trust and confidence in your studio to attract clients.
Story links:
Tapeworks – www.tapeworksinc.com
High resolution audio private networking services – check out EDNet and APT-x
For more on Guerilla Marketing strategies, check out Jay Conrad Levinson’s excellent series of books and podcasts at www.gmarketing.com
However, when the subject turns to marketing studios to maximize potential earnings, a good number of studios simply spread the word to their friends and acquaintances and hope that this will be "good enough." Over time, most studio owners find that this isn’t enough to create a steady profit. This month, PSE talks to Disc Makers’ Studio Partner and master guerilla marketer Doug Kupper, founder of Hartford, CT-based Tapeworks. Doug has managed a successful studio business over more than three decades using savvy marketing techniques that any studio owner can afford.
