An Experticity How-To Guide

Growing your brand with influential experts

Musicversion 01

no. 35The Experticity Resource Library

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

We know your experts. Do you?We all know the Taylor Swifts and Adeles that dominate the music scene, but there are hundreds of thousands of musicians who are an abundance of talent and a cache of expertise. They’re the piano teachers, orchestra conductors, and singer-songwriters that eat, sleep and drink music – and gush with excitement when they get to talk about it. These are music experts, and building a relationship of trust with them is worth it: They can be a powerful voice for improving brand awareness and growth.

What’s Inside

1. Meet your match Your brand already has advocates and experts. Let’s talk to them.

2. Hear what they have to say Find out what this important community has to say about your products and brand.

3. Help them talk the talk Connect with your experts so they can make informed recommendations.

4. Don’t forget walking the walk The more experience they have with your products, the more they can say about them.

5. Gather and share inspiring content Lucky for you, experts have big, inspiring lives — and the social posts to match.

6. Case studies See experts in action.

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

1. Meet your matchRachel has been studying and playing music for the past 18 years. She’s mastered the flute and piano, is pursuing a master’s degree in music performance, and can play almost any instrument she picks up. You could almost say that music is Rachel’s middle name (it’s not, but she wishes it was).

She finds joy in performing and cultivating young talent; her ultimate dream is to play professionally with a symphony. And, of course, to play Carnegie Hall.

Rachel is passionate about music – it’s what makes her an expert – people turn to Rachel for her knowledge, expertise and advice.

Foster trustWhether you’re creating an infomercial with Rachel or designing a six string that can withstand a rock star smashing, you need to know where the music experts are and how to make yourself accessible to them. It’s the first step toward building a trustworthy relationship.

There are a lot of influencers out there with tons of social media followers, and our experts are some of them. But a lot of our experts are the people you interact with every day, the ones you know and trust: your neighbor, your kid’s teacher, a colleague. When they give you their opinion on a brand or product, you know it’s because they’re passionate about it, not because they’re being paid.

Insights

Experts like Rachel have

14xmore buying

conversations a week than the average consumer

of people who receive a recommendation from a passionate expert or someone who works in the industry are highly likely to follow it

82%

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

2. Hear what they have to sayExperts love sharing insights on brands and products they trust. So before your brand crafts an engagement strategy, make time to survey these potential advocates. Ask thoughtful questions and truly listen to what they have to say. Not only will you build brand affinity with a loyal crowd, you’ll gain valuable insights you can use to improve both your product and marketing strategies, too.

Find out what these experts are seeing and thinking, and how they perceive the latest trends. Are they recommending you already? Why or why not? Experts can provide valuable input on product features, materials and uses long before you’re even ready for market. Your consumers trust experts. You should, too.

Insights

Even after just one online session with a brand on Experticity, influential experts are:

4xmore likely to recommend a brand

87%more than their peers

Proven to sell

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

3. Help them talk the talk

Identify your brand’s most influential experts, then offer them insider access to engaging content and products that keep them coming back for more. Whether it’s a discount on a new line of guitar amps or an exclusive sneak peek at your company’s pocket-sized synthesizers, nothing inspires passionate music experts more than being the first to know about it. It all adds up to a loyal, lasting connection — and experts who can’t stop talking about your products.

Quick Tip:

Keep them on the cutting edge.Rachel is constantly asked for recommendations on everything from brands with the most durable instruments to where to buy sheet music. Want a place in that conversation? Connect with experts like Rachel authentically and give them first-hand access to your products and people. Educate them on what sets your brand and products apart, and let them dive deep into your technologies, product lines and even brand culture through interactive and video content.

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

4. Don’t forget walking the walkThe most trusted recommendations come from people who’ve had first-hand experiences with a product — even better if those people happen to be influential experts. Experticity can help you get more of your products into the hands of the very experts who are most trusted for their advice on what to buy. In the process, you’ll be giving them much more to say about what you sell.

Seeding products to top experts or influencers — either free or at a deep discount — and then getting their authentic feedback is a great way to build both word-of-mouth credibility and excitement around new products.

Insights

2/3rds of social buying conversations happen offline83%

of WOM recommendations are tied to personal experience

with a product/brand 5xAn offline buying recommendation is

more likely to drive a purchase

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

5. Gather and share inspiring content

Stand back and let influential experts do what they do best: inspire others to love your brand. Whether it’s word-of-mouth recommendations for your top-of-the line brass instruments or authentic UGC posted on social media that features your brand front and center, these passionate storytellers can drive engagement. Our experts can also craft honest, credible reviews for your online sales channel to provide recommendations on why they purchase their instruments from your company.

For example:Skullcandy invited experts in the Experticity network to field-test new products and provide honest reviews. Sure enough, 82% of the experts who participated in a product pre-launch shared reviews on the Skullcandy website.

5 DRachel Miles

249

Just hanging out at the National Flute Association Convention when I stumbled upon this little guy. It’s a contrabass flute!

SHOW MORE

Taylor Jenni Raymond

Getting Music Experts Talking About Your Brand

6. Case studies

The North Face® surveyed industry experts on the styles and features they’d like to see in future product lines. Their product team has now received 275 valuable expert insights.

Quiksilver partnered with Experticity to give influential Experts at retail a behind-the- scenes experience with its brand. After less than a year, the results were clear: sales at stores with Experticity members on staff sold 104% more than non-engaged locations.

KitchenAid offered exclusive product and brand access to trusted retail experts at a top housewares retailer — and found that the more they engaged, the more they sold. Store locations with seven or more engaged experts sold 97% more KitchenAid products than those who didn’t engage with KitchenAid content on Experticity.

Find out what experts can do for youExperticity is the world’s largest network of trusted experts whose passion, experience and knowledge makes them powerful brand advocates. Join the 500+ brands who already use Experticity solutions and connect with experts who authentically build brand awareness and help you sell more.

business.experticity.com/learn-more/