Originally posted on July 16th 2020 here is a Q&A with graphic & web designer & music marketer Megan Gersch. She talked about her experiences in the design & music industry.
Where did it all start for you getting into design & music marketing?
My two big passions have always been in music and art. When I was a kid my parents would take me to concerts, and once I hit my high school years, I started going to shows a few times a week. I took my first graphic design class in high school and was hooked immediately. Since I was already going to shows, my friends that were in bands caught wind of what I was doing, and I started creating flyers and marketing assets for them. I wound up going to the college at James Madison University and studying Media Arts and Design with a double minor in Fine Art and Music Industry. That's when I started to realize that I could fuse my two passions into one career trajectory. In college, I started booking and promoting shows with some classmates. The rest is history. Where do you get the inspiration for your designs from? This really varies from project to project. In general, I love to create designs using bold color palettes and clean shapes. If the project is for a specific client, a lot of the time they will have ideas about how they want something to look. If the client doesn't already have a specific idea that they want, I like to suggest that we put together a mood board / look book for inspiration. It's a great way to nail down the direction with a client before you move to the design phase.
What would be the best advice to someone who would like to get into design & music marketing?
Practice your craft every single day. Watch tutorials online. Always try to learn new things and try to push the limits of what you can do as a designer / marketer.
Create a badass, results-oriented portfolio that will speak to your ideal clients. Even if you don't have a lot of professional experience, I recommend creating sample projects on your own and adding them to your portfolio. This just shows potential clients what you're capable of as a designer.
And finally, don't wait for clients to come to you - it's important to network with people and get your name out there. When you start to show up consistently, people in your network will start to remember that you are reliable source for design and marketing.
With the Covid-19 pandemic what do you feel is the future of the music Industry & music marketing?
It's definitely been a weird and unique time in history. Unfortunately, I think that live music venues will be one of the last businesses to come back in full capacity. A lot of the music festivals and artists that I follow have embraced the online streaming platforms that are available - which is awesome! A lot of those platforms have built-in functionality that allows people that are watching to donate / leave tips for the artists, so that has been really cool to see.
I've talked to a lot of people who haven't focused much on digital marketing before this, and those people are now completely changing their strategy. Having an online presence is now more important than ever before.
Finally what advice do you have for artists when it comes to building their brand?
I always tell my clients that branding doesn't have to be complicated - it just has to be stylized and consistent. It's important to bring a human element to the brand as well.
Figure out what platforms your audience hangs out on and make those platforms your priorities. You don't have to be on every platform at first. This is a mistake that a lot of new artists make. In fact, it's far more effective to pick one or two core social media platforms to master, as opposed to having a ton of different accounts that you only update from time to time. As you grow your audience and team, you can add more platforms.
Finally, you need to offer your audience more than just pushing the sale of your songs. Provide value rich content. Post about your opinions, behind-the-scenes content, etc.
To find more about Megan go to:
Website: megangersch.com
Socials: @megangerschdesign on FB, IG, Tiktok, Linkedin
Contact
Email: hello@megangersch.com
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