If you’re a musician entrepreneur using the 'Mozart Model'—composing, teaching, and performing—you know how critical it is to market yourself effectively.
The truth is that building a successful music career isn’t just about talent. It’s about getting your music, lessons, or performances in front of the right people at the right time and converting them into paying clients or fans.
To do this, you need a system that combines math and psychology. Welcome to the Encore Client System, where we explore the numbers and emotional triggers that drive conversions.
Understanding Your Numbers: The Math of Marketing
Let’s be blunt—if you don’t know your numbers, your marketing is doomed. The foundation of any successful marketing campaign starts with the math. For musicians, this means focusing on key metrics like Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)and Lifetime Customer Value (LTV).
CPA tells you how much it costs to acquire a new client or fan. This might be through social media ads, email marketing, or even word-of-mouth. On the other hand, LTV is the total value a client brings to your business over time. For instance, if a fan buys a $15 album today, signs up for your $99 online course tomorrow, and attends your $250 masterclass next month, their LTV is way higher than just that first sale.
Here’s what to do next: Calculate your CPA and LTV. If your CPA is higher than your LTV, you’re in trouble. You need to either increase the LTV (offer more products or services) or reduce the CPA (optimize your marketing channels). You can’t ignore these numbers—they’ll either make or break your success.
Why Emotions Matter: The Psychology of Marketing
Numbers alone won’t get people to hit “buy.” That’s where psychology steps in. Understanding the emotional triggers of your target audience is key to creating offers that speak directly to their needs, doubts, and desires.
Imagine you're promoting a masterclass on songwriting. You’re not just selling a class—you’re selling the promise of unlocking creativity, finding your voice, and getting songs that resonate with audiences. When you craft your messaging, you need to tap into the emotional benefits—not just the practical features.
Think about what your potential clients are worried about. Maybe they’re afraid their songs won’t connect with listeners or that they’ll never break out of their creative rut. Anticipate these doubts and speak to them head-on. “Feel stuck? In this masterclass, I’ll show you the 3 steps that helped me break through writer’s block and compose songs that moved audiences to tears.”
Here’s how you do it: Identify the top three emotional pain points your audience faces. Build your marketing message around solving those pains. Speak to their emotions, but back it up with proof—social proof, testimonials, or case studies.
Combining Math & Psychology: Building a High-Converting Funnel
Now that you’ve got the math and emotional triggers nailed down, it’s time to bring them together in the form of a funnel. This is where the Encore Client System shines.
A funnel is just a fancy way of describing the steps someone takes to go from discovering you to becoming a paying client. It typically looks like this:
- Awareness Stage: They find you—through a social post, ad, or referral.
- Engagement Stage: They learn more about you—maybe by downloading a free resource, joining your email list, or attending a free webinar.
- Conversion Stage: They buy a low-cost offer—like an album, a ticket to your next live stream, or a short online lesson.
- Ascension Stage: You upsell them into a higher-ticket offer, such as a 1:1 coaching session, masterclass, or in-person workshop.
Each stage must be optimized using both math and psychology. At every touchpoint, you're calculating the CPA (how much did you spend to get this lead?) and maximizing LTV (how can you move them up the value ladder?). Meanwhile, you're using psychology to build trust and overcome objections.
For example, let’s say you’re running an ad to promote your free “5 Steps to Write a Hit Song” workshop. The math part tells you that for every $50 spent on ads, you’re acquiring five new email subscribers, giving you a CPA of $10 per subscriber. The psychology part focuses on building a relationship—once they sign up, you send an email series that addresses their fears of writer’s block, shares a success story, and offers a special discount on your next songwriting course.
Optimizing Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
If your CPA is too high, it can kill your business. Here’s how to bring it down without sacrificing quality leads:
- Test your messaging: Experiment with different copy and creatives in your ads. Sometimes a slight tweak, like focusing on an emotional benefit rather than a feature, can drop your CPA by half.
- Refine your targeting: If you’re promoting to a broad audience, you’ll waste money on people who aren’t interested. Narrow down your audience to those who are most likely to engage with your music or services.
- Leverage organic content: Not all client acquisition needs to come from paid ads. You can lower your CPA by creating engaging organic content—YouTube videos, Instagram Reels, blog posts—that brings in traffic without ad spend.
By lowering your CPA, you can afford to acquire more fans or clients without breaking the bank.
Maximizing Lifetime Customer Value (LTV)
Once someone’s in your funnel, it’s your job to keep them engaged. Here’s how to boost your LTV so you’re not just making one sale—you’re turning casual listeners into lifelong fans:
- Create a product ladder: Offer more than just a single product. If you’ve got an album, offer an online course. If you’ve got a course, offer 1:1 coaching. The more you can serve them, the higher their lifetime value will be.
- Offer membership or subscription services: If you can, turn your customers into subscribers. Maybe they join your Patreon for exclusive content, or sign up for monthly guitar lessons. This creates consistent revenue and boosts their lifetime value.
- Nurture relationships with personalized follow-ups: Send personalized emails, offer birthday discounts, or just check in with how they’re doing. This creates loyalty, and loyal clients spend more over time.
Maximizing LTV doesn’t just increase your revenue; it builds a community of devoted fans who are eager to support your work for years to come.
The Power of Micro and Macro Transactions
Not every sale happens in one fell swoop. Microtransactions—small but valuable interactions—lead to macrotransactions. Here’s how you can use both in your marketing:
- A microtransaction might be a fan following you on Instagram after watching a 30-second video of your live performance. A macrotransaction happens when that fan buys a ticket to your next gig.
- Another microtransaction could be a free PDF on “How to Write Better Lyrics.” Once they download it, you’re on their radar. A macrotransaction might happen when they enroll in your premium songwriting course.
The key is to consistently deliver value in these smaller interactions, which will build trust and eventually lead to bigger purchases.
Closing the Loop: Where Math Meets Psychology
When it comes to marketing your music and services, you can’t separate the math from the psychology. The Encore Client System works because it combines the hard numbers of CPA and LTV with the emotional triggers that get people to take action.
To make this work for you, start by calculating your costs, refining your funnel, and paying close attention to your audience's emotional needs. Every number tells a story, and every story drives a sale.
So go ahead, get your numbers straight, tune into your audience’s emotions, and start scaling your music business like a professional.
