Cynthia Kahn

If you are one of those artists who believe they never should pay for interviews, you should reconsider. When a publication interviews you for free, you answer questions that serve the interests of their target market. You do not control the content.

I agree that free publicity and fresh internet real estate are all good things. However, there are many advantages to paying a professional to produce a featured interview or post, because you can control the questions, answers and many aspects of promotion.

Get Asked the Right Interview Questions

First, decide why you want to be interviewed. There are many reasons why artists want to be interviewed and tell their stories. Do you want to be interviewed because you just released a new song or film or book? Are you going on tour? Are you launching a crowdsourcing campaign? Are you looking for management or to beef up your electronic press kit (EPK)?

Answering the why not only influences what questions you want to be asked, but also what order you want the interviewer to ask them. People have short attention spans, so make sure the interviewer asks you the most important questions first.

Next, decide who you want to target. How you choose to answer your interview questions can vary widely, depending on your target audience. For example, you may want to provide short answers if you are talking to new fans, but go more in-depth if you are talking to die-hard fans. You may want to use different language and behave more professionally if you are answering questions to for potential managers.

Because you know the questions you’ll be asked in advance, you can prepare your answers, rehearse for your interview and give your audience a fabulous performance.

Take Charge of Interview Promotion

You were asked the right questions and you gave all the right answers, so you now have internet real estate that you can use to jumpstart your career. Your interview turned out so spectacular, the interviewer gladly shares it on the publication’s website and social media…maybe for a few days, a week at the most. Then what?

Now, you take responsibility for your own promotion to your current fan base and try to engage new fans. You have goals for your interview and you have targeted answers, so translate those goals into a successful marketing campaign.

Post your interview on all your social media accounts. Be sure to thank everyone who likes, comments and shares your interview.

Next, try gaining new fans by paying for several small social media campaigns and testing responses to different messages. Spend a few dollars on targeted Facebook ads. Instead of spending all your money on a single campaign, do some A-B testing. After the first campaign ends, change the content of your ad, even the target audience parameters, and hone in your ad skills. Use the same approach on Twitter and your other social media platforms that offer paid ads. If you have a video interview, learn how to setup a targeted Google Adwords video campaign and build your YouTube audience.

Feature Your Interview in Your Newsletter

Take advantage of your email list and share your interview in your newsletter. Your email marketing provider tracks clicks, so you can easily measure campaign effectiveness on that platform too.

Reach Out and Tell Someone

Not only should you share your targeted interview on all your websites, social media and email, you should talk about it and reference it in real life, as part of your conversations with fans or managers. When you are at a show or gig or book signing, tell your fans where they can find your interview and learn more about you.

If you are seeking management or professional representation, your interview can be a great topic of conversation. It’s also a showpiece that demonstrates how well you do on the talk show circuit.

More questions? Email me at ckahn@amusednow.com

Cynthia Kahn, Founder of Amused Now Entertainment
@Amused_Now
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