Strategic Marketing Plan
Introduction:
This e-portfolio presents a strategic marketing campaign for the upcoming release of the song “Held Your Hand” by independent artist Samuel Y, scheduled for publication in summer 2026. The song reflects my personal experience of giving up a relationship due to studying abroad and expresses the emotions associated with that decision.
The campaign focuses on positioning the artist as a “balladeer singer-songwriter.” Due to the growth of music streaming platforms, anyone is now able to upload and distribute their music. Therefore, this e-portfolio aims to break through the noise of the saturated summer music market, a period during which a large volume of music is typically released.
The campaign is supported by two marketing theories used to frame and justify strategic decisions: the AIDA model and the STP framework. The portfolio includes a detailed market analysis, a Gantt chart for project management, and the promotional materials that will be used.
Theoretical framework:
For the theoretical framework, this campaign is grounded in two marketing frameworks: the STP framework and the AIDI Model and through both primary and secondary research.
My STP approach was based on primary research and specifically personal communication with my industry mentor. He is my guitar teacher who named TinHang Chow in Hong Kong and also a musician in the music industry. During the consultation, it revealed that the reason why it would be a great to publish song in summer is teenagers have more times to discover different music because of summer holiday. Therefore, I have segmented the market by emotional resonance because my song “Held Your Hand” is about “Love” and its resonance to the target distinct group. To Targeting Select most attractive segments to focus the marketing, the people who faced the same situation with my song’s story especially teenagers because it is the most related age group. My positioning as an “authentic, emotion resonance” singer.
For the AIDA Model, it is based on the secondary research into Olivia Rodrigo’s 2021 “drop dead” campaign. Team, C. (2026). In terms of Attention, Olivia will post a 15 second short video on social platform as a trailer before the song’s official release. The purpose of this is to attract audience attention by 15 second hook. In my campaign, I can also use this 15 second short video to attract audience, not only they can listen but also interact. In my song, I have a solo part with 8 bars which I can make a “solo challenge” to attract guitarists to play, thereby increasing attention.
For the Interest, it is started to build popularity. After the targeted audience noticed the catchy 15 seconds hook, they will take the initiative to look up its origin or meaning. They will interpret the meaning behind the lyrics which leads them to follow the latest updates of the song.
In terms of Desire, it is about making the targeted audience from liking a product to wanting it. If the audience truly love the song, they will pre-save it on different streaming platforms so they can be the first to hear it as soon as it is released. They desire for the song will motivate the audience’s anticipation for an early release.
For the last step, which is Action, which driving the audience to take step such as purchasing or subscribing. After listening to the entire song when it released, the audience will look for upcoming gigs or open mics and be driven to see it in live. Moreover, they might become one of my fans, which will help grow my fan’s community.
Strategic Goal:
Speaking of strategic goal, Boogaard, K. (2024) using SMART goal by Geroge T. Doran would be the suitable for goal strategy. S- Specific, the goal is not only increasing click rate but also action on different music platform. For example, by connecting Instagram reels and Spotify Pre-Save links, it will be increasing streaming numbers in first few weeks and drew the attention of local music listeners.
M-Measurable, it is about specific numbers measure the campaign is workable. For example, when I published the song, the click rates in the first week reach to 1000 and also Instagram’s fan follower gains more 200 people and for the first gig or open mic, ideally it will be reached 30-40 people at the moment.
A-Achievable, it is about whether the goal is realistic or workable
to the resources I have. For example, based on my current followers on Instagram are 600, and 6000 views would be an achievable goal.
R-Relevant, it is about the goal align with my broader goals and future career. By targeting teenagers after summer vacation, it is able to attract the core audience (18-25 ages) especially international students.
T-Time, which is the time frame that I accomplish the goal. In this campaign, I would set it before 30 days when the singles released, and it will be reached all data indicators mentioned above.
Market Analysis:
The marketplace for this release is strategically based on a trend called “Bummer Summer”, According to Gioia (2023), teenagers tend to listen slow, sad and authentic song because it becomes a tread to listen these types of songs recently. Stacy (2023) It frequently has slower tempo, which causes our heart rate and respiration to slow down while we listen, making us feel more relaxed and comfortable. Music with sad lyrics not only has slow tempos but also creates an emotion connection with the artists. Therefore, making songs that related to theme of relationship or love would resonance with the audience.
There are some artists who really similar with my style in UK which is heartbreak, and love in a storytelling path. Tyron Webster. Accroding to Nicholls (2019), Tyron Webster’s participation in high profile local event such as Live in Square, showing that his strong connection with Music Leeds and the whole music ecosystem. Although Webster had been working for his music a period of time already, my plan seeks to differentiate itself through seasonal relevancy which is release the song after the summer.
Planning Tools – Gantt Chart:
The Gantt chat in above image details a six-weeks plan for the single’s release, from August 3rd to September 13th, 2026. Beginning in early August, the preparation period focuses on “Final Mastering”, making sure the song is in the final stage. In meanwhile, ensuring that teasers are ready to publish at the official launch day. By pre-uploading music to streaming platform, it makes sure that we have done the most important step at the release day.
From late August to September 3rd, utilizing paid social media advertisements and an acoustic live session to draw potential audience attention. After drawing the audience attention, following by releasing the song on September 1st. we would also be placing posters at Leeds Conservatoire on September 4th and performing in different open mics and gigs would be an on-going progress since we would hope this trend keeps going. Therefore, the campaign bridges the gap between online and local presence.
Overall, this campaign is built through a realistic situation. By integrating paid advertisements on different social media platforms and also live acoustic session, the timeline has maximized the possibility of reaching audiences to the official release on September 1st. Finally, the post-release phrase transferring from digital to in-person promotion. By placing physical poster at Leeds Conservatoire and securing live such as open mics and gigs. This gantt chat has demonstrated a comprehensive strategy, which every progress of releasing song.
Financial Planning:
The financial planning for this campaign is built on a realistic assessment of the costs. As detailed in the spreadsheet, the total expenditure is approximately $ 330-440 GBP, which is included production, digital marketing and promotion. In terms of the cost, the largest portion of the cost are production and marketing, $150 GBP and $100-200 GBP respectively. Paying for advertisement is the most essential part to promote the song to catch the audience. Moreover, some physical promotion such as poster is also essential too, with some graphic design which cost around 50 GBP. After all that, we would also need to cost some expense for gigs around 30 GBP (transport and equipment).
For the income, we have divided 4 income streams which are merchandise, performance fees, streaming royalties and personal saving. We will be earning around $100 GBP for the performance fee, with some merchandise ($50 GBP), in total is $150 GBP for the performance with merchandise’s income. Beside the income from the performance, I also will be earning the money by parttime job and personal saving in total ($700 GBP). With the total income revenue would be around ($900) and it would be used in the costs.
Based on the financial spreadsheet, the campaign shows strong potential for profit. The total estimated costs range between $330-440 GBP, including production, marketing and transport to the location of performance with some equipment. In comparison, the projected income reaches around $ 900 GPB, it is generated from parttime job, personal income, streaming revenue and performance fees. Leeds Conservatoire has providing most of the equipment to students which reduced the majority of the expenses.
It shows that the campaign could possibly achieve an estimated profit minimum at $ 460 GBP and it is an ideally number for getting started the campaign. Revenue from live gigs also creates opportunities for growth if audience engagement increases gradually.
Promotional Materials:
This campaign’s marketing materials aim to establish a unified brand identity that appeals to both industry professionals and the target student group.
Our promotional materials strategy is divided into physical and online promotion. The online promotion focuses on short-form video content for platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. According to Marasigan (2025), Rapid, short content is more likely to be consumed before a user scroll away because the typical human attention span is about 8 seconds. Therefore, promoting through TikTok and Instagram reels would easily draw audiences’ attention. Moreover, collaborating with different artists is also an efficient strategy for promotion, by creating shared content such as “love” or “relationship”, saying part of my song together would be also draw their audience’s attention. When two artists tag each other on social media, the content is shared to both followers. According to Musicians Institute (2025), Through collaboration, artists are able to reach people who may never have discovered them otherwise. Each artist already has an established group of supporters, and by appearing in each other’s posts, videos, or projects, they introduce themselves to a completely new audience. This process allows exposure to grow much faster compared to promoting work alone.
Not only online promotion but also physically, impacting the broader music ecosystem, and reaching to more audiences. The physical promotion involved QR-coded posters and sending pitch email to radio DJs and blog editor. Posting posters at Leeds Conservatoire and Live House such as Hyde Park Book Club and The Domino Club is the direct method to connect with the targeted audience which is teenagers or audiences who interested in relationship. According to Vince (2025), Unlike ordinary posters that can only display limited information, QR code posters allow audiences to instantly access websites, videos, or social media platforms simply by scanning the code with their phones. Also, they reason we add QR-code on the posters is to make it easier, this approach aims to facilitate access for potential audiences, enabling people to quickly comprehend the advertising materials or go straight to the main information.
Reference:
Vince (2025). Best practices for putting QR codes on flyers and posters. QRSurge. https://qrsurge.com/blog/qr-codes-on-flyers-and-posters#static-vs-dynamic-qr-codes-for-print
Boogaard, K. (2024). How to write SMART goals (with examples). Work Life by Atlassian. https://www.atlassian.com/blog/productivity/how-to-write-smart-goals
Gioia, T. (2023). Why is music getting sadder? The Honest Broker. https://www.honest-broker.com/p/why-is-music-getting-sadder
Nicholls, S. (2019). Tyron Webster — MUSIC:LEEDS. MUSIC:LEEDS. https://www.musicleeds.com/live-in-the-square-artists/2019/7/12/tyron-webster
Marasigan, J. (2025). Why short-form video is popular(and how to benefit from it). Copper CRM. https://www.copper.com/resources/the-rise-of-short-form-video-why-your-media-brand-should-embrace-it
Musicians Institute. (2025) The Power of Collaborations: How Teaming Up with Other Artists Can Boost Your Career. https://www.mi.edu/in-the-know/the-power-of-collaborations-how-teaming-up-with-other-artists-can-boost-your-career/
Stacy.G.(2023). bummer summer Is Spotify’s New Playlist for Gen Z Listeners To Tap Into Their Feels — Spotify. Spotify. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-08-21/bummer-summer-gen-z-playlist-marketing-campaign-d4vd-frank-ocean-phoebe-bridgers-cigarettes-after-sex/
Team, C. (2026). AIDA model. Corporate Finance Institute. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/aida-model-marketing/
