Sisters Sarah Galaro and Lizzie Combs believe that marketing is all about making a connection with your audience.

The two co-founded Tabletop Marketing, which emphasizes marketing, strategic planning and brand development.

The sisters went on to talk about marketing tools, asking for class engagement. Students provided examples, such as social media, apps and advertisements. Combs then filled in the gaps with other examples that were not mentioned by students such as podcasts, flyers, posters and merchandise.

Podcasts in particular stuck out to me as a marketing tool. Podcast creators will either use their own voice in the middle of their podcast to advertise a brand or company, or another voice will chime in and promote the ad. Combs personally preferred the first option as the voice of the podcaster creates a safer and more familiar environment.

Galaro then went on to talk about how branding should reflect your art, and showed one of the bands that the sisters help promote. The music video was psychedelic and colorful, and definitely showed the reflection of what the band wanted their art to look like.

The sisters talked about the main singer and songwriter of the band, and said that they utilized his ideas to create logos and branding such as hats, shirts and vinyls. The band’s merchandise was branded with funky colors and large fonts. I love buying merchandise at concerts, so seeing the behind the scenes on how the product was created and the ideas behind it was fascinating to me.

After the music video, the sisters talked about social media music promotions. One example of this is TikTok, which can help users discover new artists and songs they’ve never heard before. The sisters played different TikTok videos, pointing out the tactics artists use to promote their music. Combs explained that making TikToks is all about creating a community between artists and people who will want to watch.

The sisters emphasized the importance of reaching both online and in person audiences. Events such as industry nights, pop up events, launch parties and small gigs are all important in marketing. This was my favorite type of marketing to hear about because I love attending concerts, and I never knew how much marketing goes into an event until now.

As the end of the presentation approached, the sisters challenged each table to come up with a creative campaign for a band. We had around five minutes to think of a band name, what type of social media we’d use, how we would market our band, and create merchandise. When time was up, each group presented their ideas. This activity challenged my creativity and made me think outside the box.

Overall, Combs and Galaro left an impression on students as they thoroughly explained music marketing and used examples that kept the audience engaged. I hope to see them return next year as their presentation gave me insight into the music marketing world.