Case Study: The Normal Living [TTU & PR Campaign]

Artist: The Normal Living | Cyber PR Service(s) The Normal Living Received: PR Campaign & Total Tuneup

About The Normal Living

The Normal Living is a New Jersey- based band known for their pop- rock vibes, guitar driven songs, and relatable lyrics.

Because of their passion and eagerness to put in the work and elevate their brand and marketing, the members of TNL were delightful to collaborate with.

The founders of the band Jon and Liza came to us with the goal of developing an integrated strategy. This is the core purpose of our Total Tuneups making them perfect candidates for a Total Tuneup.

What The Normal Living wrote when they contacted us

Hi, We (The Normal Living) are a Jersey City based band and we are trying to develop a strategy for our next release. We have 5 songs recorded and are currently trying to assess whether or not to release singles, an EP, or keep recording for a full album release (among other options). We also like the idea of a customizable approach. With our past release we typically took care of the strategy and promotional work; however, we do not have the time to do both the music end and promotional end so we are looking for help. Please let us know if you can help us!

The Normal Living before they came to Cyber PR

Before coming to Cyber PR, TNL did not have a clearly defined brand, set target markets, direct actions to take in regards to promotion, a solid newsletter plan or parameters set for their social media strategy.

Their Instagram account was up and running, but it lacked a working schedule, content consistency, and a cohesive brand. Their other social platforms were similar, posts were being made here and there, but there was room for strategy and improvement as well as insight into these areas.

The process we guided The Normal Living through

Foundations

This is our “getting to know you” phase which involves an in-depth customized questionnaire specifically crafted to help our artists define their goals, tell us what they want to achieve with their next release, and over the next 12 – 18 months in their music careers and disclose where they feel their strengths and weaknesses lie.

Writing Section & Plan Structure

After receiving TNL’s Foundations, we assessed where the band was overall, listened to upcoming tracks, and we did some deep sleuthing online to discover all the areas where their online presence could be shored up and improved.

We matched TNL to the perfect Total Tuneup writers based on focus strengths. The team analyzed their responses and began to articulate and draft TNL’s fan personas, brand pillars, social media themes and top markets. Our writers also draft a rough music release schedule for the upcoming singles with a clear defined marketing path for each release.

Presentation Meeting

Next we presented our ideas – fan personas, brand pillars, social media themes and top markets for feedback. We also asked additional clarifying questions so that we could build the most strategic TTU possible. The band approved our strategies, our release dates, and we tweaked our ideas together. Then we proceeded to the writing phase.

Total Tuneup Creation

The Normal Living’s TTU was created over the course of 2 weeks, while making sure the band knew our teams inboxes were wide open for any additional information they wanted to incorporate into their plan, or any questions that came up.

Then, we delivered the full Total Tuneup which came in at over 250 slides broken down by category and order of focus and importance. Their strategy outlined the next 12 months broken down with a focus area for each month of the upcoming year.

Clarification through this process:

With their Total Tuneup, The Normal Living received a road map of exactly what to focus on for the next 12 months.

We included:

Clear goals articulated and guidelines on how to reach them
Brand was tweaked and solidified with color and font selection
Fan personas were detailed and articulated
New communities of potential fans were identified
A comparative analysis was included so TNL could visualize how to level up their socials and content
Single release dates selected
Focus areas for each single chosen based on assets and priorities

Implementation Hours

TNL opted to have us implement any and all parts of their Total Tuneup that felt overwhelming or challenging. Our team jumped in to do the heavy lifting on various tasks including creating an effective Linktr.ee, writing effective social media bio and profiles, collaborating with their photographer to select the best images from their photoshoot, and create a cohesive footprint with consistent visuals, skins, and links. We also created multiple hashtag clouds so they could increase their findability on Instagram among many other tasks.

How The Normal Living Translated their TTU into FANS

The band took their time reading through and implementing their plan, collaborated with their Cyber PR team members when necessary, and turned their written plan into actionable strategy.

They optimized their website, whipped their mailing list into shape, started posting more consistent content on their socials, and activated many socials where fans were languishing (like their Bandsintown where fans had signed up to hear from them). This effort helped them grow their audiences at their live shows and the growth spread across their newsletter and social media channels.

The PR Campaign

Their 4 week PR campaign followed on the heels of the delivery of their TTU we crafted pitches to send to music bloggers, playlisters, and podcasters and we landed multiple reviews, write ups, interviews and playlist inclusions.

The Normal Living’s success:

Revamped their brand completely with new photos, font and colors
Updated and modernized their website and created online accessibility
Leveled up their social media game re-igniting growth on their platforms.
Steadily continued to grow their following.
Bandsintown numbers increased
Created consistent compelling content and engaged a lot of potential fans on socials
Elevated to a new level of professional Independent musician

Before & After The Normal Living’s PR Campaign & Total Tuneup:

total tuneup the normal living

**We asked Jon and Liza, a few questions about their experience with us at Cyber PR. Here’s How It All Went Down:**

What part about working with Cyber PR did you like the most?

As with any firm, label, or company, I require those who seek to understand my work and choose to adapt; working together rather than working for. I enjoyed Cyber PR’s continuous discussions and updates for me, because I knew my vision was respected.

What made you sign up for a Total Tuneup with Cyber PR?

We first found Cyber PR by searching for music PR firms. During the search, I found you had published A LOT of useful information regarding music promotion and music generally. Simply put, what you were saying made a lot of sense and was realistic. It was not a regurgitation of the old ways. I also found that you guys really keep up to date with respect to the evolving landscape of music promotion.

After reading a lot of the materials that you put out, we really wanted you on our team to guide us through our latest release.

Did you have weaknesses coming into the process? Do you feel they were strengthened?

Figuring out where to focus our efforts. There are so many ways you can spend your time: writing, recording, playing shows, booking shows, social media posts, making Spotify playlists, sending out email blasts, trying to engage with industry people, setting up different social platforms, maintaining a website, etc.

You really need a plan as to where you are going to direct your limited resources in terms of time and effort. Cyber PR really helped identify what would be most effective for us and where our time would be best spent.

What was your favorite/ most effective part of the Total Tuneup?

It really helped us hone our identity as a band. I think as an artist you tend to want to be everything to everyone. Of course, that isn’t really possible so you really have to dig down and figure who you are as an artist and how you want your art to be perceived.

Can you name 3 things that have changed for the better since you have gotten your TTU?

Most metrics are improved including show attendance, social media engagements, and streams.

How will you continue to use your TTU in the future?

We haven’t even scratched the surface of all the useful insights in the TTU. It has a ton of useful information and also gives a great baseline to track any developments in the music industry.

So we’ll keep returning to each section whenever we want to increase our impact or try to reach new listeners. Most of all, it’s helpful to keep returning to the brand pillars that Cyber PR devised, to always come back to center and make sure all our behavior, content and strategies are in line with those pillars.