Creating a well-defined marketing plan can help you build a client base faster than auditioning alone. Here are 20 marketing ideas to help you get your voice acting career jumping.
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Logos: Develop your own logo and become memorable before people even hear your voice.
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Business Cards: Create some business cards. They won’t do you any good just sitting in your wallet though. Hand them out everywhere! You never know who your waitress knows or who is visiting the dentist that day.
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Branded letterhead: If you’re mailing demos to potential clients, write a brief cover letter using branded letterhead.
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Demo stickers: Use demo stickers that contain your contact details and logo.
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Thank you cards: People still love the personal touch of a handwritten thank you card. This kind of gesture is the kind of thing that helps to develop strong business relationships.
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Postcards or pamphlets: Mail businesses a post card or pamphlet to introduce yourself and your services explaining how you can help them.
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Blogging If you enjoy writing and can do it consistently, blogging can be an effective way to build a following and increase your presence on the web.
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Meet-up groups: Starting or joining a monthly meet-up group is a great way to network with peers and get referral business.
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Social media groups: Become active on social media groups geared toward voice-over or start one yourself. Try creating a group geared toward a voice-over niche, such as video game voices or cartoon voices.
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Personal website: Having a personal website in addition to a profile on a voice acting marketplace site can increase your presence online even more. The more web presences you have, the more likely a client is to come across you while searching for talent.
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Professional associations: Receiving accreditation from a voice-over association can help you be perceived as a professional voice actor and give you exclusive training and networking opportunities.
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Generate publicity: Everyone has a story! Try pitching yours to magazines and newspapers to generate publicity for your business.
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Send client swag: Swag refers to useful items you can send to clients that are branded with your company logo, such as mugs, magnets, pens, and so on.
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Sponsor an event: If you can swing it, sponsoring an event is a great was to generate some publicity and make yourself known within your community.
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Traditional advertising: Place an ad in your local newspaper, trade magazine, or phonebook.
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Cold Call: If you have the personality for it, try cold calling local businesses and introduce yourself. Find out if they’re interested in using your voice in their next radio commercial or offer to be the voice of their telephone auto-attendant
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Referrals: If your client is happy with your work, ask if he or she can refer you to others. Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
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Link-love: Hundreds of online directories are online. Take some time each day to find and submit your website to them to increase traffic to your site.
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Google AdWords: Reach out to a targeted audience with an ad that appears alongside specific key word searches.
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Join websites: Not only can you reach out to clients through auditioning, but having a profile at marketplace websites, like the ones listed here, is like setting up a booth at your local market. Hundreds of clients search for voice actors each day.
