Last night marked the return of one of my favorite televised singing competitions, The Sing Off. Though the show does feature singers battling it out for to top spot, there are several factors that set it apart from other such shows like American Idol and The Voice. Not only is The Sing Off team based, the teams perform entirely without accompaniment; all of the sound is produced solely with their voices, a style known as a cappella.

As I listened to the performers on last night’s show, I was mesmerized by the fullness and complexity of sound that they created without any instruments, as I always am when listening to a cappella music. However, I was also reminded of a few lessons that can be taken from a cappella ensembles and applied quite well to digital marketing.

Music & Marketing Maxims

• Find Your Voice:

  First and foremost for both a cappella music and digital marketing, you must find your voice. This voice must stay true to who you are, as a musical group or as a company, remain consistent, and connect with your audience.

• Play to Your Strengths:

  Each member of an a cappella group plays a specific role, from percussion and bass, to alto and soprano (depending on the number of members and their voices). By leveraging their individual strengths, they improve the sound or the group as a whole. Similarly, each member of our digital marketing team works to his or her strengths – the designer creating visually appealing pieces, our copywriters crafting well-written, emotionally appealing blogs and eblasts, our programmers coding websites so they function seamlessly for the user. In addition, our clients reach out to us to work as a team to fill in the holes of their experience with our expertise.

• Diversity Makes the Difference:

  Drawing influence from a wide variety of artists allows a cappella groups to creating unexpected arrangements of familiar tunes in order to connect with the audience. For instance, last night doo-wop group Street Corner Renaissance performed One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful,” taking their voice and applying it to a modern-day popular song. It worked, winning over the audience and the judges! When you’re looking for sources to share on social media or to draw from for your blogs, consider a wide range of options. Though the connections may not be as obvious, they will allow you to cross boundaries and form stronger connections with your customers.

• Timing is Everything:

  In a cappella music, if one member of the group is off by just one beat it can throw off the whole performance. Timing is equally important when it comes to digital marketing. Though you can send an eblast or post on Facebook at any time, there are specific slots that will allow you to maximize your impact. For eblasts, we’ve found that with certain clients, Sunday sends work best, while with others sending mid-week is optimal. Either way, sending first thing in the morning or right around lunch time hit the sweet spots. It’s all about finding the right time for your audience. Similar thought goes into each Facebook, Twitter and Google+ post we put up. Finally, in order to get all of these elements out according to this time table, the team must work together in advance to prepare them – and gain client approval. Just as in a cappella music, a great deal of time and energy goes into creating these pieces that the audience doesn’t even see.

At first glance, marketing and a cappella music don’t appear to have much in common, but as we dig deeper, we find that they run in symphonic parallels, drawing lessons from each other. If you need help creating and keeping your marketing rhythm, reach out to us. Our teams will work together to produce harmonious campaigns.