When it comes to band promotion, there are a lot of different ways to get your name out there. But even in the age of online radio, band blogging, and custom mascots, one of the oldest ways to promote your music is still one of the most cost-effective: eye-catching, full-color custom vinyl stickers.

Chief among the charms of this time-tested band promotion strategy is how inexpensive it is. Custom stickers can run as little as .5 cents a pop, making them THE single most cost-effective way to promote your music. Another major selling point is longevity. Given the right design, your band stickers will hang around a lot longer than your posters, handbills, or shrink-wrapped tour van. They’ll also show up in all kinds of different places: car bumpers, laptops, guitar cases, telephone poles, you name it.  

Custom stickers can also be considered a baseline strategy for indie band promotion, for the simple reason that they’re all about the fans.

Consider: 

Custom stickers are cheap enough to give away. People like getting free stuff, especially if it’s eye-catching and clever. Include your URL/MySpace, it will also let people know how to get a hold of you, download your music, buy your CD’s, and stay in touch.

Should a band sticker come to reside on one of the many surfaces mentioned above—or a bike, or a water-bottle, or even the on-ramp sign for the Golden Gate Bridge—chances are, a fan put it there. This indicates to the world that you have fans. This is important.

The right custom sticker design—along with music that people are passionate about, and genuinely want to hear—is key to achieving success with band stickers as a promo strategy. But when you sit down to figure out where your music marketing dollars are going to go, consider this: no other strategy puts as much power in the hands of the fans for such an affordable price, and no other marketing “sticks around” quite as long.