The Santa Barbara Web Design and Marketing Blog

Inspiration from 12 Notes: Unlocking Creativity in Your Marketing and Online Presence

In the 2018 film A Star is Born, Sam Elliott’s character, Bobby Main, delivers a profoundly resonant line while explaining the nature of music. He points out that “all Western music is comprised of just 12 notes.” Think about that for just a moment: every song that has ever made us tap our feet, moved us to tears, inspired revolutions, or soundtracked the most important events of our lives has been crafted from this same set of 12 notes. Over hundreds of years, composers and songwriters have returned to these core elements, finding in them infinite possibilities for new expression, artistry, and emotional connection.

Now, what does this mean for us, as marketers, business owners, creators, and entrepreneurs living in the digital age? Can the analogy of the 12 notes inform and inspire our approach to online marketing and web design? Absolutely. In this post, we’ll explore what the “12 notes” of your own marketing and online presence might look like, and how an intentional, creative mix of these elements can help your brand stand out—no matter how saturated the marketplace might seem.

The Power of Limitation: How Constraints Fuel Creativity

Before diving into the specifics of marketing mechanisms, let’s reflect on why the idea of 12 notes is so powerful. Creativity often flourishes under constraint. Give a musician every sound imaginable and they might struggle to find direction; give them 12 notes and they discover endless ways to combine rhythm, harmony, and melody to make something original. Similarly, in your work, you might find yourself boxed in by budget, time, platform constraints, or even your own experience level. Rather than stifle you, these boundaries can become the very framework that encourages inventive solutions.

So, what are the fundamental “notes” in digital marketing and online presence?

Identifying the 12 Notes of Modern Marketing

While every business is unique, most efforts to attract, engage, and delight customers can be distilled down to a small, consistent set of components or tactics. Here’s a proposed list—your “12 notes”—that, when combined and sequenced in countless ways, give rise to the full spectrum of online marketing possibilities:

1. Website

The virtual storefront and central hub of your brand.

2. Email Marketing

Direct, permission-based communication to nurture leads and customers.

3. Social Media Content

Posts, stories, reels, and videos connecting daily with your audience.

4. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The set of practices that help you get found via search engines.

5. Paid Advertising

Google Ads, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and beyond.

6. Content Marketing (Blogs, Podcasts, Videos)

Educational or entertaining material that builds authority.

7. Landing Pages / Lead Magnets

Focused conversion pages and valuable downloadable offers.

8. Analytics & Tracking

Tools that provide visibility into what’s working (and what’s not).

9. Online Reviews & Testimonials

Third-party validation turning prospects into believers.

10. E-Commerce Integration

Ways to directly sell or take payments online.

11. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Systems that consolidate contacts and foster relationships.

12. Automation & AI Tools

Efficiency boosters for repetitive tasks and smarter engagement.

Your list might look a little bit different depending on your niche, but these 12 mechanisms encompass most of the core building blocks of an effective online strategy. They are your notes—the recurring, reliable elements that underpin your customer journey.

The Infinite Combinatory Possibilities of Marketing “Notes”

Let’s return to the analogy: there are 12 notes, millions of songs. Likewise, I often tell clients, “There are at least 72 ways to get a customer.” The varieties of acquiring, converting, and satisfying a client are limited only by your willingness to sequence and combine these core elements in new ways.

- Are you using SEO to bring people to an opt-in page, then nurturing with email before making an irresistible offer?

- Do you leverage high-impact testimonials on your product pages, boosted by paid social ads, to increase conversions?

- Could you pair regular blog content with targeted retargeting campaigns to re-engage previous visitors?

- Are you using automation to follow up personally every time someone leaves a review, thus building loyalty and repeat business?

With each sequence, you mix and match the notes. Sometimes, two or three together make magic. Other times, you need a whole orchestra—multiple tactics working in harmony. Just as in music, experimentation is everything.

The Limitless Potential of Online Innovation

The beauty of this analogy—and the promise for every business owner—is that even now, new "melodies" are being composed online daily. Every week, a creative entrepreneur or marketing team invents a funnel, tactic, or user-experience sequence that’s never existed before. They’re not inventing new “notes,” but rediscovering fresh ways to put them together.

The social platform TikTok, for example, took familiar digital notes (video, social sharing, algorithms, challenges) and sequenced them uniquely, spawning a global phenomenon and entire new genres of content. Shopify made e-commerce approachable for the masses not by creating commerce, but by combining web hosting, user-friendly design, and in-browser payment processing in a modular, do-it-yourself package.

You don’t have to invent Facebook, Shopify, or TikTok to break new ground in your business. You just need to be willing to experiment with your own 12 notes.

Getting Creative: How to "Mix Up" Your Marketing Notes

Here’s a practical approach to maximizing creativity within your marketing stack:

1. Audit Your Toolkit

List out the marketing assets and tools you’re currently using. Identify which of the “12 notes” are present—and which ones you might be leaving out.

2. Examine Sequences

How are your tactics currently working together? Are you sending website visitors to a lead magnet, but then failing to follow up by email? Are you investing in ads without strong calls to action? Map out the customer journey and see how your “notes” are sequenced.

3. Ideate New Combinations

Just as a musician sits with an instrument and plays with different chord progressions, take some time to brainstorm new ways your marketing mechanisms could interact:

- What if you moved an underperforming testimonial from an obscure subpage to your homepage?

- Could you turn a frequently asked question from your customer service inbox into a blog series, then promote each post on social media?

- Would adding an automated birthday email campaign delight your existing customers and increase retention?

4. Test, Measure, Repeat

Try these new combinations out! Use your analytics tools to monitor impact. Not every experiment will yield a hit song—some will be off-key—but every “release” teaches you more about your audience and your medium.

5. Embrace Collaboration

In music, some of the world’s best songs come from collaboration and remixing. Don’t be afraid to seek out partners, guest bloggers, shared webinars, or affiliate relationships to maximize the reach and resonance of your campaigns.

Overcoming the “Everything’s Been Done” Syndrome

A common refrain among both artists and business people is, “It’s all been done before.” The fear of unoriginality can be paralyzing. But just as no two performances of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony are alike, your particular combination of background, skills, audience, and vision make your marketing unique—even if the “notes” remain the same.

Remember: your audience is always new to your story, even if the underlying structures are familiar to you. The world will never stop welcoming inspired new takes on old themes, because you bring something fresh to the composition.

Tools and Techniques for Mixing Your Notes

Let’s make this actionable. Here are some specific tools and approaches that can help you combine your core assets in novel ways:

- Automation Platforms (Zapier, Make, HubSpot Workflows): Automate touch points across website, email, and social to create personalized customer journeys.

- Content Repurposing (Descript, Canva, Buffer): Turn a single blog post into a video, infographic, email blast, and social snippets, multiplying impact.

- A/B Testing (Google Optimize, Optimizely): Get data on which sequences and combinations resonate most with your audience.

- Customer Feedback Tools (Hotjar, Typeform, Google Reviews): Directly involve your audience in the remixing process by asking what’s working, and what they wish they had.

- Analytics (Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, SEMrush): Identify which “notes” are driving the best traffic, conversions, and retention.

Case Studies: When Mixing the Notes Pays Off

To illustrate the impact of mixing marketing "notes," let's look at two fictional but realistic scenarios based on real-world experiences.

The Local Artisan: From Single Note to Chord

Maria runs a Santa Barbara-based handmade jewelry business. For years, she focused on in-person markets and had a basic website—her main “note.” During the pandemic, she realized she needed to mix things up.

She added:

- SEO-focused content marketing to attract regional search traffic.

- E-commerce integration for easy online sales.

- Instagram and Facebook posts with user-generated content (testimonials).

- Automated email sequences to nurture repeat business.

Within a year, her business tripled its annual revenue. She didn’t invent new tactics—she simply learned to play her “notes” in harmony.

The Service Pro: Sequences Save the Day

David, a local HVAC technician, had relied for years on word-of-mouth. He invested in a single “note”—paid local Google Ads—which brought in sporadic leads. By adding a review-collection system, coupled with an automated follow-up email and a simple content marketing blog answering seasonal HVAC questions, he quadrupled reviews (which boosted local SEO) and inquiries.

He then started a Facebook group for homeowners, providing monthly HVAC tips, which further established trust and generated referral business. By mixing four or five simple mechanisms, his sequence delivered results he hadn’t imagined possible.

The Role of AI and Automation in Remixing Your Notes

The latest “note” on the block is, arguably, AI and smart automation tools. Far from replacing creativity, these tools enable you to try more combinations, faster—and with data-backed feedback. From chatbots that answer simple website questions in real-time, to scheduling helpers that follow up with leads, to AI-driven content creation, the barriers to experimenting with your own “chord progressions” have never been lower.

Use these tools to automate tedious steps, freeing your energy and creativity for the strategic work: thinking up the next great sequence, the next campaign, the next combinations of your "notes."

Takeaways: Your Unique Melody Starts Now

- Embrace your 12 notes. Don’t be overwhelmed by the infinite tactics online—focus on mastering the foundational elements.

- Creativity comes from combining these notes in new ways. Change up your sequences, experiment, and learn as you go.

- Innovation is endless—even today, people are creating new “songs.” There are always new ways to attract, engage, and delight your customers.

- Your unique background, skills, and community make your ‘song’ original—even if the notes aren’t.

- Leave room for play, collaboration, and iteration. Some combinations will surprise you.

The next time you feel stuck or uninspired in your marketing, remember Bobby Main’s wisdom: everything you need to make something beautiful is right at your fingertips. Mix your notes, play your melody—and watch as others stop to listen.

Have questions or want to brainstorm your own marketing “notes”? Leave them in the comments below, and keep experimenting—your next big hit might be just one chord away.