Social media has been a godsend for just about any industry that benefits from a marketing campaign, and one of those industries is music. Music and promotion go hand-in-hand, so much so that many believe the music industry is over saturated. Shameless promotions from bad musicians may get them seen, but if you’re like me and have some decency, you’ll likely want to do things differently. But if the music industry is saturated with shameless promotions and bad musicians, how do you get noticed?
If done correctly, a respectable marketing campaign can be carried out through social media. Many musicians are finding that social media is a great way to get their music heard while interacting with fans. Below are some tips on how to run a successful social media marketing campaign, promoting your music and getting you noticed.
Know Your Audience
Before you start putting your music and story out to the masses, you need to take a strong look at who your audience is. Note that there may be a difference between who you want your audience to be and who your audience actually is. Determining your audience as a musician is important because depending on the demographics and passions of your audience, different content and social media strategies will need to be deployed. If you want to make it big, you have to know your audience and what’s going to grab their attention.
As a musician, it probably isn’t worth it to incorporate LinkedIn into your marketing strategy, as it’s geared toward professionals. Instead, look toward Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter — platforms that have a larger and younger demographic of users. Knowing what content your audience will respond positively to is key to engaging existing fans while attracting new ones. Check out your favorite band and see how they do things — or one of my favorite bands. Reel Big Fish has been working and touring toward being a known name in the ska realm for years now.
Content
Now that you know your audience and what digital environment in which to reach them, it’s time to make the content. A lot of content will come naturally, such as event notifications of when you have a show or photos of said show, but that’s standard and boring. Depending on the social media platform you have chosen — which shouldn’t be limited to one — use it to actively engage your audience.
Different social media platforms carry out different ways to showcase your content. Utilise Snapchat or Instagram Stories to notify your audience of your show in real-time. Ask for requests for your next performance on Facebook. Your fans and audience are arguably the most important factor of your existence as a musician, and unless you’ve gotten too big for your britches, it is fun and important for you to interact with them and what you can do to make your craft better.
Networking
If you are a musician and haven’t seen the performances of other musicians, you probably should — and if your favorite bands have any social media knowledge, they’ll be promoting when and where they are playing. Or, maybe you’ve gotten on the bill to play with bands similar to your style. However you meet them, connect with other musicians — on a personal level, as well as social media.
Building connections and relationships with others in your craft will help your exposure to an audience that otherwise would overlook you. A simple shout out to you from another band will advise their audience to check your music out, and playing shows with another band allows you to play to an audience that may not have come to a show of just you. Social media is a great way to connect and stay in touch with other musicians to set up shows and promote each other.
Social media seems as if it was made specifically for musicians. It’s a valuable tool for promoting your music, brand, and story, as well as connecting with your fans and other musicians. Social media is changing the way we dictate how people view us, You might as well be invisible without social media, but using the techniques above is guaranteed to give you and your music a buzz around town.
Courtesy of Desmond Rhodes.
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These are all certainly good ideas, but what happens if you’re too new to the music scene to know who your audience is yet? And what if your favourite band broke up 48 years ago and thus never had social media?
Great article!