Social Media for Musicians

Five Tips To Make Social Media Work For You 

Over the last decade, social media has exploded. I don’t think anyone thought it would play as large of a role as it has in the modern world as we know it today. Contrary to many individuals’ personal opinions regarding the subject, social media for musicians is one of the most valuable assets for marketing. Social media is much more than looking at photos of your favorite animals all day. It is a golden opportunity to promote your music.

Engaging with others, and expanding your potential fan base through social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and YouTube is essential. Though social media may seem like a task not worth learning, I assure you, it is. 

Here are some of the ways you can use social networking for your music career no matter where you are. 

1. Commit To A Schedule 

When looking at metrics across all industries, keeping your profile running is important. Now, I’m not saying you have to post every day, however, sticking to a schedule is key! 

It’s extremely important to keep creating content to interact with your fans even if you’re in the studio or on tour. Today’s fans want it all, and they want it now. Look at when your profile receives the most engagement and pick those days. 

Try and stick to posting those days so your audience can expect to see your content. For example, if you are posting three times a week, two of the posts can be photos or something that’s important to you however, every Thursday, maybe you collaborate with another artist and post a cover video. 

You always want to keep the momentum going. 

2. Schedule Your Post 

Running your social media account like a business is how you should approach any account. However, it’s often easier said than done keeping up with making posts multiple times a week and creating new content. As someone who runs multiple social media accounts scheduling your posts in advance can save you a lot of time! 

If you spend your week gathering content to post you tend to stay in a more creative space. It’s important to focus on the content more than the caption and everything that goes along with making the post. 

What you should do is spend the majority of your time creating this content and setting aside a few hours every week or two to schedule the posts to follow. Personally, I use a service called Buffer, there are a number of inexpensive services that allow you to carry out these tasks in no time. 

Not only can you simply make the post, but many of these services allow you to see your account’s data at a glance, respond to comments, edit captions and tags all in a simple and easy-to-use program. 

These programs also are not limited to one platform. Through Buffer, I can create the post and determine if I send it to all of the social media sites or maybe just Facebook. This is a huge time saver since I don’t have to replicate every post on every platform.  

Remember, before you start scheduling your posts to look at which days your followers are most interactive with your account, and build your schedule from there. 

3. Update and Optimize 

It’s pretty common that a fan will find your social media presence before they see you live. Though Covid 19 has changed the live music industry over the past year, the gathering capacity is growing, and in the short-term future concerts and festivals should be up and running. If you are interested in how COVID-19 impacted the music industry you can read our blog about it here.

It’s important that you make sure all your artist information is up-to-date and correct. Make sure your biographies on all platforms match. You don’t want your fans to read two different things regarding you as an artist.

 It’s also important that your photo on every platform is the same. This will make recognizing your profile a lot easier. More and more artists are starting to link their electronic press kits (EPK) to their social accounts.

A press kit is a simple overview of an artist, where albums, press releases, image branding and contact info can be found. Think of this as a resume for a band or solo artist. 

When you upload content to your pages it’s important to tag anything you can in the photo. If you have a ProTools window open in the background, TAG IT. By doing this, it increases the reach of your post. 

By increasing the reach of your post, you will show up infant of more unique users who may not have seen your profile. 

4. Be Yourself

It’s important to show who you are and what you stand for. Developing a real connection with 300 true fans is more important than having 100,000 followers that do not engage with what you do. 

Communication with your fans is extremely important and can make all the difference. You want to write as you speak. You want your fans to show up to live performances and feel like they know you. When you show who you really are, your engagement will reflect that. 

When writing captions or uploading visual content, be you, not who you think they want you to be. It’s important to embrace the passion you have for what you are doing. 

You should also be sharing content with your fans. If you get mentioned in a story or post, you should repost it to your artist’s story, as long as it’s appropriate. Not only does this increase your posts and your potential reach, but it also shows your fans that you see them and care.

Engagement is a two-way street. Don’t think you don’t have to engage back. 

5. Provoke Engagement. 

As you can probably tell, engagement is important. When you’re getting ready to post make sure the content itself is something of high quality. Maybe it’s a photo from a recent photoshoot or a video clip from your last gig, it still needs to be a quality product. 

If your page is full of quality posts, engagement will come. Your posts should include a call to action. Provoke comments and likes by asking questions to your fans. When a question is asked there’s usually a response waiting. 

Another great way to build traction on your page is by giving value to those that view it. Share tips and how you go about recording your vocals or guitars. When there’s value to a post the engagement is usually high. 

When posts have value they tend to be shared by the end viewers for their own audience; this alone can double a post’s organic reach. 

With all of this being said, you should focus on posting the kinds of content that express yourself. You don’t have to be a social media guru, these tips should help build upon what you have already accomplished yourself.

Social media is something that takes time to understand but with a little practice, you’ll see results.

Tie It All Together

If you are interested in an audio engineering or music business career, Dark Horse Institute’s Audio Engineering or Music Business Programs are a great way to take things to the next level!