Had you been a musical artist who was showcasing his or her craft in the 70s or 80s, you probably wouldn’t have given the Internet much thought. However, doing that in this era would be one huge mistake. After all, you aren’t a musician of the past but rather, one who is living and breathing in the 21st century. Because of this, you need to get with the times or run the risk of getting left behind and ultimately, ignored. The culture and expectations of fans and music followers have evolved, especially when it comes to how musicians—whether solo acts or bands—market and distribute their songs.
In today’s digitally inclined music scene, the Internet is considered to be a vital tool that people in the industry use. From music executives to producers to the artists and their agents, online is where the action is. No matter what it is you’re dealing with—interviews with music bloggers or web magazines, album or song reviews, marketing campaigns, festival applications or other elements of the music industry—nearly everything is done online and it is the best way to share information, engage with fans and followers and express yourself through your music.
These days, every business, no matter how big or small, has a social media presence and also need employees, so the use of a paystub software can help, visit the website to find more about this. It is that essential and as someone who is aspiring to have your music be heard by as many people as possible, one of the very first steps you must take is to establish a robust social media presence. While the most recognized ones happen to be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr, there are so many other platforms that you can use to spread the word about your small business.
However, you have to take note that some social media sites have proven to be more influential than others. Facebook, for example, has a mind-blowing 2.8 billion people, which is already a quarter of the total population of the planet earth! However, it’s also equally important to consider that the size of the social media site is not everything as SoundCloud has proven. A Swedish-founded online audio distribution platform and music sharing website based in Berlin, Germany, SoundCloud allows users to upload, promote, and share audio while also letting listeners stream audio, making it one of the best sites for musicians.
There are plenty of social media platforms that you can benefit from as some are designed to help musicians. The good thing is you don’t have to vet or even pick between any of them since the best way to get as much social media mileage as possible is to make a profile on all of them. You should, of course, start with TikTok and then, make your way towards the smaller sites that don’t get as much traffic. Compared to other social media platforms, TikTok grows at a rapid pace. By promoting yourself on TikTok through this service, you can reach a large audience known for strong engagement.
All that being said, there really isn’t a set blueprint that will show you to build your music career with the use of the Internet and social media but there are several tips that you can use to make sure you and your music are heard on this very crowded platform. And so, to help you make the most out of your social media marketing efforts, take a look at these fundamental pieces of advice:
1) Make sure your content has variety
It is important to keep the content on your social media page as diverse as possible. Nothing can put off a user faster than seeing repetitive posts on your page. If you want to attract—and more importantly, keep followers—your page should have all kinds of material. Make sure to upload videos, share photos outside of what fans typically see, offer giveaways, share sneak peeks or anything that would let you engage more with fans.
2) Get the frequency of your posts right
Another thing that you must remember is to not post too often or too little. Various experts offer different recommendations for optimal posting regularity depending on elements such as which website or platform you’re using, or how many followers you have. But as a rule of thumb, two posts per day should be good for artists that have already established a pretty robust following. But if you haven’t amassed a large following, you can make do with just one a day.
3) Give incentives to fans
Do you know what’s better than getting closer to your fans? Giving your fans prizes! Nothing builds more engagement than giving your most ardent followers simple, low-cost yet meaningful prizes like free downloads or even first dibs on your new material!
4) Use interactive features on your page
Artists often get so caught up in the media aspect of social media that they forget the social part of it. One of the things that make social media unique is its ability to create a two-way street in that not only are you able to share content with your followers but they can also share something with you. Whether that’s artwork, a cover of your song or even just an opinion, this exchange is extremely valuable as it leads to deeper connections between you and your fans.
5) Use a personal and genuine tone
The beauty of running your own social media page is you can have a voice of your own and you should let your fans hear or feel that. Unlike other, more well-known artists whose management team employ social media teams to handle their social media accounts, you don’t have such a luxury which is a good thing as you can be yourself in your posts.