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Social media can help musicians keep the connection with their fans long after their shows end.
One of the biggest obstacles for musicians is getting the exposure that is necessary to help them gain notice in the music industry. Furthermore, record labels are quick to ask aspiring artists as to how large their social media following are, and shrinking marketing budgets means that the brunt of marketing one’s music now falls more and more upon the shoulders of the artist. This is the new reality of the music industry that we see here at Green Dream Social.
Social media can provide an instantly actionable marketing platform, but it can be difficult to make your band stand out from all of the others. On the other hand, using social media in an effective manner can help you achieve the attention that you need. Here’s some introductory tips if you or your band is new to using social media for marketing or if you want to have a checklist as to what you might be doing wrong or right.
Growing a Fan Base
One of the best benefits of social media is the easy ability that you will have to connect to more fans. Playing at small events will only allow you a small group of people to whom you can market. Having a social media account allows you to connect to millions of people around the world. The social media account can also help people get to know you and other musicians with whom you are affiliated. Growing a fan base is no easy task, and establishing your social media accounts are the first steps in a very long journey that we hope to help you out on in future blog posts.
Validation of Your Band
Having an online social presence can help validate you as an artist or your band. When you set up a Facebook or Twitter account in a professional manner, you and other musicians will be more successful in gaining attention from potential fans and professionals in the music industry. It literally puts you on the radar of others. While any graphic artist can create a compelling Twitter background to showcase your musical brand, Facebook is a little more complex. We recommend using a service specifically geared towards musicians such as RootMusic’s BandPage, which is the number one application for musicians to set up their presence on Facebook. While it might seem weird to use a non-Facebook application to set-up your Facebook presence, bear in mind that Facebook doesn’t provide an official solution for artists who want to stream their music.
Ability to Share Your Music
If no one hears your music, you will never be a successful musician. Having social media accounts provides you with the chance to share your music with the world. More than one musician has become an instant sensation after being “discovered” on YouTube, and now there are musicians being discovered on all of the social media websites, even newer sites like Google Plus! SoundCloud is a program that allows you to share your music throughout your entire social media presence. Using this program will enable you to add music to your account, provide people with a chance to hear your music and provide fans with the ability to share your music with their friends and to endorse your music. With SoundCloud, you can begin to tap into the potential viral marketing that social media may provide for your music!
Access to Targets
Having a social media account provides you with the ability to “friend” or “follow” important people in the industry. Whether you want to stay on top of the news about the latest famous singer or you want to connect to local DJs and production companies, having a professional social media account can help you network with these individuals. Some people in the industry may look at your page because of your relationship on someone else’s social media account. Like most industries, the music industry still comes down to “who you know,” so leverage social media to help you establish or strengthen your industry relationships.
Your Press Release Channel
Having social media accounts allows you to provide important information about your band or your music to your fans. You can release new information about the band, such as the addition of a new member, upcoming concerts, venues and other current information. You can also advertise contests to give out free tickets to winners. Having a social media account will allow you to quickly spread information about your band so that your fans are always current on the latest news. Think of social media as your press release channel!
Ability to Link to Other Pages
Once you gain attention through a social media account, you can send interested parties to directed sites. For example, you can link to videos of you playing your music or to your band’s website. You can also link to sites that allow users to purchase tickets to upcoming concerts or to venues so that they can check out the type of places where you will be playing. This cross-linking helps you build a literal web of digital assets that can help you with any and every imaginable type of marketing activity.
What do you think of these six easy ways in which social media can help your music marketing? Would you add any others?
Green Dream Social provides musicians and record labels with social media marketing services. Contact us for a free consultation as to how we can help you!
