Going viral today matters as much as having a hit record. But you don’t want to do it in the wrong way.
Social media platforms are the world’s kiosk, and any artist would be foolish not to dedicate himself to building a viral presence. But as important as it is to gain new followers, it’s even more crucial to keep them . . . and keep them engaged.
Here are five social media don’ts for aspiring musicians.
1. Don’t let your online profiles collect dust
Don’t forget the power of the hashtag either. Twitter is an effective marketing tool for artists because it allows them to identify trends in engagement and what types of music their audience enjoys listening to. But master the art of hashtagging now, as Facebook plans to utilize this same feature in a future update—making you and your music even more accessible to new audiences.
2. Don’t oversaturate your fans
3. Don’t overdo it when you humblebrag
4. Don’t ignore your fans—ever
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“Artists ought to tend carefully to their social platforms as if they are fan-gardens. The more relevant, relational, and affirming you are with your listeners, the more your content gets passed around organically and grows your fan-base,” said Daniel McCarthy of TheMusicBed.com, a music licensing site.
With Facebook’s latest launch of a new Replies feature with threaded comments (for businesses and brands or individuals with at least 10,000 followers), responding to your followers should be even easier now. Replies not only lets you engage directly with your fans in each post’s comment section, but it also ensures that the most relevant comments (meaning the most popular, the most active, or from those followers who are closest to your network) are given the top spots in the conversation stream. This change allows you to indirectly encourage conversations with your fans, and it also lets them know their voices matter.
In the Internet age, doing these kinds of things online is as important as getting out of the green room and yucking it up with your fans after a show. It’s the viral equivalent of signing autographs, and you must do it.
5. Don’t underestimate the value of fresh content
Also, make sure your content is “rich” and enticing. As Facebook rolls out its latest News Feed design allowing users to switch between various content-specific feeds, you want your page to stand out from the rest. Users are inundated with written content and brand Facebook pages, and they’re getting bored. Fight to keep their attention. Be relatable, original, and make sure your posts include pictures to help share your ideas using fewer words. It’s also been rumored that Facebook’s new design will feature a Music feed. This is where your fans’ friends will share the music they’re listening to, what they’ve Liked, upcoming nearby concerts, suggested musicians to subscribe to, and recently released music. So now is the time to put your best face forward. Your fans, new and old, are watching.
Whatever you do on social media, keep in mind that the fastest way to lose followers is to come across as a nakedly ambitious self-promotional machine. You want your updates to be funny, personal, and real. You want to simply say, “Hey, have you heard the news?” not give people yet another piece of spam to delete. People hate that. And the last thing you or your band needs is to be hated . . . unless it also gets you more followers (see Justin Bieber).
