Social media may seem like the great equaliser and its most wide-reaching platform, Facebook, a great place to be discovered by potential fans. Yet, that also means that you’re competing with thousands of artists for the same group of fans. If you want to stand out, you could either spend pots of money, or get smart and crack the conundrum in other ways. Here are a few pointers that could change your approach:
Do it yourself
We are big believers in the DIY principle and we’d highly recommend you handle your social media yourself. Don’t hire a social media marketer unless you are really pressed for time. Involve other members of your band, as well as your team, be it promoter, producer, street team or other people who you work with regularly. Create group posts with your band as often as you can.
Avoid the distraction trap
Right after what we just said, we’d also like to caution you about not getting sucked in. Your time is more constructively spent in creating music and that should remain your focus. Keep a tab on the time that you spend on Facebook as you take on the job of promoting your music – literally by setting a stopwatch as you start and end.
Go live, post videos
Nothing grabs attention more than videos and you should be posting as many as possible. Go live when your gig is on. Notifications of Facebook Live get many viewers because of the sense of urgency it creates. It also increases the scope of who sees you live beyond people at the venue. Post other videos of your jams (when you feel the music is ready to be presented), behind the scenes from when you’ve organised a shoot for the band or a music video is being created. Other video content which tells your fans about you and your bandmates’ personalities, likes and dislikes – when done carefully – also build engagement.
Other than gig videos, keep the duration short. Upload your music videos on Facebook, as well as other platforms.
Photos come next
Though not as engaging as videos, photos also help fans gain an insight into your life, musically and otherwise. Anything interesting that you see while travelling for a gig, recording a song or a video is worth posting. Captions will help build context and get people interested.
Focus on offline
Getting people to follow your band page is the best way to get them to see the content you create. But for that, the work is done offline. At your gigs and when talking to people about your music, tell people how to find your Facebook page and ask them to follow it for updates.
Respond to people
When you get comments on your page, hit reply as often as you can. This helps people stay interested in the content that you’re posting because they are getting to engage with you. People would like to know that you’re listening and care about people who make the effort to engage with you.
Avoid controversy
Steer clear of getting personal with people on Facebook. Your comments, captions and posts should be carefully crafted not to be offensive to a person or group. Stay away from politics and religion as much as possible unless your songs are about those topics. Even then, you will have to be careful that you have a well thought out message about why you’re engaging with such topics. Don’t get sucked into a fight.
Reveal more that your music
Fans love to know about the person behind the music. There will opportunities to do this without coming off as being an exhibitionist. For example, if you’re visiting a place that has special significance for you or having food that you love from a special place, it could make for a nice post.
Advertise on Facebook
Especially when you have an important gig, a new album or EP to announce or a music video that you want to go beyond the people who like your page, consider investing some money in advertising on Facebook. Understanding Facebook advertising on things like choosing an audience is a vast topic. We’d advise you to look for the latest links on YouTube to gain an insight into this aspect of using the platform.
We’d like to hear from you. If you have insights about how to promote your music on Facebook and other platforms, please share it in the comments section with us and the community.
