So in the new age of the online world, bands need to be up to date! But what does this mean for your marketing on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc? Here are some key ideas for your posting that you should think about and implement.
IGNORING IT WILL NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY
Posts:
(1) Personalise
(2) Network
(3) Share
(4) Trends
(5) Incentives
(6) Respond
(1) Personalise – Link to articles/photographs/videos etc. that reflect you as a band and that you find interesting and want to share with people.
Be interactive with your audience. Think about frequent, light, in-style posts designed to engage and encourage people to connect with you. This includes polls, questions and colorful images.
This side of things shouldn’t seem like a chore, although you will have to do some research. Be yourselves, talk about your interests and avoid being overly self-promotional, it is about subtlety.
Remember, people like to do business with people they like. Don’t just tweet about your release dates and upcoming tours, make it interesting for people to follow you not just because of who you are, but what you share as well.
Eg. ‘When I snowboard I like to listen to [link to bandcamp or other site for a track]’
Keep your fans talking and sharing. Peak Twitter time is usually between 10am-4pm. And peak Facebook time is usually between 11am - 8pm peak times being 11am, 3pm and 8pm, weekdays are busiest particularly Wednesdays.
Try and keep it light and personal, try not to push things on them. It's more about increasing their engagement to make the fact they 'like' your page mean something and increase the likelihood that they will remain interested in your progress and new developments
(2) Network – Cross-promoting and connecting with ‘people who matter’ eg. core fans, music bloggers, radio DJs etc.
Focus on your Key Power Tweeters: One of the best ways to really utilize the power of the twitter-verse is to target well respected and widely known figures within your industry through your tweets. Interacting with these people will expose you to their followers and can lead you to developing a relationship with them. Doing this can dramatically increase the exposure of your profile and expand your social network.
Eg. ‘#jls the hardest working band? We have been working on our album and our upcoming April/May tour! Check it out here [link to site for tour dates]’
It would be a good idea to recommend other bands, do this with magazines, channels, blogs and radio stations – particularly student radio shows. Get them to share/retweet these posts to draw attention to you aswell.
Eg. ‘Amazing article in @musicmagazinename about #trendingarticle’
(3) Share
Keep your fans talking and sharing. Continue to post information about what you are doing so that followers can get a taste of 'backstage band life' eg. at the studio recording, writing, backstage, making a music video etc.
Eg. New month, new tracks – keep your eyes and ears peeled for new videos here [link to Youtube page]’
Document being in a band by making a ‘webisode’ or taking photographs to show to fans. Visuals are important, particularly when you are on tour or recording, to whet the appetite of your audience, as they engage and entertain.
(4) Trends – Interaction is of the utmost importance! #hashtags and @tweetpeople
Really utilize the #hashtagcategory as some people search twitter through categories. If others enjoy similar content in which you have posted on, they might follow you for more updates or even a conversation.
Eg. ‘#primaryschoolmemories of listening to AC/DC, we were destined to be in a band!’
An application to consider in order to monitor certain topics and mentions of your band is using TweetBeep. You can use it on a basic level for free, setting up 10 keyword alerts and then receive hourly or daily emails when these keywords are mentioned. It is not perfect and may not pick up every reference to your keywords but it is a good way to help you keep track.
Making a comment on a fan’s interesting tweet/comment using @theirtwittername will lead them to do the same. Track which types of tweets are getting retweeted more than others, and tweet the types of content that tends to be more popular with your target audience. EG. Discuss things such as an interesting article in the @NME and ask their opinions – content like this is 50% percent more likely to be retweeted.
Retweeting: Get those followers to promote your tweets and spread your voice. Your followers then become influencers and by retweeting the information you provide you are seen as a taste-maker and power-player.
Try and give the impression of providing valuable information without expecting anything in return. If they like an answer to a topic they are discussing, they may retweet it.
(Asking people to retweet can be effective, but try and reserve this for when you really need to, as doing it more than once a week, can make it fairly dull for your followers).
(5) Incentives – Use Facebook and Twitter to advertise competitions and prizes
· Take photos with fans and get them to tag you (as a band), alternatively tag your fans in your own photographs. There are always amateur freelance photographers floating around at gigs and in this way you can develop relationships with photographers and ‘fan photographers’.
· Encourage fan art, maybe as part of a limited t-shirt design or single sleeve.
· For upcoming tours you could offer signed prizes eg. set lists, picks etc. for best photograph from the show and advertise this on Facebook and Twitter.
· As we all know everybody loves something for nothing so free tickets for gigs go down well.
(6) Respond
It's important to contact and maintain the following of core fans so network with them, as you would after a show, but on Facebook and Twitter 'Liking' and leaving messages and comments occasionally.
Being personal with fans and followers is important as it makes them feel a valuable part of your audience and will encourage them to invite their friends to like your music as well.
Regularity: Don’t have a social media spasm, inundating your fans and followers with your thoughts, opinions etc. – Only to disappear into the ether for a long period will often prove to be counter-productive.
IGNORING IT WILL NOT MAKE IT GO AWAY
Posts:
(1) Personalise
(2) Network
(3) Share
(4) Trends
(5) Incentives
(6) Respond
(1) Personalise – Link to articles/photographs/videos etc. that reflect you as a band and that you find interesting and want to share with people.
Be interactive with your audience. Think about frequent, light, in-style posts designed to engage and encourage people to connect with you. This includes polls, questions and colorful images.
This side of things shouldn’t seem like a chore, although you will have to do some research. Be yourselves, talk about your interests and avoid being overly self-promotional, it is about subtlety.
Remember, people like to do business with people they like. Don’t just tweet about your release dates and upcoming tours, make it interesting for people to follow you not just because of who you are, but what you share as well.
Eg. ‘When I snowboard I like to listen to [link to bandcamp or other site for a track]’
Keep your fans talking and sharing. Peak Twitter time is usually between 10am-4pm. And peak Facebook time is usually between 11am - 8pm peak times being 11am, 3pm and 8pm, weekdays are busiest particularly Wednesdays.
Try and keep it light and personal, try not to push things on them. It's more about increasing their engagement to make the fact they 'like' your page mean something and increase the likelihood that they will remain interested in your progress and new developments
(2) Network – Cross-promoting and connecting with ‘people who matter’ eg. core fans, music bloggers, radio DJs etc.
Focus on your Key Power Tweeters: One of the best ways to really utilize the power of the twitter-verse is to target well respected and widely known figures within your industry through your tweets. Interacting with these people will expose you to their followers and can lead you to developing a relationship with them. Doing this can dramatically increase the exposure of your profile and expand your social network.
Eg. ‘#jls the hardest working band? We have been working on our album and our upcoming April/May tour! Check it out here [link to site for tour dates]’
It would be a good idea to recommend other bands, do this with magazines, channels, blogs and radio stations – particularly student radio shows. Get them to share/retweet these posts to draw attention to you aswell.
Eg. ‘Amazing article in @musicmagazinename about #trendingarticle’
(3) Share
Keep your fans talking and sharing. Continue to post information about what you are doing so that followers can get a taste of 'backstage band life' eg. at the studio recording, writing, backstage, making a music video etc.
Eg. New month, new tracks – keep your eyes and ears peeled for new videos here [link to Youtube page]’
Document being in a band by making a ‘webisode’ or taking photographs to show to fans. Visuals are important, particularly when you are on tour or recording, to whet the appetite of your audience, as they engage and entertain.
(4) Trends – Interaction is of the utmost importance! #hashtags and @tweetpeople
Really utilize the #hashtagcategory as some people search twitter through categories. If others enjoy similar content in which you have posted on, they might follow you for more updates or even a conversation.
Eg. ‘#primaryschoolmemories of listening to AC/DC, we were destined to be in a band!’
An application to consider in order to monitor certain topics and mentions of your band is using TweetBeep. You can use it on a basic level for free, setting up 10 keyword alerts and then receive hourly or daily emails when these keywords are mentioned. It is not perfect and may not pick up every reference to your keywords but it is a good way to help you keep track.
Making a comment on a fan’s interesting tweet/comment using @theirtwittername will lead them to do the same. Track which types of tweets are getting retweeted more than others, and tweet the types of content that tends to be more popular with your target audience. EG. Discuss things such as an interesting article in the @NME and ask their opinions – content like this is 50% percent more likely to be retweeted.
Retweeting: Get those followers to promote your tweets and spread your voice. Your followers then become influencers and by retweeting the information you provide you are seen as a taste-maker and power-player.
Try and give the impression of providing valuable information without expecting anything in return. If they like an answer to a topic they are discussing, they may retweet it.
(Asking people to retweet can be effective, but try and reserve this for when you really need to, as doing it more than once a week, can make it fairly dull for your followers).
(5) Incentives – Use Facebook and Twitter to advertise competitions and prizes
· Take photos with fans and get them to tag you (as a band), alternatively tag your fans in your own photographs. There are always amateur freelance photographers floating around at gigs and in this way you can develop relationships with photographers and ‘fan photographers’.
· Encourage fan art, maybe as part of a limited t-shirt design or single sleeve.
· For upcoming tours you could offer signed prizes eg. set lists, picks etc. for best photograph from the show and advertise this on Facebook and Twitter.
· As we all know everybody loves something for nothing so free tickets for gigs go down well.
(6) Respond
It's important to contact and maintain the following of core fans so network with them, as you would after a show, but on Facebook and Twitter 'Liking' and leaving messages and comments occasionally.
Being personal with fans and followers is important as it makes them feel a valuable part of your audience and will encourage them to invite their friends to like your music as well.
Regularity: Don’t have a social media spasm, inundating your fans and followers with your thoughts, opinions etc. – Only to disappear into the ether for a long period will often prove to be counter-productive.
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