Social Media Marketing for Musicians | The #1 Strategy To Build a Big Audience

Social media music marketing is confused with the selling of music, but what is music marketing deep down anyway? Well, it is more than just selling; social media music marketing is also about selling the brand of the musician.

Now, what matters for the musician, besides his music, is how well he engages with the fans, how he dresses up and how relatable he is to his fans. That coupled with great music is his recipe for success, as per the recent social media marketing strategy for musicians rules.

Social media, from a general point of view, is integral to us; it is everywhere and we have entered an era where a person’s identity isn’t complete until he/she has a profile on such popular platforms. And that’s a normal for you average Joe out there.

Imagine if we’re looking at the same picture from an artist’s point of view. What if it’s about hardcore social media marketing for musicians at a professional level?

In that case, it is crucial for everyone but especially artists to be on social media, have an effective social media strategy, and have an efficient social media management team. Given that more than half of the world’s population is on it, social media or digital marketing cannot be ignored by anyone anymore.

Social media is decidedly the best way for a musician to grow their audience, as when you place an ad there, irrespective of a person’s favorite genre, they are more likely than not going to see it, which is a chance for them to know about you.

While they might not become a fan of you or your music right away, they will still know about your brand and what you represent.

According to Sprout Social’s recent survey, “Instagram recently passed a billion active users while Facebook boasts two billion daily active users themselves. These numbers blow the likes of SoundCloud and Bandcamp out of the water. Oh, and did you know that YouTube is technically the most popular music streaming service right now, beating out Spotify and Apple Music?”

This is something that would not have been possible in the old days. Sure, a song on the radio once, a poster on the friend’s bedroom wall and similar scenarios are possible forms or types of music marketing that could have proven effective back in the day.

However, in today’s time, that would simply not be the case; visibility on all the right channels is what the musicians need if they want to market themselves successfully, that is. There are so many options, so many names to remember that a human mind has unknowingly started to filter out what it deems unnecessary. Now, a simple poster doesn’t have the effect that an ad on social media does because the latter doesn’t let you forget the name.

It really would be wishful thinking if a musician thought that good music was all he/she needed to be successful in the music industry. They need social media to separate them from the likes who bore the audience; they need to engage their fans and to keep from losing their current fanbase. Also, having a well-set profile works in their favor more so as it will help them in a cutthroat industry of music.

Okay, now that we have the basics  jotted down, let’s create a social media marketing strategy for musicians together!

1. Establishing Your Long Term & Short Term Goals

Here’s a fact: the social media marketing strategy for musicians might work better over the long term than in the short term – but that is something we will have to come back to later.

Before starting social media marketing for musicians, the first step to take is to establish your goals as a musician or as someone managing their socials. Ask yourself why you are doing this and what you want to achieve through it.

Now, divide those goals into two categories of short-term and long-term and follow SMART Goals for further detailing. Remember the more detailed the marketing plan and marketing goals are, the better.

2. Finding Your Audience

Just like how in life you find your people, as a musician, you’re required to find your people too.

These people are your fans that relate to your brand and the message you pour into your songs. Identifying them is mandatory to find suitable and similar people in the future to convert them into fans as well. The criteria are based on the following:

• Location

See where in the world your music is most being played. The most effective social media marketing strategy is one that identifies your people and focuses on them by making use of local hashtags, geotags, etc.

• Age

Music is never for one age or city or language, but the music you make might have a listening pattern. A certain age group might find your songs more relatable than the other and it is how it is. You can control who you want it to be by changing bits and pieces of your creative processes or by marketing it a certain way.

• Music Genre Preference

Experiment with your genres until you find the genres that suit you the best. At the end of the day, it is your music and it should be more about you than anything or anybody else. And then build a strong identity around it.

3. Creating a Bold and Unique Visual Presentation Towards Social Media Marketing for Musicians’ Agenda

Any form of art is more than just that. For instance, you’d never think of buying an excellent painting in a broken frame just as you wouldn’t want to listen to an album from a new artist until and unless it came with a unique visual representation.

As a musician, you should identify your niche audience, your genre and choose the following elements that complement it the best:

• Font
• Imagery
• Logo
• Color
• Overall Aesthetic

4. Optimizing Your Social Media Profiles

Once you know your audience and the visual identity of yourself as a musician, you can start making changes to social media that reflect it precisely. There are three factors that you will have to keep in mind while doing so.

a. Timing and Frequency

The first thing is that you need to set your hours in a day and the frequency of sharing content in a week that brings you the best traction.

b. Content and Themes

The second thing that you need to do is set a tone for your content and align everything accordingly. Also, select themes of topics that are close to your heart and make sure to include them in your social media marketing plans. Going slightly off-brand can result in a loss of followers.

c. Authenticity and vulnerability

You are a human foremost and you should never shy from being one in front of your fans. Decide on the level of vulnerability you want to show them and take it easy. Being a musician is not an easy thing. A little extra help from people never hurt anyone.

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Each social media platform has a unique type of audience and that is why each platform should be engaged to ensure that all kinds of people are addressed and catered to.

The following are the most popular platforms of all:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• SoundCloud
• Spotify
• YouTube

1. Sharing Music on Different Digital Platforms

The first rule you should follow as a musician or as someone handling the social media for them is that the music should be shared several times over some time and on multiple platforms.

This will help to cover all the bases and different kinds of audiences.

2. Getting Started On Creating a Musician Website

While many will want to overlook this step, this is also a very vital part of social media marketing for musicians.

To grow your audience and garner fans from all over the world, you need a website. It helps the artist to showcase their music, get seen, display their schedule including concert and tour dates, manage bookings and sell merchandise. Henceforth, giving the boost to their business.

3. Social Media Collaborations

Whether it is with social media influencers or social media music bloggers, using them is extremely important. Collaborating has been a top trend in the world of social media marketing since 2016, if not before, and it is here to stay. It is your way to show harmony in the industry by showing support to your competitors and also attract their audience.

For example, Coldplay’s recent album, Music of Spheres has collaborations with a range of artists from all over the world including Selena Gomez and BTS. In the end, all parties benefit from each other’s audience.

4. Keeping Your Fans Loopers

It’s always smart to keep the marketing tactics fresh and creative to keep your fans engaged who are always hungry to know more and more about their favorites. This is why K-Pop has taken over the world by storm. The agencies handling the musicians in South Korea are bombarding their fan bases with content around the clock.

5. Interacting and Connecting with Fans on Social Media

However, it is equally important to interact with your fans genuinely by replying to them here and there and conducting live streaming sessions on social media to give them a chance to get to know you and your brand on a personal note.

6. Paid Social Media Ads

When it comes to social media marketing for musicians, worrying about too much self-promotion is the last thing that you should be worried about. Social selling of merchandise is also a fair game too. Many artists, if not at this point, have used this tactic to their gain through promotions and sales.

7. Optimize Your Presence on YouTube

The most important of all social media platforms for musicians is YouTube, with an active audience and an easy-to-use interface that everyone is familiar with.

YouTube, being a proven mainstay in today’s music streaming industry, is a solid presence across social media platforms is also now a necessity for the modern musician.

Sites like SoundCloud and Spotify get ignored when just existing on YouTube is worth it. Just make sure your videos have full descriptions with tags and links and have a theme going on in your videos’ thumbnails with readable text and great imagery.

Lastly, don’t look down on cover songs! Consider covering artists bigger than yourself and watch what it does for you! That will bring you the traction you’re looking for.

While social media marketing plays an important role in determining an artists’ future – will he be successful or will the tide take him along to a forgotten place underwater – it is also very important for the artist to have actual talent and authenticity that makes him revered and relatable to fans.

Having said that, we do hope this was a fun read for you.

If this post helped you understand more about digital marketing for artists, what is music marketing, the types of music marketing, and how to promote music online effectively for the best social media presence of the musicians.