Take a blog post, for example; it is not that different from a new song. When I create a post, my goal is to reach as wide an audience as possible. Some readers will Like or Share the post as well, but that is like gravy and only serves to expand my reach. My primary goal and benefit is Reach, which allows me to establish contact and then build engagement in the form of feedback, comments and Likes. I want to drive this point home to artists who have been conditioned to be believe that automatic Likes and Followers are a more important result than engagement.
As data and trends support, they are not! An entire cottage industry has sprouted up around the measurement of social media. Even a cursory glance at the most basic influence rating tool will show that the most important metric being measured is Reach. From services like Klout and HootSuite to Facebook's own ad platform, the key measure of a successful social campaign is influence–and that is attained through reach and engagement.
All of the major artists we work with understand this basic truth about social networks like Facebook, Tumblr, Myspace and Twitter. Likes, Followers and Sharing aren't even possible if you can't get your music to cut through the noise. It's understandable that many artists confuse Likes, Followers and Shares with Reach: they've been sold on the idea that this is where the conversation ends. Truly successful artists understand that reaching new music lovers is where it all starts.
