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You’ve heard it over and over again: without a strong social media strategy, your music, your message, and everything you’ve worked so hard for is likely to go unnoticed. As much as that reality stings, once you accept it, you can begin working it to your advantage. After all, a strong social media presence is a must for attracting everyone from blogs to festivals to managers. Even your fans can’t become fully engaged if you’re only posting once a week or pushing sales more than personality.
So if you’re ready to do a deep dive into your social media and really go all-in on strategy and engagement, check out these five tips.
1. Include a call to action
Sometimes the obvious suggestion is the one we overlook the most. Have you ever seen brands post on social media and say something such as, “Like if you agree”? That’s a call to action. By directing your fans to do what you want them to, you can actually boost your posts in a totally organic way. Of course, you still have to create a compelling post that’s worth liking or sharing, but adding that simple call to action can make a big difference.
2. Ask questions
When you see a brand asking questions on social media, it’s difficult not to answer, isn’t it? Especially when it’s something super simple yet highly personalized like, “What festival are you most looking forward to?” or, “Would you rather play guitar or drums?”
This is a direct call to action and invites your users to engage with you in a way that’s satisfying to them while providing you the engagement and connection you crave. The more people engage, the more visibile your post becomes, which means, you guessed it, more engagement.
3. Create fan-curated content
If you want to really make your fans feel special and boost the engagement of your posts, create fan-curated content. You’ll win over fans for life, and your posts are much more likely to be liked, shared, and commented on.
Try these examples of fan-curated content:
- Create a playlist featuring songs your fans have suggested. Ask them, “What’s the best song for (insert situation: rainy day/party/road trip)?" and create the playlist around that. Throw on one of your tracks, and spread it around different groups and forums, as well as back on your socials. Don’t forget to respond to those fans whose suggestions wound up in the playlist and direct them to the playlist post to like/share/comment!
- Encourage fans to create and send in their artwork, live show clips, photos, etc., and share them on your socials or in an upcoming lyric or music video.
Sticking to tried-and-true techniques like the ones above are a great way to get started, but don’t be afraid to get creative and think about what suits your fans specifically, and then have fun with it.
“I once created a simple melody based off of a fan's comment on Facebook and basically sang his own comment back at him, says Suzanne Yada of Little Spiral and Yada Creative. “I think I won that fan over for life.”
4. Use visual aids
Traditionally, visual content tends to generate more engagement. It’s also usually more eye-catching when scrolling through your feed. When the content you’re creating is made with the end goal of sharing in mind, you drastically increase your chances at engagement. Not to mention you’re strengthening your connection to your fans.
Use a free program like Canva to create graphics with your most relatable lyrics on them and include your band name in small letters on the bottom with your Facebook/Twitter/Instagram handle next to it. Share those images once a week or so, and watch your engagement begin to rise.
5. Be Vulnerable
At the end of the day, being vulnerable and sharing a piece of yourself with fans is still one of the most effective ways to build a connection and gain organic engagement. People may love your music, but they can’t truly become superfans until they fall in love with your story, and part of that story is the one you tell through social media.
It can be tempting to keep it ultra-professional online to the point of stiffness, but if you really want to build connection and boost engagement, you’re going to need to get comfortable with being a little vulnerable and showing your followers who you really are. When you start to show your true self, you’ll begin to see a big difference in the way your fans interact with you.
Angela Mastrogiacomo is the owner of Muddy Paw Public Relations and Infectious Magazine, as well as an entrepreneurial and artist coach. As a coach she helps her clients find their unique story and build their brand. Muddy Paw works with emerging artists and growing industry talent to bring their music and product to industry tastemakers. Clients have seen placement on Noisey, Idobi, Substream, New Noise, A Music Blog, Yea? and more.
