How To Utilize Your Social Media Networks

In today’s digital music age, every band has (or at least should have) a social media page dedicated to their music.  Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, or Google+, you want to make your band’s music and information easily available to people on the internet.  And while it is a great idea to be on all the major social networks, it’s not always good to treat them all the same.  You should strive to create a unique experience for each network that engages your users in different ways.  So here are a few tips to help accomplish that. 

A great way to keep fans engaged is by having a contest on one of your social media sites.  For example, if your band is playing a show in Phoenix this week, you can post on Twitter offering free tickets to the first 10 people who retweet your post.  This can be very effective because not only does it help spread the word about your show, but now you have fans coming out to your show who will be more willing to spend money on your merchandise since they didn’t have to pay for a ticket.  The same can be done with Facebook.  One example is to offer free merchandise to fans that post pictures and videos of your show.  Or if you’re promoting a new music video, you could also offer prizes to the first 10 people who share your new video on their wall. 

Another way to keep your fans engaged is to offer exclusive content only available on certain social media networks.  If you post new pictures to both Facebook and Twitter every time, you’re not giving your fans a reason to check each site anymore.  Some users have a personal preference between Facebook and Twitter so you want to give them a reason to keep coming back to your Facebook posts or keep following your tweets. 

Each network has its own strengths so you should try and play up to them.  Facebook can be great for introducing new fans to your music.  Having a well-written bio, hi-def pictures, a music player, and a newsletter signup are essential to any Facebook page.  If a new fan is checking out your page for the first time, you want to make a good impression so they’re more likely to check out your website and become a dedicated fan.  After you’ve hooked that new fan, you now want them to get a better feel for who you are and what your music is all about.  This is where Twitter can be very effective.  If you’re heading to the studio today to record vocals for a new track, then tweet that.  Or if you just played a great show, take a picture on stage and share it so that your fans can get a sense of what it’s like on the other side of the stage.  People love connecting with their favorite artists and Twitter can be a great tool to help accomplish that. 

And while it’s good to differentiate the content on your social media sites, the one thing you do want to keep consistent is your image.  I think it goes without saying that if you’re a heavy metal band, you’d want to change your Twitter page from the default sky blue setting to something else a little more appropriate.  If your band’s color scheme consists of white and blue, then you should try incorporating those colors into both your Facebook and Twitter pages.  Having a custom band logo can be very effective for this as it immediately lets the user know exactly what they’re checking out.