At the start of a new year like now. This period for most people, is a period of reflection on past strategies, and how they turned out at the end of 2023, and also a period to research new strategies to adopt for 2024.
So today we are going to talk about how an artist can fully utilize social media, as a marketing strategy to promote their music or brand.
It’s no news that social media is now the new hot cake when it comes to artist branding and promotion in the music industry.
It has been responsible for the emergence of most new and trending artists in Nigeria these recent years. Like Zinoleesky, Arya Star, Boy Spyce, and the most recent one, our Pluto Presido [shallipopi].
Davido in an intervhttps://youtu.be/AyzOeVRjzLY?si=DP4ffztZBCqCBJI5iewhttps://youtu.be/AyzOeVRjzLY?si=DP4ffztZBCqCBJI5 with Forbes earlier last year, was talking about the influence of streaming and social media on the global growth of Afrobeats .
He said ‘’ YOU CAN GO TO BED AND WAKE UP A SUPERSTAR’’.
he also added that ‘’BEFORE ,TO PROMOTE YOUR SONG YOU WILL USE RADIOS, PRINT PRESS, INTERVIEWS, AND TELEVISION. BUT NOW , WE HAVE LIKE TWENTY APPS!’’ and ‘’ THEY ALL HAVE THEIR ENGAGMENTS AND FOLLOWING’’.
They went on to talk about how back then, you would need somebody to give you a record contract before you could promote your songs on those platforms. But now, you publish your song from the comfort of your room, and it will be streamed by millions of people.
That’s the extent social media and the internet have changed the dynamics of promotion and marketing in the music industry today.
With the profound success of social media and the internet, most artists may know of this marketing strategy or might be trying it, but may not be aware of how to fully utilize it.
Follow me to find out how to take full advantage of this strategy.
PERSONAL BRANDING
Before we talk about any marketing strategy, let’s briefly talk about what the marketing strategy will be marketing. [More detailed content on artist branding will be posted in the future].
For any marketing strategy can work there has to be a consistent brand or theme that connects the artist’s songs, point of view, appearance, and personality. So in turn you can consistently incorporate that brand into any marketing strategy.
So in other words, without any branding that will make stand out from the thousands of artists out there, it is next to impossible to get noticed by your target audience.
CHOOSE AN APP
Yes, there may be twenty apps for you to choose from. But to ensure that you are consistently active on these platforms, you have to choose at least one or two to first start with.
Remember, the key to the success of anything is consistency.
After you have successfully built your online presence on a few, you can always move to other ones. By then It will even be easier for you because you have gotten a community of loyal fan base ready to follow you anywhere.
COMPELLING PROFILE PAGE:
Your social media profiles should always look professional. It should be able to tell your story, reflect on your style and personality, and be engaging enough.
From your profile picture to your cover photo, your bio and posts should all have one consistent message [brand].
A new person on your page for the first time should be able to get a feeling about who you are as a person and your type of music.
SHARE ENGAGING CONTENT:
Regularly post a variety of contents including behind-the-scenes footage, studio sessions, rehearsal clips, covers, and snippets of upcoming releases.
You can also share your thoughts, moments, and experiences to make a genuine connection.
Afrobeat is a genre that often incorporates vibrant visuals. You can leverage platforms like Instagram and Tik-Tok to share visually appealing content such as music videos, dance routines, and artistic visuals.
FAN ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY BUILDING
The ability to directly engage one one-on-one with fans on social media is one of the most priceless advantages this strategy offers. Your audience can feel like they have a direct relationship with you, and from that, you build a community of loyal fans.
You directly engage with your audience with;
- LIVE STREAMING:
- You can host live sessions on platforms like Instagram Live or Facebook Live to interact directly with fans, answer questions, and showcase performances.
- You can also consider live streaming during studio sessions or rehearsals to give fans a sneak peek into the creative process.
- INTERACTIVE CONTENT:
- Engage your audience with interactive content such as polls, quizzes, and challenges. Encourage fans to participate and share their experiences with your music.
- RESPONDS:
- Respond to comments, direct messages, and mentions. Building a strong connection with your fans fosters loyalty and encourages word-of-mouth promotion.
- Consistent Posting Schedule:
- Establish a consistent posting schedule to keep your audience engaged. Regular updates help maintain visibility and demonstrate commitment to your fanbase.
COLLABORATE WITH INFLUENCERS
Collaborating with influencers or colleagues in the industry is one other great way to expand your reach and visibility in your genre. Collaborations can include joint social media campaigns, shoutouts, cross-posting each other’s content on your pages, or even collaborative content creation.
Sometimes you might have to pay influencers that have a huge number of followers on these social media platforms, with your targeted audience, to promote you on their pages.
You can also create or use relevant hashtags to increase the visibility of your content. This can also help fans discover your music.
UTILIZE ADS
Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook offer their users a powerful ad-targeting option that you also utilize, to reach a wider audience, and connect to your ideal fan base.
The paid promotional ads are directly targeted to the ideal audience that already listens to your genre of music and it’s likely to show interest in yours.
As I said, they are paid promotional ads, so if you are on a marketing budget, this is something you might want to consider. As it will help build a more organic following.
ANALYTICS AND TRACKING
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook also offer insight into the performance of your page over time. From this tool, you can get the number of accounts reached, accounts that engaged with your post, and which post has the most engagement
From this tool get info on the type of content your audience is more interested in so can leverage that, and create more engaging contents to drive your performances.
CREATE A YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Youtube is another good platform to leverage on. A platform where you share amazing visuals for your audiences and can potentially earn money from the views your content can get.
You can share your official music videos, lyric videos, and vlogs.
It is a very powerful platform for music discovery, and having a dedicated channel can help showcase your work.
Social media has come to stay and it still evolving, creating an effective social media strategy that will reach your targeted audience and engage them with unique contents, responses, and live streaming is a great way to go about it. And by also being able to track your performance using analytics to check if you are still on the right path.
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