6 Influencer Strategies that still work

Musicians and artists struggle to distinguish in a crowded market in the era of digital media, where attention spans are short and competition is high. While producing excellent music is still crucial, it’s still crucial to promote your work and establish a connection with your target audience. Influencer marketing is useful in this situation. Utilizing social media influencers’ abilities may expand your audience, raise brand awareness, and eventually advance your musical career. Speaking of social media, check out our article on Music Marketing Using Social Media in 2023.

We'll look at some efficient musician-specific influencer marketing techniques in this piece.

 1. Identify Your Target Influencers

Understanding and defining your target influencers and their audience is essential before engaging in influencer marketing. Knowing who your ideal customers are will make it easier for you to find influencers whose fans share your taste in music. To identify the influencers that might best magnify your music, spend some time examining demographic data, preferences, and internet activity.

If you're an electronic dance music (EDM) producer looking to connect with dance music lovers, look for well-known DJs and producers with a sizable fan base on websites like Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube. 

 2. Seek Authenticity and Relevance

Prioritize authenticity and relevancy over follower counts alone when choosing influencers. Find influencers who actually enjoy your music and have a loyal audience that interacts with their posts. You may connect with your audience more authentically and increase trust and interest in your music by working with influencers that genuinely love your genre.

Imagine you’re a member of an alternative rock band trying to promote your songs. Look for influencers who often discuss their passion for alternative rock, go to rock shows, or compile playlists with bands from the genre. As an illustration, consider the Instagram influencer ‘Alternative Press.’ This influencer page has developed credibility and authenticity within the alternative rock world thanks to a loyal fan base of music lovers. Working with ‘Alternative Press’ for sponsored posts, unreleased material, or giveaways can put you in touch with readers that are interested in alternative rock music.

 3. User-Generated Content and Challenges

To generate user-generated content for your music, encourage influencers and their fans to do so. This could include lyric interpretation contests, cover songs, or dance challenges. You can make your song go viral by leveraging the ingenuity of influencers and their audience. To further encourage engagement, think about developing a branded hashtag and providing rewards or prizes.

Dance competitions have grown in popularity as a means to include influencers and their fans while generating user-generated music content. The ‘Renegade’ dancing challenge on TikTok is one notable instance. The dance was invented by Jalaiah Harmon, but it only became well-known after Charli D’Amelio and other well-known TikTok influencers started doing it. This challenge enhanced the music track that accompanied the dance while also showcasing Jalaiah's dancing abilities. You may create buzz about your songs and generate organic content by encouraging influencers and their followers to take part in dance challenges inspired by your music.

Lyric interpretation competitions that invite influencers and their fans to take part can encourage originality and participation. Artists can send influencers excerpts of their lyrics and encourage them to come up with original interpretations or explain what the lyrics mean to them. Although this is still quite fresh, you may leverage and expand upon these difficulties. 

 4. Live Performances and Takeovers

Live concerts and influencer takeovers are both fantastic ways to promote your music and reach out to new listeners. Join forces with influencers for behind-the-scenes access, acoustic performances, or live-streaming concerts. Fans may enjoy your music in a private and intimate atmosphere thanks to this interactive experience, which helps forge personal connections with them.

Artists are using influencer connections to reach a larger audience through virtual concerts thanks to the growth of live-streaming platforms. John Legend's collaboration with Global Citizen and Instagram to host a live performance from his house during the COVID-19 outbreak is one such instance. Through this partnership, John Legend was able to interact with his followers and open up new markets on Instagram Live. Artists can provide their fans with an intimate and exclusive experience that will increase engagement and enthusiasm by working with influencers or organizations for live performances.

 5. Sponsored Content and Reviews

Create sponsored content that promotes your music by collaborating with influencers. This might involve paid content, product placements, or sincere reviews. To preserve authenticity, when working with influencers to create sponsored content, make sure it fits with their typical content strategy. Reviews from reliable influencers can also add social evidence to your music and increase its reputation.

For example, consider the Submithub Influencer Program. Submithub, as most artists would know, is a submission platform where your music could get reviewed by curators and playlisted on different playlists on Spotify. The platform runs an influencer program that helps artists make their tracks go viral. The basic strategy includes developing a straightforward concept or challenge that influencers can engage with while featuring your song. Make calculated choices when it comes to selecting individuals to share your song with, known as content creators. Examples include:

There are two types of submissions. There are general submissions. The process of influencer submissions is similar to premium submissions on the curator side. When submitting your song to influencers, you typically need to pay a certain number of credits, usually ranging from 1 to 3 credits per submission. However, it’s important to note that there are no guarantees that the influencers will share your song.

On the other hand, there are guaranteed submissions in which the submitter receives their credits back if the song is rejected can indeed exist. In some cases, this type of arrangement can be referred to as ‘payola,’ a term historically associated with the music industry. The idea is, the whole process or transaction is better facilitated by the platform called Submithub. 

It’s important to note that this strategy can be implemented on different scales depending on your budget. The more content you produce, the higher the likelihood of your song gaining viral attention. The objective is to inspire users to create their own TikToks and Reels using your song as a backdrop. If the concept is easily replicable, you are more likely to garner organic content re-shares as well as engage your existing fanbase in participating alongside. Many highly successful artists have gained recognition not only for their music but also for their distinct personalities. Prominent examples include Prince, Elton John, KISS, and more recently, Lil Peep. You can leverage the influencer submission strategy to highlight and display the unique personality of your own act through videos.

 6. Collaborative Projects

Think of working together with influencers on innovative initiatives that go beyond conventional music promotion. Investigate possibilities for shared content development, such as podcasts, music videos, or even merchandising partnerships. You can expand your audience and enter new markets by combining your respective fan bases and talents.

Drake and Nike are well-remembered by all, right? The best illustration of this is that. Since Drake has been working with Nike for some time, there have been several exclusive product releases, limited-edition shoe collaborations, and marketing efforts. Drake will now continuously represent the Nike brand thanks to this agreement, which goes beyond a one-time endorsement. Drake's impact and affiliation with Nike as a brand ambassador serve to uphold the company's reputation and appeal to his sizable fan base.

Finally, the most important bit…

Track and Measure Results. Track pertinent indicators, such as engagement rates, website traffic, streaming numbers, and social media follower growth, to evaluate the success of your influencer marketing programs. To measure the effects of each influencer partnership, use analytics tools and links that may be followed. You may improve future campaigns and your overall marketing plan with the use of this data.

In the digital age, influencer marketing has become a crucial component of music promotion. You may greatly expand your reach, raise brand awareness, and develop a devoted fan base by working with influencers who connect with your music and engage their audiences. To have an influence that lasts, keep your attention on authenticity, relevancy, and meaningful partnerships.

 

We at GreaseRelease, have a bunch of curators on our network who are looking for new & exciting music to push on their massive playlists. If you make music and want to reach a wider audience, check out our submission platform and get a chance to reach millions of listeners! Submit your tracks now! 

 

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