Social Media Marketing for Musicians

Social media is a place where anything and everything is possible. From learning to cook a certain dish, connecting with lost friends, having an intellectual debate, and almost finding your soulmate, social media is a one-stop resource that could get you going places. But, how do we use social media to market your music?

If you are an upcoming artist or an absolute beginner who has no idea how to promote his or her music, we recommend you read our article on Top 9 Music Marketing Strategies in 2022 

If you are completely new and don’t know where to begin, we suggest you read our article 7 Things Every Aspiring Musician Should Know. 

Making a Consistent Instagram Presence

Instagram is pretty easy to work around. What you do need help with, is maintaining an aesthetic for your official page, and posting content very often. Instagram algorithm can appear to be very tricky, but in reality, it works on how often you post your content and the kind of engagement you receive. Therefore, to keep your posts organized, use a planning app. This relieves the stress of having to think of a post at the last minute. Plan ahead of time, create in advance, and timeline beforehand.

We recommend Canva. This design tool helps you explore different themes, templates, and aesthetics that would work best for you, and schedule your post once your Instagram handle is connected to Canva. Speaking of Canva, read our article on Canva: An Easy Album Cover Maker for Musicians. 

Make sure you don’t invest your entire day into making content. When you already have a schedule, your time management and work distribution over the week will work itself out. Sometimes, you can re-hash your old content and maybe edit and post an old draft. As long as it catches the attention of the viewer within the first few seconds of an Instagram reel, you are pretty much good to go. 

As your views for a reel will reach big numbers, you will get more profile views and thus, more followers. You can make one of your tracks go completely viral on Instagram if you are putting it out the right way. Reels act as a peak into your music. Make sure you post the grippiest bit, but only a part of it, so that the viewers are interested and reach your profile in the hope to listen to the entire audio. YouTube Shorts and Reels have very similar formats. Speaking of which, read our article on Using YouTube Shorts To Promote Your Music.

However, this doesn’t mean that you have to post all the time. Posting 4-5 times every day will not have much of an impact, because your primary focus is to gain crowd engagement through that content. What’s the point of posting 5-6 posts every day and not getting enough views? Increase your impact by strategically boosting your content. Create less content but attach importance to it if you want to make a big impression on your audience. This means that even if you are posting a reel twice a week, make sure that it has something to offer to the audience, which will eventually lead them to you. 

Teasers, behind-the-scenes, and upcoming project highlights are the perfect fit for marketing your music. Give your followers and audience to hold on to something really good. Note that if you have synced your Meta (Facebook) account with your Instagram page, your posts will automatically get posted on both platforms. 

‘Funnelize’ Social Media 

A funnel is a road map that takes someone from never having heard your music to becoming a fan who pays attention to your songs, purchases your merch, and attends your live performances. Monitor the effectiveness of your posts and use the ones with different types of interaction in different parts of your funnel campaign. If some posts operated well naturally, consider using them as the campaign's initial ads. If a post received a lot of responses from your current fans, use them in the center of your funnel to identify people that are already familiar with your music.

Be Flexible With Different Platforms

It is very natural to get comfortable with one platform when you start marketing your music. However, it is important to be flexible and to engage with different formats across platforms. Yes, some may work out for you, and some may not. But, until and unless you don’t try, you really wouldn’t know. 

For example, if you don't think you'll be able to maintain a TikTok account, choose another platform(s). It is vital to concentrate your time and effort on reasonable goals that you can achieve. More often than not, upcoming musicians have a popular presence on TikTok and absolutely none on Twitter. It is alright, as long as you have tried and tested Twitter, and your music promotions give you results irrespective of your absence in one platform. 

Fan engagement - LIVES

You, as a music artist, and your persona will only remain relevant as long as you interact with your fans in some or the other way, especially when you are still emerging as an artist. It always starts with a small circle, but with the help of social media, the circle can become a community in no time. For that process to take place, you have to act as a catalyst.

Live streaming is the most fun part of being a musician because your fans and followers get a chance to engage with you, learn more about you and your music, and feel much closer to you as a part of your musical journey. Going live on Instagram, Youtube, and so on can get you the opportunity to interact with your fans, answer any questions they have in mind, and so on. 

Another way to engage with your fans is to let them take an active part in one of your promotions, advertisements, merch, and so on. For instance, set up a contest in which your fans can submit their illustrations via Instagram for an opportunity to get them utilized as the upcoming album cover. You could also post a teaser of a song you're working on and let them title it. This type of engagement makes your supporters feel like they are a part of the music instead of mere viewers. 

Optimization of Profile Across Platforms

Make sure that your artist bio on TikTok, Instagram, Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and even LinkedIn, is all up to date. Speaking of LinkedIn, don’t miss our article on Music Marketing With LinkedIn. 

A bio with a link to your most recent promo or release, whether it's a single, album, upcoming show, limited-edition drop, or music video, is essential. A recent profile picture that is accurately sized for that specific social page is required, ideally a press shot. Consider these two components to be your introduction - you need individuals who come across your page to know who you are and exactly what you have to offer.

If you've obtained sufficient media attention, you might also consider having verified on Instagram or applying for a blue tick on Twitter. Note that it is essential to have your official website that talks about you and your music that your social media could link to. To know more, read our article answering the question: Do Musicians Still Need a Website in 2022? 

Other tips include starting a hashtag that is unique and relevant only to you and your music. Hashtags can go a long way, and the more your followers use them while sharing your music on their socials, the more your music will reach potential viewers and fans. While larger, more popular artists typically avoid hashtagging, it can be extremely beneficial for emerging artists that are still discovering their audiences. This is because hashtags allow users to find you and your music even if they aren't following you. 

Collaborating with other companies, artists and musicians can go a long way because this will help you gain audiences of each other. Once you tag other accounts in your posts on social media, it's equal to sending a direct message to those accounts' followers. Those followers, most of the time, will become your followers. It works both ways, which means you get more exposure and so do they. 

Handling social media to promote your music can be a tricky challenge, but once you get the hang of it, it easily becomes a part of your routine. With momentum, it will act as one of the major sources to drive more and more listeners to you.