Musicians and DJs have never had such a range of tools at their disposal with which to accumulate and communicate with fans. But as these platforms develop at a staggering rate, so do the skills required to really make the most of them.
Simply having a Facebook page or remembering to send the odd tweet aren’t enough. Like it or loathe it, success today is probably as dependant on the savvy use of these tools as it is the quality of your music. So here are our top tips for approaching social media the right way.
1. Unify your profiles. That means spending time ensuring all information is fully up to date everywhere. It also means that the logos/pictures/colour schemes you choose present the same visual identity across all platforms. Make good use of apps that feed all your forthcoming gigs, mixes, podcasts etc. across all profiles, but avoid apps that cut corners on status updates, like reposting tweets to Facebook. You need to give fans reason to follow you everywhere, so repeat posts look lazy plus they don’t make the best use of each platform’s particular benefits.
2. Have a strategy, however simple it may be. Make sure to set aside a regular time to check all profiles and reply to comments or join conversation threads. You don’t want to miss that key booking offer through simple disorganisation. Time key status updates well, so don’t send a video out in the morning when people don’t have time to watch it, even if that’s when it’s ready. Plan promotions and avoid too many posts on the same topic, however important it might feel to you.
3. Make sure your biography is really tight. There are endless examples of clichéd and rambling artist/DJ biographies online. Make best use of your pages on download stores by chopping out the huge lists of minor career achievements in favour of a short and sweet biog of highlights, using as few words as possible. There can always be a more detailed version available elsewhere (like your website) but catering to people’s reduced attention spans is a good move. If writing your own biography, get a friend to edit it… and tell them to be ruthless.
Part 2 next week.
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Editor’s Note: This is an old article and things have moved on considerably since the original publication date 🙂
For more information head over to the Point Blank Music School website to learn the very latest about our school.