Social media is an integral part of most music marketing strategies.
Ever wondered why some super talented musicians don’t get the fan-base and recognition they ‘deserve’, while other not as talented musicians get a lot more exposure and seen in all the right places? Well, while there could be a number of different reasons for this, one of the most common is that successful people’s ability to handle the business side of the music industry. More specifically, they probably know how to market themselves well.
While you don’t want to post the same exact thing on each of your social networking profiles, you do want to maintain consistency. For starters, think about how you’ll want to speak to your fans. This is a business page, but it is important that you sound like YOU. It’s also a good idea to use similar themes or images across the board. For example, if you have a new album coming out next month, it’s wise to include a graphic announcing the album drop date in your Facebook cover photo. But you can also use a similar image as your Twitter header photo. Being consistent in your voice and image makes your act seem more credible as a business and, at the end of the day, is just a good marketing practice.
Additionally, a ton of artists when starting out feel like if they make their music good enough, they will get noticed and that all they have to do is record a good album, make it available to people in stores (or somewhere online) and their music will start making sales and getting downloads.
While I can see why people would think this, it’s far from the truth! Anyone who’s tried this tactic before will know that this isn’t the case. All that happens is you make zero or very few sales.
Being talented and letting people know about your talent are two very different things. As well as making music that people actually want to listen to, you need to get them to give you a listen in the first place. After all, how will people know you’re talented if they don’t give you that initial chance?
That said, if you do want to get your music heard, marketing is a necessary part of things. The good news though, is promoting your music doesn’t have to be hard. Pretty much all of it can be learned, and it doesn’t require a degree in science or maths to put into place a solid promotion plan for your music career. As long as you’re willing to learn and put the work in where needed, after a while marketing your music should become second nature to you. Who knows, you may even start finding it fun.
