3 Social Media Usages For Musicians

Social Media has three main usages for musicians. If you want to build and maintain an online audience, you need to cover these three aspects in your communication:

1. Reach new fans.
2. Keep a high engagement with your current followers.
3. Build momentum for your new releases.

1. Reach new fans

Use the right hashtags

There was a time on Instagram when hashtags didn’t matter anymore but right now they are coming back and they are working better than ever. You might have heard that you shouldn’t use more than 2 or 3 hashtags per post but right now the algorithms are changing again and using more hashtags won’t hurt your account reputation.

How can you find the best tags?

• Use websites like http://best-hashtags.com/
• Search for your favorite influencers and copy-paste their list
• Use the Instagram explorer to find the most relevant ones

Pro tip: Use a mix of the most popular ones + more niche ones.

Engage with people that work in your niche

You can schedule a certain amount of time a day to search for look-a-like accounts on Instagram and like their followers’ posts or comment on them. If they find your content valuable, they might also follow you.

Use other social media platforms and drive traffic to your account

If your main platform is, for example, Instagram, you can use Tik Tok or Pinterest for your content to reach new people and head them to your Instagram.

Create guest posts

The easiest way to reach new fans is to make collaborations with musicians in your field and with the new “collaborator” feature on Instagram. It’s easier than ever.

2. High engagement

Use question stickers/polls

One of the fastest ways to increase your account’s engagement is to create polls on Instagram stories. The more they interact with your account, the more that Instagram will show your account on their feed.

Consistency is key

Yes, consistency is key but also don’t forget to upload quality content or you will get the opposite effect. If you upload a lot of content but your followers don’t engage with it or don’t even read it, it will hurt your account’s reputation. A good frequency could be:

• At least 1 Instagram post per week
• Two or three Instagram stories per day

Study your best performing posts and try to replicate their formula

How many saves do they have? Did they reach new fans? Check out the insights for this data and look for the differences in relation to your previous posts. What did you change?

 

3. Build momentum

Create a good release strategy plan

Take your time to plan your content calendar at least one month ahead of your next release. You need to plan every teaser and how you will communicate the release to your followers, the material that you will need, the reminders…

Post your release achievements

These are also reminders but they are non-direct ones. Also, If you post, let’s say, reviews made by famous bloggers, your followers are more likely to be curious about what you’re up to.

Explore new paths for your music

Maybe you could perform at a concert, start selling merchandising or create CDs or vinyls if you haven’t yet.

Host Livestream concerts or chats

Another good strategy to promote your music is to create online streaming events right before a new release. This is a more direct way to communicate with your followers. They will pay you more attention and you could host a listening party.