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Twitter is a great channel for promoting your music and engaging your fans online. However, for it to be effective, you need to get more Twitter followers.
First off – what you should not do. Don’t buy followers unethically online and risk getting your account banned, or buy ads to promote your account ( the cost of this can add up quickly). For the most part, you’ll just be attracting numbers – a.k.a. people who don’t actually engage with your content or support your music and just serve as a validation number. And what’s that really worth?
Your best approach is to grow your Twitter account by getting in front of potential fans organically.
Now, just because we’re talking organic doesn’t mean you need to just sit around and wait. There are some things you can do to get more Twitter followers and get your tweets out there, and here are 5 options you can try.
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1. Stick to the social media rule of thirds to get more Twitter followers
Social media isn’t about self-promotion, it’s about engagement. People follow you because the things you share are of interest to them, not so they can be sold to.
Many musicians make the mistake of tweeting only when they release new music or merchandise, and making almost all of their tweets about their music without engaging their fans.
Instead, split your tweets up as follows:
- One-third of your tweets should be promotional.
- Another one-third of your tweets should provide value to your fans.
- And the final one-third of your tweets should be engaging.
So instead of only tweeting about your merchandise and new music, reply to tweets from fans, engage them with questions, share what you’re working on, or even give them tutorials for how to get your sound. They’ll love hearing from you, and the replies from them can get you seen by their followers.
Plus, you’ll find that with this method you have a lot more to tweet about. As a musician, you’re producing really awesome content every single day, whether it’s new lyrics, new tones, new songs, riffs, beats, covers, performances, and gear. When you start thinking of social media as sharing engaging and interesting content instead of just promotion, it opens up a world of possibility.
2. Mention other artists in your Tweets
With social media, it doesn’t have to be all about you. Another effective way to get more Twitter followers is to mention other similar artists in your tweets.
It could be as simple as doing short, Twitter video mini covers of some of your biggest musical inspirations. Share the video and @mention them.
You could even just share some of the songs you’re digging at the moment. Share a tweet with the song you’re currently vibing off, or create a playlist of your favorite tunes. Once again, in both cases @mention the artists. Fans love getting music recommendations, especially from artists they respect. Plus, it’s a great way to get a conversation started about shared musical taste.
Not only that, including other artists in your tweets can get your content in front of their audience, which can grow your following. The mentioned artists may even give you a retweet.
3. Follow and reply to similar artists
Engaging other artists within your music scene can be an effective way to get yourself noticed by fans interested in your style of music and get more Twitter followers. But above all, it’s one of the best ways to start building yourself a network of musicians who you can work with on collaborations, joint gigs, and even cross promotions.
Find similar-sized artists who have a compatible sound to yours, follow them, and start engaging them. Like and retweet their music, and start building relationships with them. It’s all about giving before you receive.
Doing this can get your tweets in front of their followers, and may result in them following you back and returning the favor. These relationships can also result in future collaborations with mutual benefits.
4. Know when to tweet
When you tweet is almost as important as what you tweet.
The most popular time to tweet is noon-1pm, but tweets sent between 2-3pm get the most clicks on average. Use a combination of some of the Twitter data you can find online and intelligent deductions you can make from your Twitter analytics. So, for example, if you’re seeing that most of your audience is 13-17 or 18-24 you may want to tweet after 3PM when most of your fans are out of school.
Experiment with different times to see what results in the most engagement and use your analytics to guide you. If you simply send tweets at the same time every day, you’ll never know if there’s a better option.
5. Use trending hashtags to get more Twitter followers
Hashtags are a great way to increase the reach of your tweets.
Look at what’s trending on Twitter using their website, then get creative and compile a tweet that makes sense for that hashtag. You can also use tools like Trendsmap to see what hashtags are being used in different locations, which can help you use hashtags to your tour based tweets in front of a targeted audience.
The key is to be relevant – don’t just jump on a hashtag train if you have no business joining the conversation. Think about your ideal target audience – the fans you want to attract – and ask yourself: “Will they be using this hashtag?” If not, don’t waste your time. Sure, you might get your tweet seen by a lot of people, but if they’re not the kind of person that will become a fan then it’s not worth your efforts.
Remember – with social media, it’s all about picking your battles and consolidating your efforts so you get the most benefit from your limited time. [free PDF: The Musician’s Guide to Getting More Done]
