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Instagram for Musicians: Music Marketing Tips You Need to Know

Instagram for Musicians

Instagram is one of the most effective music promotion channels out there with over 1 billion monthly active users. And 500 million of those users are on the app every day. Not to mention, Instagram has the highest engagement rates across all social media channels, making it a great place to engage with and grow your fanbase. That being said, if you’re not using Instagram correctly it can be a major waste of your time. So here is a fully comprehensive musician’s guide to Instagram and all the music marketing tips you need to get started.

Click to get this free guide

Instagram for Musicians

Once you are through here, make sure you check out this article for a step-by-step guide that walks you through exactly how to grow your fanbase on Instagram.

Should You Use Instagram?

While Instagram is great, and there are plenty of Instagram musicians killing it, it’s not for everyone. You shouldn’t just be promoting music on Instagram just because other people are doing it.

As a musician, you should use Instagram if the demographics of your fanbase strongly correlates with their user base. AND if image-based sharing aligns with your interests.

35% of all adult social network users are on Instagram. But 72% of teens and 71% of 18-24-year-olds are using the service. So, if a segment of your audience falls into the 13-29 year old demographic, Instagram could very well be an important part of your social media mix.

If you’re not sure, the easiest approach is to take a look at the audience at your next concert. Who’s in the crowd? How old do they look? A more accurate option is to glance through the analytics of any other social channels you’re using. Both Facebook and Twitter offer detailed stats on your fans.

Not sure what to post to Instagram? Download this free social media ebook: How to Promote Your Music: With 3 Social Media Checklists

Musician’s Guide to Instagram: Setting Up Your Instagram Account

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of actually posting to Instagram for musicians and getting more followers on Instagram, let’s make sure you have your account set up to make the most of all of Instagram’s features. These lessons are taken from the extensive collection of online music marketing and promotion courses we have at New Artist Model. Let’s dive in…

Convert to a Business Account

If you plan on using your Instagram account to promote your music and connect with your fans, the first thing you’re going to want to do is to convert to a Business account.  A Business account functions exactly like a personal account plus some additional features like analytics and direct contact buttons among others.

To convert to a business account go to the “settings” menu and choose “Switch to a Business Account.” You’ll have to connect to your Facebook artist page to set it up.

Make the Most of Your Instagram Bio

You don’t get much to work with in the bio section on Instagram, but there’s still a lot you can do to optimize.

A good bio explains who you are and what you do in as few words as possible. Think of it as a super condensed version of your elevator pitch. Your goal here isn’t to just tell people what kind of music you play. Instead, you want to share your story and what it is that makes you unique. What is that hook that will get someone interested? 

It’s also important to use language that relates directly to your target fans. Think about how you can make it obvious what niche you cater to in just a few words.

You only get one link in the bio section. So instead of constantly switching it out, use a service like Linktree to link to multiple pages. On your Linktree, you should have a link to your website, your other social channels, your store, and a direct link to a landing page where fans can get free music in exchange for an email address.

Choosing Your Instagram Profile Picture

Just like your bio, your Instagram profile picture should represent you as a musician (or band). In other words, it should match your image and vibe.

If you don’t have any professional photos of you or the band, this might be a good opportunity to get some done (you can use them across all your social channels and website as well). A logo or album artwork can work as well. The space is quite small, so just make sure the photo you choose looks good shrunken down to size.

Posting to Instagram for Musicians

Now that you have an account set up, let’s go through the fun stuff – actually posting to Instagram. Instagram is very much a content marketing platform. It’s more about sharing your story and using the posts you share as a way to continue that narrative, so keep that in mind as you craft your posts, images, and videos. You’re trying to hook fans and draw them into your world with interesting and engaging content. It may take you some experimentation to figure out what kind of content your target audience relates to, so don’t be afraid to try different things to discover what works. 

I also want to clarify that even though Instagram is an image-based platform, you do not need to be a professional photographer to be successful. In the next few sections, we’re going to cover everything from photography and editing, to content, captions, posting times, and stories. In this musician’s guide to Instagram, we’ll look at everything you need to know about posting to Instagram.

Instagram Photography & Editing Tips for Musicians

When taking photos, the first thing to keep in mind is the lighting. Bright, indirect natural daylight will give you the most consistent lighting no matter if you’re posting a shot of the band or a close up of your gear. That said, there’s a lot that you can do creatively with harsh lighting or even backlighting if you’re feeling inspired.

A good photo is like a good song – you have one key theme and everything else is working to support that theme. So when composing your photos, try to keep one main subject per photo. That subject could be you, an audience, your guitar, a new sticker design, a setlist or lyric sheet, the tour bus, or anything else relating to your music. The key is to not let photos get too busy.

In terms of taking your photos, any smartphone will produce great results. You can use your phone’s camera app, or opt for an app like Camera + for more features.

Next, you can use Instagram’s uploader or an app like Afterlight, Snapseed, or VSCO Cam to edit your photos. It’s easy to get sucked into all the editing options and get carried away, so here are the basics. Try adding a bit of Brightness and Contrast to start. Add a bit of Saturation if you feel like your colors are getting washed out, and perhaps play with the Highlights and Shadows to adjust the lights and darks. You could also add a bit of sharpening if the image looks fuzzy.

And finally, you can apply a filter from Instagram or your editing app to all your photos. Lower the strength of the filter down a bit as full strength filters can be overpowering. If you use the same filter on all your posts it will give your feed a more consistent and professional look.

Click to get this free guide to Instagram for musicians.

Instagram for Musicians

 

What to Post on Instagram as a Musician?

Success on Instagram really comes down to utilizing content marketing. In other words, sharing valuable content your fans will love and pulling them into your world. If you’re wondering how to promote your music with Instagram, here are some rapid-fire ideas to get you started.

You can post videos up to 60 seconds in your feed, so post short video clips of you or the band performing a song. Another idea is to post short tutorial videos showing your fans how to play a song or demonstrate a certain technique. Post short cover videos covering your favorite songs. Record a short video explaining the meaning behind your lyrics. Share videos from your live gigs or of the live audience and ask fans to comment if they were there.

You could share your gear set up, and even make it a regular thing with a hashtag like #gearsaturday. If you review and talk about gear regularly, it could open up the opportunity for endorsements and sponsorships down the line.

Share images from the studio, from rehearsals, from the tour bus, or backstage at gigs. Share images of your instruments, your new merch designs, or your new backdrop for gigs. Post selfies with your fans. Share images of lyrics you’re working on. Post professional photos you get taken for your website or album. Use these images as starting off points to tell a story to your fans.

What Makes a Good Instagram Caption?

Being such a high-engagement platform, your caption is almost as important as the image itself. As a rule of thumb, your captions should mostly relate to your music and your music career. Think of your captions like an ongoing story. Each caption should add value, contribute to your story in a meaningful way, and pull fans a little deeper into your world.

A good caption tells a story, starts a conversation, sparks discussion, or asks a question.

Your number one goal with your caption is to get your fans to leave a comment on your post (we’ll discuss the details of WHY later on, but suffice it to say the Instagram algorithm favors engagement). So a good caption tells a story, starts a conversation, sparks discussion, or asks a question. This is Instagram marketing for musicians 101.

Tell your fans a story or about an experience that relates to your music. Ask their opinions on something. Get them to vote on something (like the setlist for an upcoming gig). You can even use your captions to learn more about your fanbase. Ask them questions about their interests and what other bands they like and keep this information in your back pocket for future promotion ideas.

It’s also important to note that Instagram does not let you add clickable links to the caption. Instead, send your fans to your Linktree link in your bio.

When to Post on Instagram as a Musician?

If Instagram is definitely going to be a part of your social media and music marketing strategy, you need to determine the best times to post to get the most engagement.

There are plenty of studies out there that will tell you the statistically optimal time to post. But the truth is, every audience is different. So don’t give too much weight to those numbers.

Base your posting times around the numbers you see in your own Instagram analytics. You’ll be able to see what days and what times your audience is most active so you can plan on posting during those high-engagement times.

For example, you might see that your audience of mostly young adults or working millennials is active early morning, at 12 pm on their lunch break, and after 5 pm. A college-aged fanbase won’t be as active early in the morning. Teens may be active early morning and later at night. A west coast-based audience will skew a little later than an east coast-based audience if you’re in the US. And an Australia-based audience will be on a totally different timetable than a US-based audience. You see what I mean?

Instagram Stories for Musicians

Stories are another way you can post to Instagram. Unlike posts, which remain in your feed, a Story is only live for 24 hours. Stories are great ways to share quick updates, looks behind the scenes, sneak peeks, and even glimpses into your daily life.

Because Stories aren’t permanent, they don’t need to be as curated as your feed posts which often follow a similar theme or look and feel. So don’t be afraid to show a bit more of your personality. You can even give early looks at projects you’re working on.

Stories are also an incredible way to get your fans engaged. You can use features like polls, questions, sliders, or quizzes to get feedback from your fans or get them involved. Try hosting monthly Q&A’s with the questions feature, or get fans to vote on their favorite merch design. You can even share your music from Spotify directly via Stories.

Fans can also reply to your Stories which will send you a Direct Message. Frequently interacting with your fans through DM’s will help you build a relationship with those active fans. Ultimately, that direct interaction is the fuel that can help encourage fans down the path to becoming superfans.

Once you get to 10,000 followers, you will unlock a feature that allows you to link directly from your Stories. Fans will be able to “swipe up” from Stories to go to links like your website, online store, or YouTube channel.

You can also save Stories to your Highlights if you want to keep them around for more than 24 hours. Create a Highlight for frequently asked questions or with information about your gear so fans can use them as a quick reference.

Using Instagram Live Videos to Engage with Your Fans

The final post type we’ll talk about today is Live Videos. On Instagram, you have the option to live stream right in the app. These live videos can be a great chance to directly interact with your fans and forge those long-lasting superfan relationships.

All you need to go live is your phone. Optionally, you could also get some kind of mount to keep it from falling over (you can get them for under $30 on Amazon), and perhaps a simple mic that plugs right into your phone if you’re concerned about audio quality.

Your live streams could be acoustic performances, Q&A sessions, fun songwriting sessions, or even a chance to make big announcements like the drop of your new album.

The key to successful Live streams on Instagram is consistency and interaction. If you can get into a regular Live schedule, you’ll begin to notice more and more fans attending. While you’re live, take time to address your fans directly, say hi to them by name, and answer their questions. That direct interaction is what will keep fans coming back to support you.

Instagram for Musicians – The Bigger Picture

Now that you know what to post to Instagram, head to this article to learn the tips and tricks for growing your following on Instagram.

Even if you’re posting incredible content on Instagram and you have a ton of fans on the platform, it’s still only one part of your promotion strategy. If you want to effectively promote your music, you need to be thinking big picture and start getting your social followers to go deeper by signing up for emails and buying your music.

Click to get this free guide to Instagram for musicians.

Instagram for Musicians

We show you how to do this in the free How to Promote Your Music guide. You’ll learn how to create interesting and engaging social posts, and how to start collecting emails and emailing your fans. Plus you’ll get three social media checklists with tons of post ideas to get you started!

WANT TO GO FURTHER WITH YOUR MARKETING AND PROMOTION EFFORTS?

If you want help promoting your music, sign up for one of our marketing and promotion courses including How to Build Your Audience with Cover Songs, Music Marketing 101 and the How to Grow Your Fanbase.

These marketing and promotion courses will teach you:

  • The modern strategies for music marketing, branding and promotion that will work best for you.
  • Tools to identify and create goals for marketing your music.
  • How to build your brand and leverage the power of sponsorships to drive awareness of your music.
  • See exactly how to develop and enhance your website and create an electronic press kit (EPK) to attract attention.
  • See how to master digital marketing including how to build an email list and create effective communications for your audience.
  • How to effectively promote your music on social media and how you can leverage these channels to build your audience on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and via email.

Get the knowledge to understand marketing and branding and what works for you and your fanbase. Gain the confidence to excel by building alliances with people who can help you grow your audience. See exactly how to sell more music, tickets and merchandise using modern social media marketing techniques. Get more fans and sell more music. Learn how to tap into new revenue streams. See how to leverage your interests to find real fans and harness momentum. Discover the power of niche marketing and how to find your exact niche. Learn how to differentiate yourself and stand out from the crowd by tapping into like-minded people, sponsorships and causes to find and grow your audience.

Check out all of the valuable music marketing and promotion training options we have right here.

If you want help with your music career, consider signing up for the Music Business Accelerator program (MBA).

These classes are all part of the online music business training offered at New Artist Model. Enjoy!

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Use Instagram Reels to share your music

How you can get your music heard using the Instagram Reels feature – plus more music industry news for indie musicians.

Instagram Reels have been around for a couple of months now. If you’re on Instagram you’ll have seen these super-short, Tik-Tok style videos – usually with music.

As they are still pretty new, Reels are getting featured heavily in the feed. So how can you take advantage of Instagram Reels to get your music out there?

Click to get this free guide

Instagram for Musicians

 

Share your music with Instagram Reels

Reels are getting lots of attention right now, and that means you should be making them too!  Up to 30 seconds long, the video content can be anything you like – but the music sound-track makes them a great way to share your music. You can choose which music clip to include, so get creative with some attention-grabbing visuals.  Here’s an indie musician’s guide to how to do it – from CD Baby.

How to use Reels

Check out this great article from Roland.com for examples and inspiration on how you can use Instagram Reels as an indie musician to get your music noticed.

Your Music on THEIR Reels

Even better, your fans and potential fans can use your music on the Reels they create, which has the potential to get your songs in front of a much wider, new audience.  Learn how, here:

Read more about Instagram for indie musicians, on our blog.

HERE ARE SOME MORE STORIES YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN

Bob Dylan sells to Universal

The sale of Bob Dylan’s song catalogue to Universal Music Publishing has also been big news in the last couple of weeks.  What can we learn as indie musicians from this deal? Here are 4 takeaways – from Rolling Stone.

Find out more about music licensing here:

Music in a Pandemic – one Band’s story

What’s the best way to promote your music release when live gigs and performances aren’t happening? Using Instagram helped this band to connect, network and grow their following. Here’s Read their story, from Bandzoogle.

 

Follow us on Facebook for more industry news, tips for indie musicians and more. 

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Music Industry Jobs of the Future

Music Industry Jobs of the Future

Billboard recently posted an article about the music industry jobs of the future and it is fascinating and brilliant! The music industry jobs of the future are all about Storytelling, Playlisting, Content Development, Brand Management, Social Interaction, Live Entertainment, Merchandising and more. VERY INTERESTING!

Jobs like Data Jockey, Spin Tracker, Counselor, Crossover Marketer, Royalty Miner, Stage Visionary, Chatbot Creator, Video VR and Gaming Wizards, Metadata, and Wearables Designer.

“The CD-peddling, gatekeeper-guarded record industry is dead. But the meme-crafting, data-mining, spon-con-placing, royalty-chasing, wearable-designing, Chipotle-playlist-making industry is thriving, and to get a piece of the action, you’ll need a very particular set of skills — and some clue where to start. That’s what you’ll find below: dozens of dream jobs in five categories, with the people who scored them explaining how they got there (and just what it is they do all day).”

Read all about it here:

48 Music Biz Jobs of Tomorrow — And How to Get Them

For more about the future of music and how to navigate the waters as an indie musician, please checkout New Artist Model.

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Promoting Your Music on Social Media – How to NOT Waste Time

how to not waste time promoting your music on social media
 

Let’s talk about promoting your music on social media.

More specifically making the task of promoting your music on social media not suck. I mean, who has time to spend hours coming up with social media posts to promote your music on Facebook and Twitter?

The secret is NOT doing more to promote your music. It’s about working SMARTER – making the most out of everything you create.

Of course, there’s a lot more to promoting your music than social media. But for today, I’m going to walk you through a quick approach to making your social media efforts more efficient and more productive (so you can save time and get your music heard).

Keep in mind that implementing a music marketing strategy on social media like the one I’m going to give you today takes TIME. There is going to be very little instant gratification here, so get yourself in that mindset.

True success on social media is like a relationship (a relationship with each of the hundreds or thousands of fans you have on the platform). And like any relationship, it will take some time to develop.

That being said, I do have a jumpstart guide for you that includes 3 social media checklists that will give you the music promotion tips that the most successful indie musicians use online:

Think long term with these tips, be consistent, and after a few months, you’ll start seeing more activity.

Use Content You Already Have to Promote Your Music on Social Media

If you think you need to create a whole new set of content for promoting your music on social media, you’re wasting a lot of time and effort (time that could be spent playing gigs, practicing, recording, writing…).

Instead, think about how you can repurpose and adapt all the great stuff you already have. This is called content marketing. 

As musicians, we create A LOT of stuff. You know – riffs, songs, lyrics, covers, jams, live performances, albums, tones, beats, effects, and the list goes on and on.

BUT, a lot of musicians I see out there promoting their music online don’t actually use half of the stuff they create. And that’s a missed opportunity.

I know, there is a bit of a balance to find here. Especially if you’re working you way up to a big album launch you don’t want to give everything away before the actual release date. But giving away little pieces here and there can actually get fans more excited for the release as you build up the anticipation.

Today, take a few minutes to look at all the creative work you do every day.

  • How much of it are you actually sharing with your fans on social media?
  • How can you start weaving the content you’re creating into your music promotion strategy?

If you want our free guide on How to Promote Your Music with 3 Social Media Checklists (CLICK HERE).

Music Marketing is All About Frequency and Consistency

Okay, one quick aside before we get into how to actually create your social posts…

A lot of musicians have this mindset that their work can’t be released until it’s 100% perfect and finished. And that it needs to be released in its entirety or not at all. The result is often long periods of radio silence on social media followed by frantic promotion of the new thing.

At the most basic level, success on social media is all about balancing frequency and consistency. The more you post (as long as it’s quality, interesting posts), the more of a response you will get over time. Fans will start to expect and anticipate your posts.  

Which means that radio silence is actually hurting you when you get around to promoting your album or next big thing. (Especially on Facebook where the algorithm favors posts that get more engagement.) Less fans will see your promotions, less fans will respond to your promotions, and you’ll start feeling that social media is a waste of time.

So try to focus on getting some kind of posting rhythm down. After some time you’ll be in a much better place to promote your music (and have your fans actually notice your posts and respond).

Before you move on, look at your social accounts and figure out how often you’re posting.

  • What does your schedule look like?
  • Are there any gaps?
  • How can you be more consistent?

Splinter Your Content

Now we’ll move a little deeper and start talking about how you can actually take something like a new song, a new video, or a live performance, and turn it into multiple social media posts – posts that will get your music heard by more people.

I like to call this “splintering” your content. Think of it like taking a big thing – like a song – and breaking it down into smaller pieces that you can post on social media. Each of those smaller pieces will lead fans back to the full song.

So for a single song, here are some “splinter” post ideas:

  • Take a quote from the lyrics. Post as is or create an image with the quote. You can probably get a lot of quote posts from a single song
  • Open up and share the meaning behind the lyrics. You could create a post, a blog post, a short video, a live stream, or all of the above.
  • Create a short video (or do a live stream) walking fans through the tones (or beats, or pedal board setup…) you used in the song so they can recreate the sound
  • Share photos of the lyric sheet or lead sheet
  • Do a playthrough or tutorial of a certain riff or beat
  • Create a “making of” video series for the song
  • Post a lyric line you’re working on and ask your fans to finish it with their own words
  • If any of your fans cover the song you could share that too

See what we did there? That was just one song and we got a ton of social posts. Individually, these posts don’t give away the full picture of the song. Many of these ideas can be used in the days leading up to the song release to create hype.  

Exercise: Splinter the Content You’re Working on Right Now

Try to do this exercise for something you’re working on right now. Make a list and brainstorm everything and anything you could splinter off from that main piece of content. You don’t need to use all the ideas you come up with, but write down everything that comes to mind and proceed from there.

Use Automation to Promote Your Music on Social Media

Okay, so now we have all these social media post ideas. You probably don’t want to post them all at the same time. (Remember – consistency is key). So that means you need to space things out over time.

And that’s where automation comes in.

Automation tools help you pre-schedule posts on many different social media platforms so you don’t need to be constantly remembering to post on social media. That way, you can get your promotion over with and allow yourself to focus completely on music.

Check out these tools:

  • Hootsuite – this will allow you to schedule posts for multiple different social platforms. The free version allows you to post to 3 different social channels
  • Facebook (there’s a scheduler built right in. Instead of choosing “post,” choose “schedule” and pick a date and time you’d like it to hit your page)
  • Tweetdeck – this is a great free platform for posting, scheduling, and monitoring Twitter
  • Buffer – the free version allows you to schedule and manage 1 account from each social platform (so you could have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc). You can schedule up to 10 posts at a time per social account
  • SocialOomph – the free version only allows you to schedule and monitor Twitter, but the paid version covers multiple different platforms

Be Relevant and Authentic

A little word of caution. Automation can be overdone. The very purpose of social media is to be able to connect with your fans authentically and in real time. If you’re pre-scheduling all your content out weeks or months in advance, you’re totally missing that real-time connection with your fans.

So, here’s what I suggest… Create your posts by splintering up your content, schedule them out for maybe a week or two, and then make time each day to post something relevant that you’re working on right now and respond to comments and messages.

If you take the time to implement these steps over the next few weeks or months you’ll start seeing major changes. And not just in how much attention your music attracts online.  But also in how much time you’re spending promoting your music on social media.

If you want more concrete examples of social post ideas, don’t forget to download your free social media guide and checklist! Here’s the link again:

If you want our free guide on How to Promote Your Music with 3 Social Media Checklists (CLICK HERE).

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What’s the best band website builder for musicians? Free Webinar.

Every musician today needs a great website. Each week someone asks me what platform is the best band website builder for musicians to create a killer website. There are many choices to be sure.

Bandzoogle has what appears to be the best balance of features and performance at an affordable price. Their monthly packages start at $8 per month and they do not charge any commission on sales of music or merch or tickets of any kind. As of the date of this post, Bandzoogle artists have generated over $21 million in sales of music, merch and tickets using its proven cloud based platform. Don’t you want to do that too?

best band website builder for musicians

Over 25,000 musicians have signed up for Bandzoogle, including many New Artist Model students. These guys have the best solution for presenting yourself online as a musician or band. And they have agreed to give you a 90 day free trial so you can check it out. This is a no brainer if you need a website or want to update the one you have.

Click here for a free webinar on building the ultimate musician website

Bandzoogle is easy to use with a step-by-step system that will get you up and running in minutes with a custom site that can grow along with you. With over 100 different mobile themes you can easily customize a site to really stand out.

Move your existing domain over or setup a new one.

Here’s what you get with your Bandzoogle website:

• Sell music, merch & tickets commission-free.
• Stream your music and setup downloads.
• Built in email list to send professional newsletters.
• Integrates with all online musician services.
• Reports and analytics to target your fans.
• Unbelievably great customer service.

Pull in content from all of your online services like Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Pledgemusic, CDBaby, Gig Salad, Bandsintown, ArtistData, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, iTunes, Amazon and more.

Add a store to your site in two clicks and start selling music, downloads, tickets and merchandise without having to pay any sales fee.

Create a blog and EPK. Post music, videos and photos. Setup your events calendar and a lot more. Everything you need is built-in and just a click away.

Try it for 3 months for free. After that, plans start at less than $10/month. Or you can simply walk away and pay nothing.

What’s the best band website builder for musicians to use to create a killer musician website? Check out Bandzoogle.

Just last week, Dave Cool of Bandzoogle and I did a webinar.

Build the Ultimate Musician Website

  • BUILD a high converting musician website.
  • LEARN exactly what features you need and why.
  • GROW your email list and expand your fanbase.

Click here to watch this recorded webinar – all free.

New Artist Model is an online music business school developed by Dave Kusek, founder of Berklee Online. The online school is a platform for learning practical strategies and techniques for making a living in music. Learn how to carve a unique path for your own career with strategies that are working for indie artists around the world. Learn to think like an entrepreneur, create your own plan and live the life in music you want to live. New Artist Model provides practical college-level music business training at a mere fraction of the cost of a college degree. Programs start at just $29/mo.

For more info on the New Artist Model visit https://newartistmodel.com

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How and When to Post on Social Media

Let’s talk social media. It’s something we all do as artists, but a lot of musicians aren’t using it to it’s full potential. Maybe you’re posting to Facebook and Twitter everyday but feel like your efforts are wasted because you’re not seeing any growth. Or maybe you don’t post as often as you should because you don’t know where to start. These are problems every musician will face their entire career.

The problem, I think, lies in the fact that we often will dump all social media channels into one big category. The term “social media” includes Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Snap Chat, Pinterest, Linked In, Google Plus, and whatever else is out there. But all of those platforms couldn’t be more different!

Let me explain. Instagram is all about images. As an artist, you would post visually interesting photos relating to your music, use the description and comments to engage with your followers, and use relevant hashtags to try to reach new fans. If you tried to use that same approach on Facebook people would think you’re crazy. That’s because the way these two platforms work is completely different.

I’m sure you’ve run into “that guy” who just pushes out the same message to all his social channels. More likely than not, the message comes out formatted incorrectly on a few platforms because they didn’t take the specific requirements of those platforms into consideration when they posted. You end up with links in Instagram photo descriptions (even though they’re not clickable), messages that span across 3 tweets, and Facebook posts that go on and on in one big long paragraph.

The best solution is to get to know the social platforms you use. And I mean really get to know them. Pick one or two to focus your efforts on and learn everything you can about what to post, when to post on social media, how to format your posts and photos, and how to attract new followers on the platform.

To help you get started, I wanted to share this infographic from Start a Blog 123. It breaks down the best times and days to post on each platform as well as a guide that breaks down the best image sizes so you don’t get your awesome photos cut off!

when to post on social media

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10 Social Media Secrets

10 Social Media Secrets

Today, social media is the cornerstone of your music career. It’s what lets you stay in touch with your fans and easily notify them with exciting news. With all the social media guides out there, you’d think no one remembers one of the key behavioral aspects to being human – socializing. I know, it’s hard to find a balance between social and promotional – afterall, you still need to sell your show or record. Here’s 10 social media secrets to help you find that social media balance.

If you want more ideas and ways to promote your music on social media, check out this free ebook. You’ll get a ton of social media post ideas and 3 checklists to work through while promoting your music on social media.

1. Listen!

Socializing is, by nature, a two-way exchange. Try holding a conversation with someone with your ears plugged. Social media is talking with your audience! There are other tools out there for talking at an audience. Make it a habit to read comments and @messages. You’d do the same on your personal accounts, wouldn’t you? By listening to your fans you could also get valuable information like what new song they are digging the most or what they liked about your show last night.

2. Leverage online and offline.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution. While some artists, like Alex Day have managed to build their career on one channel, most of us need to find a balance of online and offline. Maybe you leverage Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and some local shows in your area. The key is to think about how you can send fans from online to offline and visa versa. You need to create a flow.

3. Write posts yourself.

Don’t completely outsource Twitter or Facebook to a third party. Fans can tell the difference. Keep it real and learn. If you have a band, have members sign their posts with their name so fans can get to know everyone’s personality.

4. Be conversational.

On Twitter, make your tweets two-way. If you just make a statement, there’s no where for the conversation to go. Think about how you would approach starting a conversation in real life. Instead of saying “We have a gig tonight at this place,” try “We have a gig tonight at this place. What songs do you guys want us to play?”

5. Be genuine.

Talk about your life and what you believe in, as well as your music and career. Open yourself up, so that people can get to know you. It’s amazing how much interaction you can generate by posting a funny picture of your dog.

6. The 80/20 rule.

So exactly what is the balance between personal/interesting content and marketing content? I don’t like putting a formula to something as spontaneous socializing, but a general rule of thumb is that 80% of your content should be personal, funny, interesting, and entertaining, and 20% should be reserved for marketing pushes. Go beyond 20% and people start ignoring you. Keep it social. Keep it fun.

7. Drive interest.

Just like the flow between social media and the offline experience, you should also create a flow between your social media channels and your website. Your website is the hub of your career online. It’s where you make sales and have more detailed information for fans. Link creatively to your website, so that you give people fun and interesting reasons to visit.

8. Don’t over-invest yourself in every social media platform available.

A lot of musicians I’ve talked to find themselves completely consumed by social media. As a result, they don’t have much time left over for their music. You are only one person and can only do so much. Pick a few social media platforms and really focus on creating strong interaction and engagement on those platforms.

9. Pick platforms that are relevant to your image and brand.

If your target fan is a young teenage girl, Twitter and Instagram are your best bets, as these are the platforms where these girls spend the majority of their time. If you are a improvisational jazz band whose target fan is a forty-year-old working man, Facebook and email would probably be your best bet.

10. Make your channels unique. It’s also a good idea to use each social media channel slightly differently. Give your fans a reason to follow you on all platforms. While you can and should push important information out across all your channels, try to give it a different spin. If your announcing a gig try this approach: Take a picture of yourself in front of the venue and push it out to Instagram and use Facebook to drive engagement, asking fans what songs they want you to play. Get creative!

Want more social media secrets and ways to promote your music? Check out this article next and learn about 6 ways to promote your music.

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Contests for Fan Engagement

This article is from Corie Kellman of Cyber PR. Here’s a short excerpt, but you can read the full article here.

When all the numbers and the platform choices start to overwhelm you, take a step back and ask yourself – “If I was a fan, what would I want to see on my page?”

In the grand scheme of things, your pages are not about having the most views, the most likes or even the largest number of email subscribers – it’s about connecting with the ones that care enough about you to do something (Think: recommend your music to a friend… show up to a show… spend time at the merch table… buy something). When the platforms have evolved, changed their rules, or disappeared, those types of fans remain loyal and seek you out. These are the types of fans that are willing to pay for things that the fair-weather fans may not. Establishing good relationships with your fans is an essential step to monetizing your art.

One of my favorite ways artists are connecting with their fans and promoting fan engagement is contests. Contests are great for three important reasons:

1. Contests create fan engagement and bring fans together – they ask them to participate in your community and bring your fans together in friendly competition.
2. Contests give you new, fan-generated content to feed your page and share.
3. Contests give you a chance to give back – fans are a big reason why you are where you are at right now, and will continue to be a driving force in your career.

Not sure where to start? Here are a few contests to get your brain juices flowing:

Paraoke

Paramore asked their fans to submit a video of their best karaoke attempt to their recent single “Still Into You” – once all submissions were in, they picked their top six and asked their fans to vote to determine the winner. The lucky Paraoke Queen (or king) was up to grab the bicycle from the music video, two tickets to a show, and a merch pack.

This contest flooded YouTube with Paramore covers, allowing the band to promote their new release without shelling out big bucks. They used the contest to turn their fans into marketers.

We See You – You See Us

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Third Eye Blind used instagram to run a contest, which they cross posted to their Facebook page for 20 fans to win a chance to attend a private practice at the rehearsal studio. All the fans had to do was upload their photo entries to Instagram and hashtag their entry #3EBontheroad– winners were chosen daily the entire week – encouraging fans to keep their eyes on the page all week.

Tell us about a contest one of your favorite bands ran!

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Marketing your Music: the Power of the Social Web

If you are young and use the Internet, you know more about your audience than [labels] do – for sure. This is a revolution and you can be a part of it. The old guard is dying; if you have good ideas – try them. (Trent Reznor, via the 9 Inch Nails Forum) Unfortunately talent is only part of the equation these days. Succeeding as a musician in a multi-media world requires you to understand marketing. Savvy self-promotion means the difference between empty gigs and heaving ones, between your latest tune reaching the ears of a key decision maker or languishing in the echoes of your bedroom. Traditionally, musicians have kept to the ‘creative’ corner of the room, factoring marketing and PR as the realm of the business world, and hence nothing to do with ‘what I do.’ Those days are long gone. Unless you’re one of the lucky and incredibly rare ones talent spotted before you’ve had time to think, it’s up to you to learn some new skills and put yourself out there. It’s an investment in your career which may take you outside your comfort zone, but might just get you where you need to be. Twitter With its 500 million registered users, including most of the key decision makers of the music industry, Twitter is a potential gold mine for up and coming bands. After setting yourself up a stylish and well composed account, start by investigating some of the key bands in your particular niche. Are these guys using Twitter successfully?, if so see who their friends are and follow them! Then move on to the labels which sign your kind of music, the venues, promoters and so forth. Twitter’s total transparency allows you to listen in real time to the key industry figures, and learn from their success. When it comes to tweeting, less is certainly more. 140 characters on why your band is great won’t rock anyone’s world, rather concentrate on developing a persona: be witty, creative, share helpful links. And from time to time, but no more than that, a link to one of your best tunes might just build your fan base. Remember, an effective Twitter account, highly targeted to your niche, is going to be a long term investment. Once it’s working you can use it to pack out your gigs, sell albums and merchandise, and generally build yourself as a brand. But in a world of that many Twitter accounts, you’ll need to be smart and savvy to stand out from the crowd. Blogging Pete Townsend, David Byrne and Brian May are just some of the many legendary musicians who blog. Blogs can offer a highly personal online diary of what you and your band are up to which is another great way to build an audience. Although the web exists in cyberspace, its emotionally driven and, as such people look for content which engages them on a felt level. Include mp3’s of your rehearsals, links to interviews, polaroids of the diner you stopped off at on your way through Arkansas. Tell stories which communicate what you’re about, and always respond to comments. Your website itself sits at the top of a pyramid, with your social media accounts at a level below. Above all, try to generate the best content you can: quirky and hilarious always finds an audience, as does moving and thought-provoking. Blogging is about connection and, when that’s established, the commercial side of things will run itself. Instagram Still one of the fastest growing social networks, Instagram has found its niche with a young mobile audience interested in sharing images and video. The Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and Bon Iver are just of the legends using Instagram to great effect, offering quotes, setlists and insight, behind the scenes shots and humour, all to powerful effect. Images are the basic medium here, though video is allowed, so use your phone to capture moments which are going to resonate. Soup them up a little using programs like Camera + or Big Lens, which offer a host of cool filters and effects to make your footage stand out. Finally, following the example of Deftones, use competitions to maximum effect. With their 43,000 followers, Deftones use Instagram dynamically, offering rewards to fans who submit photos from some of their gigs, then showcasing the winners on the bands social media platforms. They even offered a signed guitar, as an incentive to get people involved. This kind of activity would have been unthinkable to a band in the 1960’s but is now a classic example of how a proactive and intelligent social media approach can propel a band further into the spotlight. Email If you’ve got a site, you need a sign up box on the homepage for fans who want to keep in touch with your output. This email database will end up being one of the biggest assets in your marketing arsenal, and certainly the most profitable. To understand the sheer power of email, you could do a lot worse than learning from the unlikely marketing guru of Trent Reznor from the 9 Inch Nails. Trent has written extensively about this on the Nails forum here pointing out how even the bosses of a big label won’t be nearly as concerned about the longevity of a band as the musicians themselves. He suggests embracing new media, such as email marketing, to take control of your own outreach. Trent, as well as bands like Coldplay, give away free albums on their sites in return for bands email addresses, thus bypassing major label distribution entirely. With Music City networks estimating the fiscal value of an email ID for bands as $111 annually, it’s not difficult to see that this kind of exchange ends up brilliant direct marketing, in which returns can go straight into your pocket. Remember to push your website at every gig and interview, and to then incentivise fans to sign up via prizes and rewards. Many people find http://bandcamp.com/ is a useful tool to build their lists: this site allows fans to download your music for free, as long as they give over their email ID. Definitely worth a shot. Jane McInness blogs about the music industry, as well as writing for the great Imagem Production Music blog here.

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Ridin’ with Hypebot

My buddy Bruce Houghton at Hypebot, caught me last week for a quick interview before Rethink Music.  Here is an except from our discussion:

HYPEBOT: Your new focus is on consulting and investing. Are there any sectors, particularly within music and music tech, that particularly interest you or where you see the most room for growth?

DAVE KUSEK: Online education is one of them. This is an area that is already transforming how people learn and gain job skills and it is only going to grow as time goes on. There are big opportunities here that will effect tens of millions of people around the world. Online training is going to be huge. Job requirements are shifting and people need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances that can benefit them. The traditional model of higher education is already under pressure and there are many people and companies exploring alternative models that are very interesting.

The other area I am bullish on is live music and live events. The live concert experience cannot be digitized, yet can benefit enormously from technology. There really has not been much innovation in live music or in music merchandising beyond ticketing. I think there is a lot more that can be done with mobile technology and am actively working in this area. My investment in Tastemate is one way of digging into this potential in a meaningful way. We will be bringing our service to a venue near you, very soon.

I also think that there is potential to expand the reach of live performance using remote technologies. I am interested in ways to cut the costs out of touring to make it more profitable and to reach broader audiences. It is amazing to me that there has not been more activity in this area either, so I am looking for companies and people to work with that are thinking differently about what live music is all about and how to make it even more lucrative.

HYPEBOT: What are some of the things that Digital Cowboys has done in the past or is looking to do now?

DAVE KUSEK: We are focused on business development, marketing and product development, particularly in online and mobile services. We also do strategy consulting for businesses wanting to expand or enter new markets or make acquisitions. I say we, because while I am the managing partner, I also leverage a network of people around the world and with different specialties that I bring together to form a team to address the issues. For example, with a lot of the product work that we have done I brought together a team of visual designers and user experience people to execute on the product vision and do the testing. With business development projects I sometimes work with friends that have particular contacts or relationships that are beneficial to my clients. Sometimes I put together a couple different investors or strategic partners to provide capital or distribution or some other need. The main thing is to get the work done and show results, while trying to have some fun and work on interesting projects that are pushing the envelope.

HYPEBOT: There’s some talk of another tech bubble. Do you see think we’re approaching one in music and media technology?

DAVE KUSEK: I do think that some of the deals we have seen recently are off the charts, like Instagram – but who knows? That has all the earmarks of “bubble” written all over it. But Facebook is also about to go public and at their level, what’s another billion dollars?

But really I don’t think overall that we are at the point of frivolousness and excess that we witnessed in the earlier dot-com bubble, at least not yet. I believe that people are just beginning to figure out better ways to communicate and interact and learn via technology. That is having massive implications on the future of society around the world. Take a look at the stock market trend over the past 100 years and you will see that things tend to move up and people get smarter and more prosperous. I am an optimist.

There are a lot of music startups getting funded these days and certainly they are not all going to make it. I think we will see some consolidation in the DIY space as there are probably more companies addressing that market than the market really needs. The same is true for music streaming and distribution and music discovery. I think the real breakthrough companies will be formed by trying to do something completely different, rather than mimicking the past with technology. We’ll see.

HYPEBOT: Any plans to write a follow-up to the “Future Of Music” book?

DAVE KUSEK: I plan to spend a lot more time posting things to my blog and on digitalcowboys.com. This is a much better way to continue to update original thinking and way more efficient than writing another book. The music industry has gone digital and online outlets like Hypebot really do work as conduits in this business. That is a real bright spot in the transformation of the music industry. So, look for more at futureofmusicbook.com.

You can get the entire interview here.

More coverage from Hypebot here and from Billboard here.

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