Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are great sites for generating engagement and creating interactions between you and your fans.
Blogs are great places where you can really start to create meaningful relationships with your audiences, especially if you can provide exclusive information here. You want your fans to keep coming back to your website for more information time and time again.
You should not think of your social media as standalone channels that are separate from your other marketing activities. You should use your social media as a way to enhance the marketing efforts that you are already using.
Basically, instead of creating social media campaigns, all of your marketing campaigns should be social.
Here are ways you can integrate your social media with your other marketing activities.
Integrate Email and Social Media
Hopefully you already have a mailing list with the addresses of your biggest fans. These people are likely to already be following you on social media. Did you know you can combine both of these so that they can really complement each other.
- Include social media icons that link to your social networks in all of your emails so that fans can easily find you online.
- Add social media sharing buttons to your emails. This way, if someone enjoys your emails then all your fans need to do is click a button to share it with their friends. You can gain more signups to your mailing list this way too.
- Share your email campaigns on social media too. Depending on which tool you’re using for your email marketing then you may be able to automate this.
- If you are using MailChimp, Constant Contact, Mad Mimi, or iContact for your email marketing then you should be able to create email signup forms that you can integrate with your Facebook page.
Share your Content on Social Media
Google+ is an underused platform, but there is a casual relationship between Google+ and SEO rankings. Google’s search crawlers, or bots, do use G+ as a source of fresh content. So by creating your own profile and sharing your content on the platform then there is a good chance that you will show up higher in search results.
As you are running contests, offering discounts / special offers, and seasonal promotions, don’t forget to talk about then on your social media too. You can:
- Promote or boost your social media content to reach larger audiences.
- Feature contest winners on social media, and encourage them to share this with their friends.
- Personally thank fans for buying your merch or for supporting you.
Target Bloggers and Writers Online
Bloggers do get most of their content from PR companies and other contacts but they also do look for fresh new music themselves.
Not only should you be sharing your music on social media, but you should also be seen to be doing something different. Think about what you can be doing that will help you stand out from the crowd and get noticed by key tastemakers.
Additionally, you can also follow them, comment on and share their content (especially if they are sharing music that is similar to your own – it can also lead to collaboration opportunities with other artists).
Make Use of Hashtags Beyond Social
While you mobile your fans on Twitter to pre-order and promote your new single with a particular hashtag, your efforts don’t need to stop there.
Most social networks now incorporate hashtags too so it is now more simple than ever to get your message in front of new fans. Use your hashtag on Facebook and Instagram too as well as within your emails.
But don’t forget to take your efforts offline or in other forms of media too. Mention your hashtag in your gig posters, include then in your videos and talk about them during your gigs themselves. You can make your hashtag a slogan for your campaign.
