By Harrison Welshimer
Managing your own band can be a huge drag. Not only are you supposed to be rocking your face off at shows, writing songs, learning new parts, practicing individually, and warding off screaming fans, you also have to do a million other business things to keep the band afloat. Social media is something every band is using nowadays, but how effectively? I would venture to say most groups spend hours on their social accounts, but gain very little traction. Here are some quick steps to fix this.
Fix #1: Pick 1 to 2 mediums and Stick with ‘em
Every time I turn around, there’s a new social network raging across the web universe. We have the giants Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, but also lesser knowns Tumblr, Pinterest, Reddit, Warbler, Yirbly, Bingdizzy (okay I made some of those up, but you get the idea). You don’t need a presence on all of them! First, find out where your fans hang out the most. An easy way to do this is just ask. At your next gig, when your selling your kickass merch, ask fans, “Hey Joe, what’s the social network you use the most?” Take a tally on a clipboard and when it’s all said and done, pick the 1 to 2 most popular sites and start building your presence there.
Fix #2: Start with a “Daily List”
You got it. Here’s our daily list for MusicMunch:
1. Create content for AM post/tweet and PM post/tweet
2. Comment on 1 interesting Facebook Post and Tweet by someone else (always leave your name and web address when doing this; let people know who you are and where they can find you!)
3. Comment on 1 Denver Reddit Post
4. Study Music Management Techniques, Requirements, Biz Models
For your band, you’ll obviously have a slightly altered model. Song-writing, practicing, etc. should all be part of a band’s daily chow. Also, notice that we have only four tasks. The goal is to save time, so don’t write a book.
Fix #3: Create a “Weekly List”
For MusicMunch, me and my team meet once a week to discuss what’s going on our Facebook page and Twitter feed (these are the 2 social mediums we focus on). We have a general docket of stuff for posts, but allow ourselves flexibility for special events. For example, on Thursday’s, we post something about a whacky piece of music trivia. On Friday’s, we wish the bands we’re working with “Good Luck and God Speed” for their weekend gigs. If there’s a special promo event going on, we mix it in. We also make sure to connect with Denver area music publicists on several days of the week; you know, interact with their posts, leave snazzy comments, etc. But we pick these people very carefully. It’s all in the game of getting more eyeballs back to MusicMunch (but we’re sincere too – don’t be a spammer!).
Fix #4: Occasional Tasks
These are the quarterly posts. They should elicit lots of attention, sort of like a sell off at your favourite record store (when they used to exist). An example is the promo event we did for Denver band, Petals of Spain. To celebrate the release of their EP, “Soul Canon”, we created a Facebook event called “Soul Canon Giveaway”. We gave 20 EP + t-shirt packages away for free. The requirements were to post a skizzin’ comment and tag Petals in it. Best comments won. There are a million things you could do, but these events always need to have a “ONE – TIME ONLY” snazz about them.
The goal here is brevity. Remember, social media outlets are a way for you to capture people’s attention and get them to visit your band’s website, because it’s there that the real magic happens!
See Ya at the Next Jam!
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