Effective social media campaigns involve a mix of blue-sky thinking, planning, experimenting and consistency.
Grab yourself a cuppa and read through our top tips to maximise your social media presence.
As an emerging artist, social media is an invaluable tool to share your music, ideas and personality with the world. But without planning and a strategy, it can easily become overwhelming. In this article we share six top tips to enhance your social media campaign.
1. Get to know your audience
To get the most out of your social media, you need to understand who your audience is, what they care about and what makes them tick. This helps you to target your message or content. Who are you trying to reach, and why? Do you want to connect with other musicians online, or to find potential collaborators? Are they local music lovers?
Do you want to grow your local fanbase to attract audiences for your upcoming show? As an emerging artist, knowing your audience will allow you to develop a meaningful, ongoing and engaging social media presence.
2. Set a strategy
Your strategy or plan is how you're going to reach your audience. Think about the purpose of your social media use. Are you preparing for a single or EP release? Are you rehearsing for a tour, and want to sell more tickets? Or are you busy working in the studio and want to share exclusive behind the scenes footage? Your strategy will give your campaign a focused direction and necessary scope. We like to set SMART goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant & Time-bound.
For example, if you're looking to run a short promotional campaign on social media, your SMART goal could be:
On December 10 I'm playing at Waywards Sydney to release my debut EP. My social media campaign for the next two weeks is to promote this show and encourage existing followers to buy tickets. My measure of success will be selling out the 250-person venue. My audience is 18-25 year olds who live in Sydney and like pop punk.
Think creatively about the different ways that social media can help achieve your goal. What do you want your fans to know about you? What has your journey been like? What inspired this album? Who are your musical idols? What makes you unique? Remember - as an artist, you have a unique perspective that is valuable to others. Make content that feels authentic, natural and exciting to you as that's more likely to appeal to your audience.
3. Plan it out
Success with social media is all about posting consistently, so make sure you create time to plan out your campaigns. Create a content calendar so you can keep track of what you’re posting and when. Scheduling tools can be very useful and will help you save time. Later, Crowdfire
and Planoly
are all free platforms that we recommend.
If you’re active across various social media platforms, be sure to understand the nuances of each platform, and what various audiences respond to. You’ll want to be posting content natively (ie not cross-posting across your accounts) in each platform to maximise engagement. It is better to be more active on fewer platforms, than to be stretched too thin and not keep your profiles up-to-date or relevant.
4. The power of video
With the huge popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels, video content plays a massive role in getting emerging artists connected with new fans. With one billion active users on TikTok, 90% of who are active every day, social media delivers new exposure opportunities to utilise. Music industry analyst Tatiana Cirisano says that TikTok users actively seek out music they like, and are more likely to ‘create playlists, listen to full albums on streaming services, or buy merchandise’.
Recent research by Cirisano suggests 40% of active TikTok users pay a monthly subscription for music, compared to 25% of the general population. So, if fans discover your music on TikTok, there’s a good chance they’ll follow the link in your bio and stream your music. Make sure your links are up-to-date so you don’t miss new listeners. Linktree is an Australian company that we recommend, endorsed by Shakira, The Strokes and Remi Wolf.
If you’re stuck for ideas for videos, head to Instagram’s ‘Trend Report', or TikTok’s ‘Creator Portal’ to see the types of content that are trending.
5. Adapt and analyse
Social media platforms have useful analytics and insights tools to help you understand your audiences and engagement statistics. It's a good idea to check your engagement levels, and analyse which posts are performing better and why. Adaptation is important in a successful social media campaign – don’t be afraid to revise your plan as you go in order to improve your engagement statistics. Treat your campaign like an experiment – keep posting, keep learning and keep refining.
6. Have fun and look after yourself
Too much time on social media can sometimes be detrimental to our health and relationships. Focus on using it intentionally, and don't lose sight of your SMART goals. Remember, as an artist, you have a unique perspective that is valuable to others. Create content that feels right for you and what you represent.
Have fun and happy creating!