Whether you play parties, cafés, auditoriums, or stadiums, you are engaging an audience in your art. But how do you strengthen that connection when you’re not on stage? Welcome to the wonderful world of social media engagement.
Big Commerce Essential provides a detailed explanation of social media engagement, including how to measure it and best practices for using it. In short, though, social engagement translates into responses to your posts such as comments, likes, and shares—things that can translate into building audience size and improving sales.
As an aside, if you don’t have a website, get one. They are the “hub” of your online presence. (Providers such as Wix can help you get a professional looking website up and running in no time.) Websites direct people to social platforms, and social platforms point back to websites. It’s a symbiotic relationship that builds engagement all the way around.
- Platform Performance
There is a dizzying array of social platforms. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, LinkedIn—and the list goes on—all are big players. You could post to all of them but that may be a waste of time, effort, and money (add money to that list if you run paid advertising on any social platform) but don’t. Be discerning. If you specialize in providing music for corporate events, LinkedIn may be an excellent place to post. But if your audience is high school kids, Instagram may be a better choice. Do your research. The quickest and most cost-effective way to figure it out is to see what other successful musicians in your genre are doing.
- Content Is Still King
What you post is as important as where you post it. A lengthy blog dissertation on metallurgical techniques to make guitar strings… yawn. Instead, post recent performances where you brought down the house! Audio and video are the bread and butter of posted content. But don’t be afraid to sprinkle in fun pictures of a recent trip and activities. Repost content from other musicians you enjoy. Among other things, that’s an ideal way to get other musicians to repost your content. Also, sharing your opinions about music trends, performances, and venues is likely to spark comments—everybody has an opinion! It’s best to stay away from politics and other potential volatile subjects. Repeat this mantra: posted is permanent. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to put the genie back in the bottle, so be careful what you communicate on social media.
- Post Regularly
If you post twice a week for example, make it on the same days so your audience has something to look forward to. More isn’t necessarily better. Monitor your accounts and how often you post to find out how often to post and the type of posts that garner optimal response. Most social media channels provide metrics so you can analyze engagement and adjust accordingly.
Improving engagement is an important marketing goal. However, note that engagement alone does not always translate into a bigger audience or music sales, so it’s important to engage with the right audience in terms of demographics, preferences, and musical tastes. If business is growing with your engagement efforts, then you’re on the right track. If not, you may have to try different means and ways to engage.
