Marketing as an indie musician could be tougher than you expect it to be. There are thousands of must-dos and hardly enough time to get them done. Promoting your latest music, publicizing your new gigs, seeking the attention of your fans. Burdensome? You bet. However, isn’t it so satisfying when it all comes together?
Since indie musicians are often so busy, it is necessary to make the most of your time that's spent on marketing. Although SoundCloud or Bandcamp are essentials for indie artists, you should consider expanding your reach to social media platforms.
The music industry has a cutthroat competition and having a smart social presence with immaculate profiles out there lets you grow your audience and let them know that you are not a beginner.
In this blog post, we have outlined some of the best practices for indie artists and musicians that they should make use of to market their new album.
1. Post some behind-the-scenes content
Authenticity is a major piece of marketing on social media. Rather than just posting promos, connecting your followers on a personal level pays off as well. An easy way to do that is to post content that allows them to reach behind the scenes.
• Whether you are sitting in your studio or on tour, never neglect the capability of a candid snapshot. Posts like these are far more entertaining than the content that is probably already in your audience’s feeds. Your followers may also see these posts as some much-needed escape.
• Consistency is the key to being relevant and dedicated to your followers and fans. Considering that it only takes a few seconds to capture a snapshot of behind the scenes and post them on Instagram or Facebook story, such posts can also work as a backup plan for the days you have nothing to post.
This is elaborated perfectly by this story posted by Lady Gaga on her Instagram.
The music industry has a cutthroat competition and having a smart social presence with immaculate profiles out there lets you grow your audience and let them know that you are not a beginner.
In this blog post, we have outlined some of the best practices for indie artists and musicians that they should make use of to market their new album.
1. Post some behind-the-scenes content
Authenticity is a major piece of marketing on social media. Rather than just posting promos, connecting your followers on a personal level pays off as well. An easy way to do that is to post content that allows them to reach behind the scenes.
• Whether you are sitting in your studio or on tour, never neglect the capability of a candid snapshot. Posts like these are far more entertaining than the content that is probably already in your audience’s feeds. Your followers may also see these posts as some much-needed escape.
• Consistency is the key to being relevant and dedicated to your followers and fans. Considering that it only takes a few seconds to capture a snapshot of behind the scenes and post them on Instagram or Facebook story, such posts can also work as a backup plan for the days you have nothing to post.
This is elaborated perfectly by this story posted by Lady Gaga on her Instagram.
2. Tag brands, venues, and other fellow musicians
It is documented that tagging is a way to increase the visibility of your posts rapidly. Plus, there is no harm in tagging others where appropriate. Some examples that can be concluded as smart tagging are as follows:
• boosting brands (such as instruments and clothing) that you used in your album production.
• highlighting the venues where you had your album’s video shoot.
You never know; maybe you could score big time by a repost from an industry player. Tags might not seem very influential, but you can attract hidden followers through tactical tagging. Nevertheless, anything that gets you more eyes on your content is a point in your favor.
3. Keep your social media followers in the loop
New album? New song? Let people know!
Fickle algorithms and the speed by which social media moves make it challenging to promote your music on Instagram. However, you can play a fair game with frequent hype posts.
• frequent fliers and information in terms of social media posts could be a smart move to retain your followers. This way, all your fans would know exactly what is going on.
• your new album cover should be eye-catching for your fans. It should be customized in a way that fits your genre of music.
We recommend trying out PosterMyWall to design your new album cover or flyers for your social media posts. It has thousands of album cover templates while being the only design tool that allows marketers to customize posters, flyers, and social media content according to their own choice. Or you can download album cover art online and use it in your social media campaigns.
It is documented that tagging is a way to increase the visibility of your posts rapidly. Plus, there is no harm in tagging others where appropriate. Some examples that can be concluded as smart tagging are as follows:
• boosting brands (such as instruments and clothing) that you used in your album production.
• highlighting the venues where you had your album’s video shoot.
You never know; maybe you could score big time by a repost from an industry player. Tags might not seem very influential, but you can attract hidden followers through tactical tagging. Nevertheless, anything that gets you more eyes on your content is a point in your favor.
3. Keep your social media followers in the loop
New album? New song? Let people know!
Fickle algorithms and the speed by which social media moves make it challenging to promote your music on Instagram. However, you can play a fair game with frequent hype posts.
• frequent fliers and information in terms of social media posts could be a smart move to retain your followers. This way, all your fans would know exactly what is going on.
• your new album cover should be eye-catching for your fans. It should be customized in a way that fits your genre of music.
We recommend trying out PosterMyWall to design your new album cover or flyers for your social media posts. It has thousands of album cover templates while being the only design tool that allows marketers to customize posters, flyers, and social media content according to their own choice. Or you can download album cover art online and use it in your social media campaigns.
Social media has the ability to provide you spectacular results, only if you render enough importance to it. Facebook recently reported two billion daily active users while Instagram with a billion active users. These stats reveal that social media marketing should be one of the main concerns for any indie artist or band.
4. Interact with your fans
Interacting with your fans might seem like a cakewalk, but never overlook the significance of moving back and forth with the followers. They might love your new album. Perhaps, they can have a few questions about a particular song.
Responding to your fans gives them a feeling of one big family. While this might not be a big deal for you, retweeting and responding would encourage the followers to be even more loyal to your music in the long run.
Carve some time out of your day to respond to your followers. Pay close attention to notifications and mentions, prioritize questions that deal with your music, and try to reply to them within a few hours.
5. Scheduling your posts
Again, consistency is the foremost requirement to obtain results from social media marketing. Now that you are aware of how simple it is to stockpile your content so that you never run out of ideas to post, you should put some attention to your social media posting schedule.
The content you stock up should be presented frequently such that your followers are always well-up on your social activity. You can use any scheduling tool such as Sprout social calendar to plan posts in advance. Tools like these take all your worry away of what to post and when to post, and you can have more time for other tasks on your to-do list.
Wrapping it up
Let’s be honest: social media is not some sort of magic bullet that will deliver rapid results to you.
However, a clever social media presence is undeniably one of the best ways to expand your audience.
Since social media consists of so many platforms, your results may depend on the platform you choose. Apart from the posting on well-known platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, your new album should feature on YouTube too, as it surpassed Spotify and Apple Music as the most popular music streaming service.
Musicians regardless of the genre of their music, should consider that their viewers are likely to be stuck to social media. The indie bands and artists should be determined to promote their album on social media but with close surveillance to the content they post, as one wrong move could destroy their entire social media image.
It would not be wrong to conclude that social media promotion could be beneficial for indie musicians, but their decisions determine the results.
4. Interact with your fans
Interacting with your fans might seem like a cakewalk, but never overlook the significance of moving back and forth with the followers. They might love your new album. Perhaps, they can have a few questions about a particular song.
Responding to your fans gives them a feeling of one big family. While this might not be a big deal for you, retweeting and responding would encourage the followers to be even more loyal to your music in the long run.
Carve some time out of your day to respond to your followers. Pay close attention to notifications and mentions, prioritize questions that deal with your music, and try to reply to them within a few hours.
5. Scheduling your posts
Again, consistency is the foremost requirement to obtain results from social media marketing. Now that you are aware of how simple it is to stockpile your content so that you never run out of ideas to post, you should put some attention to your social media posting schedule.
The content you stock up should be presented frequently such that your followers are always well-up on your social activity. You can use any scheduling tool such as Sprout social calendar to plan posts in advance. Tools like these take all your worry away of what to post and when to post, and you can have more time for other tasks on your to-do list.
Wrapping it up
Let’s be honest: social media is not some sort of magic bullet that will deliver rapid results to you.
However, a clever social media presence is undeniably one of the best ways to expand your audience.
Since social media consists of so many platforms, your results may depend on the platform you choose. Apart from the posting on well-known platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter, your new album should feature on YouTube too, as it surpassed Spotify and Apple Music as the most popular music streaming service.
Musicians regardless of the genre of their music, should consider that their viewers are likely to be stuck to social media. The indie bands and artists should be determined to promote their album on social media but with close surveillance to the content they post, as one wrong move could destroy their entire social media image.
It would not be wrong to conclude that social media promotion could be beneficial for indie musicians, but their decisions determine the results.
