A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide To Building An Audience

For any band or artist, it is critical to be constantly working to grow your audience. What will ultimately make or break your success in this endeavor is the growth strategy you implement. Here we look at a step-by-step guide to building your fanbase the right way.

_________________________________

Guest post by Alice Berg

As a musician, you must always endeavor to find and grow your audience to ensure that your tunes reach as many people as possible. But even with that said, note that the success you will achieve in this matter comes down to the growth strategy you implement. What this means is, an excellent approach will see you reach out to a broader consumer base, thus helping you significantly grow your music career. On the other hand, a poor promotion strategy dwindles the rate at which you wish to expand your music audience. 

In this competitive age, learning as much as possible on how to promote your music is essential. It is especially the case since with the rapid growth of social media, relying on traditional promotional strategies can prove ineffective. In line with that, below is a comprehensive guide on how to promote music effectively, and thus, increase your devotees using social media. 

Optimize Your Profiles Across Various Media

Optimizing your accounts on different channels is an excellent social media strategy. The reason for this is that your supporters are more inclined to look you up on various social platforms. As such, with optimized accounts, you’ll be easier to reach. 

There are many things you can do in this regard, including tweaking your content accordingly. But all said and done, ensure that you implement these 3 things to optimize your profiles:

• Your account should always contain information that promotes your latest song or product.
• Your images should have the appropriate size for social media.
• All details on your account should be current.
• Watching your social media behaviors to ensure you are always clean and appropriate.

Remember, when it comes to optimizing your profile, be sure to be as creative as you can. 

Update Your Supporters Frequently 

Ensuring that your devotees are always aware of any moves you make is one of the most effective ways of increasing your audience numbers. The most popular music artists of today always endeavor to keep those loyal to them informed about their music, tours, endorsements, and so forth. So, to stay on track, you have to adopt the strategy too.

Today, there are several social media for artists. These platforms offer artists avenues for updating their consumers whenever it is necessary. An excellent example is Instagram for musicians, where, as a music creator, you can craft compelling campaigns to bring your listenership about to speed with any recent moves you’ve made. 

You can also keep your supporters in the know using fliers and announcements. These work exceptionally well as tweets or posts. 

Share Media of You Performing

Showcasing yourself while on stage is known to be one of the top music marketing strategies. After all, the majority of your devotees follow you to see you perform their favorite jams. If you are on Facebook, for example, you can post images of yourself performing for your fans to see. While at it, be sure also to recognize the people that came to support you during your gig. 

Still, on Facebook video promotion, you can decide to embrace Facebook advertising. Nonetheless, you need to be careful to ensure that you cooperate with brands that will help boost your audience numbers. You do not want to Facebook ads that will harm your progress in this regard in any way. 

That said, if you can, from time to time, consider picking up your musical instruments and a mic to perform from wherever you are. Capture the entire act on video and share snippets or the whole of it on a suitable media platform. 

By doing the things mentioned above, you enhance your connection with the fanbase, thus, enabling you to grow even further. That said, here is a quote to provoke your thinking.

“Assuming that 700 attendees come to your performance and enjoy it but leave without establishing a connection with you, then nothing is done in boosting your audience numbers. Instead, by doing this, all you have achieved is letting 700 people who should be part of your audience go away without becoming part of your fanbase,” – says Jillian Summers a Social Media Marketer at ResumeEdge. 

Upload Some Never-Seen Footage

Posting never-seen clips is a sure way to boost music video promotion. It is especially the case if your behind-the-scenes content documents the things you went through when recording a particular song or shooting a specific video. For many, this approach remains the best way to promote music since it gives your work more authenticity and relatability. After all, your fans will find you more approachable if there are spoofs or subtle failures in the process, given we are all human and bound to machining mistakes. 

Already, some of the most popular musicians do this from time to time. Apart from giving your supporters a glimpse into your life, this approach offers you a chance to showcase your off-screen personality. Last but not least, behind-the-scenes clips can keep your audience engaged on those days when you have no content to share. 

Consider Tagging Other Music Artists, Brands, Etc.

Tagging other musicians, brands, or venues can expose you to their primary audience. In turn, this presents you with an invaluable opportunity of winning over a new fanbase, thus, increasing your already existing audience numbers. Here are some excellent ways you can go about tagging:

• Mentioning a venue where you performed at. 
• Accepting to collaborate with others and recognizing them on your social media. 

Step Up Your Interaction with Supporters

Music promotion does not end when you submit music video on a specific platform. In addition to that, it is a good idea to always have chit-chat time with your supporters on channels such as Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, etc. 

During these sessions, you can respond to their queries while also thanking them for their support. This way, you can convert new listeners into fans and give existing devotees a reason to stay for the long run. 

Also, by interacting with your supporters more, you can get to learn about your fans’ interests. Then, armed with this information about your fans, you can come up with an ideal fan profile, enabling you to tailor your content more effectively. 

Pay Extra Attention to Your YouTube channel

YouTube is by far the biggest platform for streaming music. See, while it is not the best place for earning from your music, YouTube channel promotion makes up for that by exposing you to a more extensive listenership. Moreover, you can run a YouTube ad campaign whenever you release a new tune to give it more traction among listeners. Also, worth the mention is that with YouTube paid promotion, you can earn some money whenever you embed an ad from a brand you wish to associate with in your music videos. 

To conclude, to ensure that your music video campaign brings in supporters in droves, you must always have the tips highlighted here in mind. Like the most successful musicians of our time, it means you have to allocate ample time to implement these tips. This way, it will be easier for you to keep track of your strategies as you endeavor to increase your fanbase. 

Alice Berg is a blogger and a career advisor, who helps people to find their own way in life, gives career advice and guidance, helps young people to prepare for their careers. You can find Alice on Twitter and Medium.