About a week ago I made a status update on facebook that said, “Logging on just so I can hit ignore, ignore, deny, ignore, mark as read, deny.” Funny, I know, but its true. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t deny, ignore, or mark as read everything I get, I confirm things I’ve seen elsewhere or am familiar with, I attend events that are relative to me. This brings up a few points in Social Media and how artists are using it in music marketing and promotions.
With social media you cannot focus on one place. There is no reason, as an artist, you should be on Myspace and not on facebook and twitter, or even youtube. These sites work together to build your brand recognition. Myspace is great for use as a second electronic press kit (your first should be your own website). Youtube allows fans to connect with you visually, twitter allows fans to see the day to day, and facebook is a great avenue to just keep that crowd up to date.
A good social media campaign for an artist will have all of their social sites working together to build the brand. As an artist you are a brand and if you don’t think of yourself as such, you need to start.
Beyond keeping social sites in sync, many artists are failing at creating a targeted fan base. Why am I receiving event invites for parties in New York when I am in Michigan? The best thing about the internet, from a marketing standpoint, is that it is measurable. You can measure where traffic is coming from, with ease. So why take away from these measurable stats by not focusing in on your target market.
Here’s a tip for new artists, instead of spending countless hours adding a bunch of random people, why don’t you invest those hours into targeting potential fans in your city? Once you gain a following in your city, and you’ve captured them through your social sites as well as created your “street” exposure, then branch out to capturing those in your state, from there branch regionally. If you start small with baby steps, you’ll be able to run eventually.
So why do most artists fail with music marketing through social media?
A) They don’t allow their social sites to build off of each other or run in sync
and
B) They don’t target potential fans
If you think of yourself as a business and make your moves based on business decisions rather than whats easy, you’ll see your career move in a better direction.
-Eric
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