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Bands Want Facebook Likes, But Should They Be Chasing YouTube Views?

image from www.google.comA recent survey undertaken by Reverb Nation suggests that Facebook likes are by far the most sought after thing on a bands agenda. I wrote about the reach of Facebook posts here suggesting only 10% of people see your facebook post and only 1% like it. It seems that bands are more worried about being seen with a fan base, hence the importance on the visible “like”, than actually building a database of their own with an email list.

When you build you fan base through a third party site, you are at their mercy. If they decide they no longer want to support music, then you just lost everything. We saw this with Myspace – bands with 200,000 fans were left starting again, switching priorities to Facebook and trying to build numbers from the ground up. 

Now this is not to dismiss the importance of being able to demonstrate the strength of your fan base. Potential fans, promoters, and what’s left of A&R will certainly take an interest in the capacity of your following. The thing with Facebook is that it is now so integrated with people, that if you are creating a buzz elsewhere it will reflect on your Facebook page.

A More Accurate Barometer

A far more accurate barometer of your engagement, is not how many likes you have, but the number of interactions your posts get. I come across many acts that have invested money into campaigns to acquire likes, and Facebook advertising can be very effective in increasing doing this. However, when you study how many interactions they get with their posts, it demonstrates how little those new followers actually engage. This is why for bands to simply chase likes, doesn’t mean you are actually creating fans.

The trouble with Facebook is that it isn’t primarily a content provider. People don’t go there to necessarily watch or listen. The Internet has made us a very visual society. Ever since the new Facebook has been introduced, those photos with an amusing caption have become extremely popular, but this is pretty benign for bands. However the audio/visual medium of Youtube is ideal. You see and hear the band, and if a band has good product, then the potential reach is endless.

YouTube has a similar advertising platform as facebook. You can pay to have you video featured in much the same manner as ads are featured on Facebook. “Promoted Videos” uses the Googles Adwords system, so you can target your ads to reach a suitable audience. 

If you can engage the watcher with your video, you are then exposing them to the possibility of not only subscribing on Youtube, but also following through with a share and a like. More importantly you will increase your plays, and this is something that potential investors will hold in high regard. You are creating fans and strengthening your communication with them through your actual music, this means a lot more than a simple facebook like.

Keeping an email list of your fans is essential. However, if you worry that it doesn’t showcase your fan base enough, then building a sturdy Youtube community instead of a Facebook one, might prove to be a little more beneficial to your career.

MORE: Only 10% of Your Friends See Your Facebook Posts, And Only 1% Like It.

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11 Comments

  1. Great post. I agree the real value of like is the ability to share your music and message with fans. As the post points out only 10% of you fans will see your post so to reach 10,000 fans you will need 100,000 likes. Not good. Very costly and out of reach for most artists. We created Headliner.fm to solve this problem. Get the value of a like for free by having other artsits share your music and message with their fans the same way you would if you bought 100,000 likes via the Facebook ad platform or Reverb Nations. Headliner also focuses 100 % on engagements when your music is shared how many people are checking you out.
    Best,
    Mike More
    CEO and Founder of Headliner.fm

  2. Great article. Yes, my experience has told me that a lot of work on facebook yields minimum results. Then there’s the concern of over spamming people in order to further your reach which just makes them hide you anyway. A pretty fruitless endeavour that is hard to gauge. Definitely food for thought.
    Many thanks.

  3. SALUTE! GENERAL PHLINT Here. Ive worked with All of these sites and Facebook is Far more Reiable and acceptable for musicians becuz Everyone os There. Reverbnation is a Waste of Time becuz only musicians know of them. Plus you can only upload your music at 192 thus Lowering the Clarity of your music. Bandcamp.com makes it easier and more personable with your music, Facebook,and Fans. Facebook is gonna be here Just as Long as Youtube. We Already have different sites like Ustream to broadcast Live and we’re into More and More Entertainment. Dont hate Facebook for the Like System, cuz it works for what it is. Artist just need to be more savvy and push Every site.
    SALUTE!
    GENERAL PHLINT
    http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-general-phl-nt-show

  4. You touched on something that is a lot of bands or musicians forget. The evolution of the internet has created a visual society where people would rather see something as opposed to hear about it. Some of the older bands/musicians can bypass the YouTube route because their fans are creating visual content for them. I love the post and I love the insight.

  5. Get more YouTube views for the video, as you are exactly increasing the accessibility for the video content. Due to the relevance of the video content with the blog posts, you can drive more number of organic traffic for it. This will also enhance the chances for your readers to share the same videos online.

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