4 Best Social Media Marketing Practices For Musicians

The world of social media marketing is complex and ever-changing, but if you're trying promote your music online, it's also very necessary. Here we look at what are currently considered to be four of the best marketing practices when it comes to social media.

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Guest Post by Bobby Owsinski on Music 3.0If you’re trying to boost your fan base or engagement online, then you’re probably doing at least a little social media marketing whether you like it or not. The problem is that the best practices do change over time as social media and user trends evolve, so in order to get the most out of the time you spend promoting yourself or your music, that means you have to keep up with the latest trends as well.Here are what’s currently considered to be the 4 best social media marketing practices when putting your online strategy together. 1. Use demographics to drive quality traffic – It doesn’t do you much good if most of your social and website traffic comes from people that aren’t particularly interested in what you have to offer. That’s why it’s important that you know your demographic well so you can aim your marketing directly at them. How do you do that? By taking a hard look at your analytics. Even the free analytics that you can get from just about every social network, as well as free services like Google Analytics and Statcounter can be very helpful in this regard. If you know your audience, you can better cater to them. 2. Find out what type of content your audience wants – Over time you get a feel for what your audience likes by looking back at your posting history. Is your audience visual? Do they respond more to pictures or videos? Do they like to read and prefer blog posts? Do they like photos with captions? Whatever it is they like, make sure you give them enough of it, although like anything else, too much of a good thing won’t work either. Try to discover what the proper balance is between different types of content.3. Remember your brand – If you’re marketing well then you’re creating brand awareness in everything you do, especially online. Be sure that your posts stay in line with your brand philosophy and visual qualities. Don’t know what your brand is? Check out my Brand Your Music Crash Course. 4. Respond to positive and negative feedback – The negative comments are just as important as the positive ones. You can learn what your audience and fan base doesn’t like, and you can also learn what you’re doing wrong in engaging them. Don’t get drawn into an online flame war however, as that can be hugely counterproductive in the end. If you can’t resolve the issue in a comment or two, it’s time to let it go.The list of best social media marketing practices can easily be twice as long as the above, but following these first 4 takes you along way towards your primary goal, which is growing your fan base and keeping them happy.