5 Ways to Understand and Get Closer to Your Fans

Getting to know your fans is crucial in creative commerce; however, the ratio of consumers to creators can make the task seem daunting at times. Here are five simple steps to nurturing that fan relationship and making them more than satisfied with your content.

by Sammy Hakim from Bandzoogle

Undeniably, one of the most important things to know as a musical artist is your audience. Fanbases are not only the life and bloodline of most careers in our industry, but also our biggest supporters and community backbone. They’re there to listen to every song, whether it’s a hit or a flop, spread the word about your releases, and let you know that the music you create is really reaching someone.

But how do you get to know your fanbase? It’s not always as easy as it seems. Sure, you may know the few people who consistently reach out to you, but what about the rest of your fanbase?

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are 5 quick tips to get to know your fanbase:

1. Check your demographics

Social media and streaming services have given us tools that make knowing your fanbase an easier process. You can do this by checking your demographics through sites like Spotify, TikTok, Instagram, and more. Your demographics will usually tell you what age group, gender, and country is consuming your music the most.

If you make a music website, like the ones you can create here at Bandzoogle, you can analyze your site’s traffic in a similar way. You can use landing pages to get insights into specific marketing efforts with page-level data, or just read your reports to discover more about who is interested in your content, what they are listening to, and where they are coming from.

Knowing this basic information about your fans can give you a good idea of which elements of culture are relevant to their age group, as well as what kind of merch might sell the best. It can also help you figure out where to go on tour next, or why what you’re already doing is working well.

2. Engagements

Checking your engagements is an excellent way to get to know your fans. Seeing the way they comment on your videos, photos, and newest releases is more important than a lot of people actually think. Even the smallest engagements, such as ‘likes’ on videos, can help tell you what sort of content your fans are interested in, and what kind of work doesn’t really hit in the same way.

This is important because your fanbase is generally what makes your career possible. Knowing what resonates most with them and what gets them engaging with you and your work is a key element in continuing to grow your career — and relationship — with your fans!

3. Check your ‘Fans Also Liked’

Now this might seem like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many people don’t realize what an amazing tool ‘Fans Also Liked’ is! After all, comparison is the greatest form of flattery. And looking at what kinds of other artists your fans love to listen to can help key you in on what your fanbase is truly all about.

Not only does it give you an idea of what other music they might like listening to, it can also clue you in to which demographic they’re part of, and provide you a real-life example of something they already enjoy.

For instance, if your ‘fans also liked’ includes Taylor Swift, you can study the Swifties. But if your ‘fans also liked’ includes Rihanna, her fanbase, Navy, would be a better example of who might be listening to your music.

Knowing what someone’s likes and interests might be is half the battle in getting to know them, right?

4. Interact with them

Interacting with fans is probably the most efficient way to truly get to know them individually. This can be done by responding to comments and engagements they leave on your posts. You can also include them in fan giveaways, decision making (setlists, what to record, song titles, etc.), and many other aspects of your career. Make sure to build up your mailing list to ensure contact with your most interested fans. You can go so far as to build an online community, which we’ll cover in our last point.

It’s important to note that while the previous suggestions for getting to know your fans were more generalized, creating this individual bond with your fans and getting to know them personally can really help you understand them and can create a long and lasting relationship.

5. Build a community

Last, but certainly not least, consider building a fanbase for your community!

Building a community is a powerful way to not only get to know your fans, but to help them get to know each other! This takes the ‘individual’ knowledge of your fans to a different level, and lets you get a bird’s-eye view of what kind of conversations they have regarding your music (and other things), while allowing you to join in the conversation whenever you can!

The only downside is it can be a little difficult to manage, but once you have your loyal fans that you trust, you can always ask them to help moderate on your behalf .

Another way this can be helpful is giving your fans a way to group together and collectively identify (think “Swifties”). Some artists even name their fanbases, creating individual sneak peeks for them, and really including them in some decisions, whether that be what album art to choose, or which sneak peek demos should come out next.

You can build a community like this by creating fan subscriptions, using Discord or whichever platform you feel it works best for you, your art, and your fans.

Whatever the platform, you’ll be creating a long and lasting relationship with them, and will get a chance to know them on a more personal level.

There are lots of ways to get to know your fanbase. Whether you decide to try an individual or community building approach, or using analytics from the internet, there are many tried-and-true methods to help you do so. We encourage you to try them out so you can gain a deeper understanding of the people that make up your fan base.

It bears repeating that your fans are the life and backbone of your career. If they’re there every step of the way for you, you can be there for them too.

We wish you all the best in building and learning about your fanbase!

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Sammy Hakim is an up-and-coming young songwriter based in Los Angeles. In May 2018 she graduated from Berklee College of Music with a Major in songwriting and a focus in music business. These days she spends most of her time in songwriting sessions with artists all over the country.