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# Jed Carlson: Why You Need A Social Media Strategy
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/jed-carlson-why-you-need-a-social-media-strategy/
- Published: 2010-07-01T07:40:00.000Z
- Updated: 2010-07-01T07:40:00.000Z
- Description: On Hypebot's Social Media Day, we missed posting this piece by ReverbNation's Jed Carlson. (Sorry Jed!) But it it's a good one that deserves your time–just like the other great pieces of. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/07/jed-carlson-why-you-need-a-social-media-strategy.html
- Author: admin
- Tags: Social Media, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:59

[![jed_carlson](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/95/3a957c06-c825-4057-9939-0a274cc16d23/content/images/farm5-static-flickr-com/4076/4750884269_dab0697184_m.jpg "jed_carlson")](http://www.flickr.com/photos/23641367@N08/4750884269/?ref=hypebot.com "jed_carlson by Encrpyed Memories, on Flickr")[![SMD_logo_v8](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3a/95/3a957c06-c825-4057-9939-0a274cc16d23/content/images/farm5-static-flickr-com/4058/4688642004_6777c1e652_m.jpg)](http://www.flickr.com/photos/23641367@N08/4688642004/?ref=hypebot.com "SMD_logo_v8 by Encrpyed Memories, on Flickr")

*On Hypebot's Social Media Day, we missed posting this piece by ReverbNation's *Jed Carlson*. (Sorry Jed!) But it it's a good one that deserves your time–just like the other great pieces of advice and philosophy that were shared yesterday.*

What's special about **Social Media** is that it has incredible marketing leverage when compared to other mediums. Campaigns are less expensive to execute and can reach exponentially more people when **done right**. Done wrong, Social Media can spread bad brand decisions (and every Artist is indeed a brand on some level) as efficiently as it spreads good ones. So Artists *need* to take care. 

**5 Essential Social Media Strategies**

Artists who get the most out of Social Media have a **strategy** in mind when they approach it. **It isn't an 'end'**, but rather another 'means' to the same ends that Artists are always seeking – new fan relationships, stronger fan relationships, longer fan relationships (and the ability to **harvest** those fan relationships via e-commerce, links to tickets, etc). Artists need to recognize that Social Media comes with a **fundamental tradeoff** – that they are only renting those fan relationships from the social networks, not owning them. And ownership over fan relationships is the key to **driving value in today's music business**.

As a result, a **strategy** that we have observed working well for Artists is to view Social Media as the top of a marketing funnel – a lead generation source for fans and customers. Under this strategy, Artists use SM as a way **to create** and **nurture** fan relationships, but with an eye always on pulling that relationship out of the 'walled garden' when possible. Typically, the **easiest way** to do this is via offers to join the email list. Many companies make tools to help Artists carry out this type of SM strategy. Whichever tools they use, **it ought to enable Artists to do these 5 things**:

1. **Share free content** (and entice others to pass along)
2. **Deliver up to date information**, the Who, What, When, Where stuff (gig info, where to buy albums, how to take the next step as a fan)
3. **Offer an incentive** to join the mailing list (often in exchange for additional exclusive content)
4. **Present products** (so that people can buy something right now if they want to)
5. **Measure what is happening** so that the Artist can test, react, and adjust their approach quickly and with little expense.

**MORE: LINKS TO ALL OF YESTERDAY'S GREAT POST ON MUSIC & [SOCIAL MEDIA](https://www.hypebot.com/happy-social-media-day/)**