Let’s face it, most creatives suck at marketing themselves. It continues to shock me when I meet a band/musician and tell them that I’ll fan them (now “Like” them) on Facebook and they respond, “Oh, we don’t have a Facebook..we have a MySpace though.” Ok, sure, I always go to a band’s MySpace before I buy an album or a concert ticket. MySpace is highly useful for this purpose and every musician/band needs a page; but most people don’t have a MySpace account and I know I’m not finding bands via immaculate music conception- I need to know you exist.
That said, your band’s future and present fans are not on MySpace, they’re on Facebook, as are their friends, and their friends friends, so on and so forth in social media perpetuity.
Now you have a presence on the network with 400 millions accounts. What do you say or are you saying? Just posting upcoming show dates gives your band zero personality. You're musicians for christ sakes, you’ve given up the traditional life to play instruments and scream your souls into microphones for strangers. Don’t act like single celled amoebas online. Here are some fanpage tips for artists:
--Ask your friends to “like” your page and suggest your page to their friends.
This is how you build a fan base. All it takes it 25 fans to get a URL (ex:
www.facebook.com/yourband). Every band, no matter how unknown to the public at large, has at least one fan salivating to help you. (Think Mel from Flight of the Concords). Just ask them!
-Speak your minds! Brain vomit can be highly entertaining, have at it.
-More dialogue, less monologue. Respond to fan posts worthy of a response. Ask fans questions, ANSWER them. ENGAGE.
-Post live videos (and if you’re fortunate enough, the professional ones too)
- Post song lyrics in “Notes”. I would love to have lyrics accessible on a fanpage! Then I wouldn’t have to endure websites with all the flashing aneurism producing advertisements. Those websites are assholes.
-Add to your pages favorites bands/musicians pages that have influenced your own music. Do the same for music venues you’ve had shows or would like play in the future. It’s simple: find the venue though Facebook’s search. Select “add to my page’s favorites”. Done
- Clearly, any external links (band website/myspace/youtube) should be in your info section.
-When you have an upcoming show, tag the venue in your post.
Tagging is done by using the @ symbol then begin typing the name of the venue. It should immediately appear as an option to select. What does this do? By tagging the venue in your post, it shows up on that venues wall, as such, your show is now advertised to all the fans of that venue. (Example “Listen up sexy motherfu#$%$, on 6/10 we’re playing a show at the Bowery Ballroom….) will post on the Bowery Ballroom’s wall as well. This is free advertising, USE IT. Note: you must add the venue’s page to your page’s favorites in order to tag it.
Conclusion: Get over it, get a Facebook Fanpage and start marketing yourselves. Or if you already have one, start using it effectively. I’ll write posts on other social media platforms in the near future.
UPDATE: I met the
Growlers after their AMAZING show. I asked, among other queries, who's running your facebook fanpage? Response: "I have no idea, haven't even seen it, we have a MySpace though.." Nuff' said.
