What is the art of social media?
It’s the skill of creatively establishing a presence, marketing yourself & your music online using the platforms that most people hang out on to be social with each other.
And that, right there, is why it is such a powerful tool for creatives & why we should add it to our bag of tricks.
Music thrives & depends on being SHARED amongst listeners, either through word of mouth or via the experience of singing along with others in a live concert setting.
Social media is a wonderful new sharing medium, however, it is ANOTHER task to master in an ever-growing list of “to-dos for the modern musician.
As part of my Artist Development Blueprint curriculum that I use in my mentoring, I outline the 7 C’s of creative development.
Clarity
Craft
Create
Collab
Connect
Cashflow
Confidence
If someone had pulled me aside 20 something years ago when I started in the music business & told me that being a singer involved ‘networking, planning, organisation, marketing, business management & general entrepreneurial carry-on, I would have laughed! I probably would have answered “but I just wanna turn up & sing!”
Being good at, or at least having an understanding of all these elements of the modern music business is important when wanting to take our music further – whatever that means to you as an artist.
To add insult to injury, social media turned up & became an additional skill set that you needed to master, on top of the others AND flexing your creative muscles whilst making music & performing!
So how do we do manage it all?
We focus or craft the areas that matter the most.
Just like singing, songwriting or playing an instrument, you only get better if you focus on the task at hand & of course, that means practice!
With your musical crafting, you set time aside, you know what you plan to work on & you smash it out, then rinse & repeat.
The same goes for social media.
Crafting your social media strategy is essential & starts with focussing on four areas
Clarity as to what your goals are for your strategy
Knowing your audience
Picking the platforms that are best for you
Deciding on the content you like sharing ie; videos, graphics (quotes, lyrics etc), pictures
You can read more about this & grab the free worksheet here: “The Art of Social Media (part one)”
Let’s look at each element further:
Audience – Knowing your audience starts with knowing who you are as an artist. What genre, niche or style your music is, is a great starting point. Harder than it sounds, I know, but having this information, as described by you, instantly makes your music more shareable by simply having the ‘words’ to use. You can hashtag the genre/style you are in so that others that are interested in similar styles, can find you!
Platforms – There are so many! Ain’t nobody got time to spend maintaining & promoting across all platforms, so pick 2 & focus on that. Knowing your audience will help narrow this down too. As an artist, most ages & interest groups will be on Facebook, then in my opinion, Instagram is the next best thing for the majority of artists, due to the visual nature of it. Streamlining all aspects of your brand online is essential too. Promo/profile pictures, colours, links to external supporting sites need to all work together & align visually & in the message.
Content – the obvious content to share is your music & everything that goes into making your music. Lyrics, behind the scenes at rehearsals, sound checks & of course gigs. Think about what mediums can deliver this in as many different ways possible & you will have yourself a content strategy.
But wait, there’s more!
There are additional areas that need extra attention in relation to the points above.
Grab the Art of Social Media worksheet (part two) & you’ll get more tips on how to finding your audience & artist identity, which platforms to focus & how to present them plus what content to create & share that will connect you & your music with the world.
Comment below with your thoughts & any questions or social media tips you may have. I’d love to hear them. More of the science of social media in next weeks post.
