It’s exciting when your band starts to establish an online following. It can mean the start of a true fan-base, more attendees at gigs and a buzzing platform on which to release your music, gig dates and any other news you’d like to share.
But what if the likes start diminishing, and names who were once regulars on your notifications start to become “rares”? How do you stop that from happening? How do you keep your online following?
Well, as somebody who has experienced declines as well as increases in online attention, I’ve learned a few things about how to keep an online following interested. Here are eight things you can do, to keep those “likes” growing.
Run Competitions
Everybody loves to feel involved, and more than that, people like to win stuff! If you run regular competitions on your page, you’re sure to gain interest (and likes!).
These can involve your material, random prizes that are linked to your songs, tickets to gigs, merchandise, or anything else that you can think of.
To keep it financially sensible for you, make sure what you’re offering is something that doesn’t directly cause you to lose money, but that what you’re giving as a prize also works as promotion for you/your band.
Tag Loyal Fans
People like to feel appreciated. Especially if they’re loyal fans.
Something you can do to ensure those who follow you loyally stick around is show them how grateful you are.
This doesn’t necessarily mean writing gushing statuses about how much you appreciate them, tagging them with lots of heart emojis.
It can be as simple as tagging them when you advertise gigs, tagging them in gigs they’ve attended or sharing a song by another band who’s inspired you and tagging them, saying you think they might like it. That last idea brings me on to the next point…
Be Entertaining!
…For heaven’s sake, be entertaining. You’re an entertainer, after all! On social media platforms, it can be the case that you find yourself simply sharing information – gig dates, release dates, and the like. This is all well and good, but it isn’t entertaining. It’s unlikely to keep your following interested.
You don’t have to be a comedian to share a few jokes. Just post something funny once in a while. Share songs that you like that weren’t written by you. Tell everyone why you like those songs. Share stuff that isn’t predictable. Make people smile, they’ll thank you for it with their gig attendance.
Host Polls
Something else you can do to keep people’s attention as you involve them in your page is setting up polls.
These can be silly things along the lines of: “Does pineapple belong on pizza?” (Although, please don’t use that one – it’s way too obvious!), or they can be questions about your band’s next moves. You could ask which song of yours they’d next like to see a music video for, or even which songs they’d like to see you perform cover versions of.
Again, this makes members of your following feel involved and will excite them enough to interact (and stick around!).
Interact on Other People’s (or Band’s) Posts
Something else that can keep your name buzzing is commenting on other people or bands’ posts.
It’s easy to do, offers a simple message of support and also might get you some new followers.
Remember to be nice in your interactions!
Tag Venues/Towns
Tagging venues or even towns that you’re playing in works in a similar way. It helps to create a buzz about the town or city you’re in, and people always like to feel a buzz about the place they live.
Each time you tag a venue or town, your followers who live near there are going to have their attention roused. That makes them a lot more likely to continue following you. Adding something about how much you love the venue, enjoy the town, like the people there, etc. will make this even more effective.
Again, it’s largely about being nice! Charm is your magic ingredient here.
Keep Selfies Limited!
Hopefully, I don’t need to say this. Please, please, please, don’t post a load of selfies on your band/artist page. People don’t want to see them. I’m guilty of posting selfies occasionally but at the same time I’m endlessly baffled by those who do so with seemingly no self-awareness.
People follow or like your music page because they want to know more about it or find out about gigs. Don’t bore them to death with pictures of yourself pouting. They’ll quickly press “unfollow”.
Sorry, rant over.
Post Interesting Pictures
To end on a positive note, there are sure to be a lot of interesting pictures you can be posting.
This can involve studio gear, cities/towns you’re playing, things that have given you songwriting inspiration, interesting people you’ve met… the list goes on.
Keeping your pictures meaningful and unpredictable will make those who follow you more inclined to look at them, and to keep looking at them. A photograph of a fader set to the half-way point is a lot more enticing than yet another photograph of the front of a face (sorry, now the rant really is over).
Summary
I hope these tips will help you to keep your fans and your band happy and in touch with each other. Keep on rocking, and remember to post wisely!
- 8 Ways to Keep Your Online Following as a Musician - July 12, 2019
