Using social media for band / gig promotion

[mrtcat]

Do most members use social media (facebook, myspace, twitter etc) to promote their bands and gigs. If so what do you use and how do you get fan numbers / followers up?

[risingson]

We use Facebook and Twitter, and we keep our Myspace dormant with a few tunes on it as well. Myspace is a dead weight right now. I won't deny that there will be people who search you out on Myspace to have a listen to your music but the service is slow and really inefficient. Many bands are totally sidestepping it now, and it's dying a death.

Aside from that, you need to be constantly on the ball when you start to rack up your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. Keep the interest there by making videos and posting stuff of interest and substance, peppered with a few nondescript remarks about what you had for dinner, who your favourite Beatle was, the time you met Ann Widdecombe etc. It's all about developing feedback and generating buzz. Make sure to always mention that you're available on Facebook and Twitter at gigs as well. Good luck with it!

[chris_b]

I get "Facebooked" to death with gig/event notifications to things I'll never go to from people I hardly know.

[BigRedX]

Fan numbers and followers from social media sites mean almost nothing. The important thing is being able to persuade these people to come to your gigs and buy CDs/downloads/T-shirts etc.

Whilst the social media sites (and your own web site) are essential for promoting your band's activities don't read too much into the numbers of "likes" or "followers".

[LiamPodmore]

We use Facebook as one of our main promotion tools in terms of gigs and stuff like that. We also have a soundcloud linked up with Facebook, a Youtube channel (Which has recieved views from France and the USA) and a myspace which is rarely used anymore. Our audience are all teens, so Facebook is a really good tool for us, as its all the rage nowadays.

Liam

Edited September 10, 2011 by LiamPodmore

[janmaat]

[quote name='chris_b' post='1368682' date='Sep 10 2011, 04:19 PM']I get "Facebooked" to death with gig/event notifications to things I'll never go to from people I hardly know.[/quote]

+1 there is no easy way. fb is ok as a channel but frankly, you're better off just inviting some real friends by phone and make sure they do come and bring somebody else. Or produce the good old paper flyer and give it to real people. Social networking is overrated.

I noticed many people look up bands on youtube as a preferred channel and would strongly suggest to get a studio recording, cooperate with a video artist and make a video, even if it consists only of stills like a slide show over a proper recorded track. Nothing beats video.

And finally: yes you need PR, but most of all you need music and a show that really makes people wanting to come again - quality. Then, have a cutie go round after your gig collecting everybody's email address, send out an invite thanking them for coming and telling them about the new gig or the new video release.

fb events are okay for people who need to find out the address your're playing, I would not expect too much from fb as it is full of spam anyway.

[Cat Burrito]

We're going to bin our MySpace soon which is around 5000 fans as it's just awful. Facebook is better although I think we only have 300 - 400 fans. It's people who (mainly) want to be there though, rather than promote their own thing. So again I don't think it's about numbers

[JTUK]

[quote name='chris_b' post='1368682' date='Sep 10 2011, 04:19 PM']I get "Facebooked" to death with gig/event notifications to things I'll never go to from people I hardly know.[/quote]

This is quite true... which is why I only event onto my wall and also the Band FB wall.
It becomes a complete pain to others otherwise and you get FB'd by people you have never met..
Maybe that is why we are crap at it...but it seems so lame to me

Our Website and FB is upto date, and people can come if they bother to check out what we are doing.
There is no substitute for putting the hard yards and getting out and being seen tho', IMO.

[ROConnell]

Keep people interested via Facebook. Even if it's just a picture of your instruments, or backstage at gig, keep people in the know! Post Events on there with details.

What I do for my band is offer one track from our E.P for free download to get people to have a listen, if they like it, they download it and it spreads the word. I regularly change which track is for download. I do that via Soundcloud and it shows on the band's Facebook because I use Bandpage which is a pretty good tool to add music and events to Facebook.

I get like numbers up by asking people to share us, posting links on other pages and tagging the page in my status. As well as that, I make it so to listen to our music via Facebook, you have to like us.

Hope this helps.

[LiamPodmore]

Just something to add, a good way to keep fans interested is with sneak previews. When we have a big gig coming up we sometimes post a sneak preview of the set that we're going to be playing that night, just a few hours before sometime in the afternoon. I think it helps for getting the fans geared up and ready for a good night.

Liam

[mrtcat]

Thanks guys some really helpful stuff here. I must admit the constant bombardment from local promoters plugging heavy metal nights gets very wearing and that's my main worry. I don't want to pee everyone off but do in the same breath don't want to be missing the opportunity. I'm gonna add some fb and twitter logos to our backdrop and have flyers etc ready to roll at gigs. That way people have the details and can add us if they want to.

We just made a rough promo video (on band's website - click link in my signature) which I'd love some feedback from if you get 5 mins to spare. We also have some nice demo tracks taken from a recent gig. We do covers - just to warn you purists out there lol.

Thanks again all!

[JakeBrownBass]

Facebook are launching there own dedicated site/profile for music & musicians any week now. Just keep an eye out for it.

[Musky]

[quote name='risingson' post='1368652' date='Sep 10 2011, 03:54 PM']Aside from that, you need to be constantly on the ball when you start to rack up your friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. Keep the interest there by making videos and posting stuff of interest and substance, [b]peppered with a few nondescript remarks about what you had for dinner, who your favourite Beatle was, the time you met Ann Widdecombe etc.[/b] It's all about developing feedback and generating buzz. Make sure to always mention that you're available on Facebook and Twitter at gigs as well. Good luck with it![/quote]
I'd have to respectfully disagree with that bit. FB is a [i]social[/i] media site, and there's nothing particularly social about constantly talking about yourself. Lest we forget, forums are also social media sites and I wouldn't expect much of a response by posting the sort of topics you're suggesting. What would get a better response are 'What did you have for dinner'/ 'Who's your favourite Beatle' type posts. They absolutely beg a response. The point is - it's not all about you, it's about [i]them[/i].

Listen to what they say and reply personally, rather than a mass announcement. Like and comment on posts on their walls. But be selective - there are only so many hours in the day, and it's worth remembering that it's easier to sell to an existing customer than find a new one.

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1368691' date='Sep 10 2011, 04:30 PM']Fan numbers and followers from social media sites mean almost nothing. The important thing is being able to persuade these people to come to your gigs and buy CDs/downloads/T-shirts etc.

Whilst the social media sites (and your own web site) are essential for promoting your band's activities don't read too much into the numbers of "likes" or "followers".[/quote]
+1

Social media sites can be great for networking (so long as you don't jump straight in asking for stuff) but really you should be driving fans towards your own website. Anyone who has a domain that re-directs to a social media site is missing the point. The Arctic Monkey's success for instance had less to do with Myspace than the clever (and hard) work put in by Bad Moon PR.

[risingson]

[quote name='BigRedX' post='1368691' date='Sep 10 2011, 04:30 PM']Fan numbers and followers from social media sites mean almost nothing.[/quote]

This simply isn't true. Many promoters that we have dealt with have actively looked at our fan base size and increasingly, I know a lot of management do too. It has become a means for us to keep people abreast of news about our gigs. It's not necessarily a medal of honour having over 1000 fans or whatever, but it helps.

[quote]I'd have to respectfully disagree with that bit. FB is a social media site, and there's nothing particularly social about constantly talking about yourself. Lest we forget, forums are also social media sites and I wouldn't expect much of a response by posting the sort of topics you're suggesting. What would get a better response are 'What did you have forg dinner'/ 'Who's your favourite Beatle' type posts. They absolutely beg a response. The point is - it's not all about you, it's about them.[/quote]

You need to connect with fans on any level possible, if that means that you're engaging them with a bit of banter then this can go a mighty long way. I was definitely being mildly flippant about the Beatles/Widdecombe convo but people want to see that you're not just leaving your social networking dormant or strictly business. The majority of posting should concern band matters and I would agree that too much joviality can certainly appear to come across as obnoxious but once you have a fanbase then there definitely isn't wrong with posts that prompt reactions back from people, after all if it appears as though you don't take yourselves too seriously and are happy to connect with fans then you're much more likely to see a marked increase of people who want to come and see you, be involved with you and follow you. This can't be underestimated.

[Musky]

[quote name='risingson' post='1369018' date='Sep 11 2011, 01:15 AM']You need to connect with fans on any level possible, if that means that you're engaging them with a bit of banter then this can go a mighty long way. I was definitely being mildly flippant about the Beatles/Widdecombe convo but people want to see that you're not just leaving your social networking dormant or strictly business. The majority of posting should concern band matters and I would agree that too much joviality can certainly appear to come across as obnoxious but once you have a fanbase then there definitely isn't wrong with posts that prompt reactions back from people, after all if it appears as though you don't take yourselves too seriously and are happy to connect with fans then you're much more likely to see a marked increase of people who want to come and see you, be involved with you and follow you. This can't be underestimated.[/quote]
I'd totally agree that they shouldn't be a set it and leave it type affair, punctuated only by posts whoring the next gig, but my point was really that these things should be a [u]two[/u] way dialogue - with people, not 'fans'. That's the strength of social networking sites. The more bizarre thing about FB is the fact that the bigger fanbase you have the more you can rely on just pushing out one way broadcasts, but I suspect that not the position the OP is in.

It's really not about trying to get as many fans/friends as you can for your social media page, it's a matter of trying to connect and engage with people and get [i]them[/i] talking/tweeting/messaging about your band.

[JTUK]

We have a couple of agents contacts..can't say they do anything for us, but I've had to turn them off as the Spam is stupid.
There is being supportive of the scene and then there is accumulating 5000 'friends' and spamming them which seems a complete waste of time and admin to me.

And I also agree, that whilst informing people of an event is ok...you can be a right PITA to friends that you never really see anymore, if all you ever do is invite them.
There is a fine line between people being interested in your next gig and you making sure they are going to know all about it.

If you are a covers band...you'll turn people off quick enough just by not being able to rotate your set enough without wearing out their patience as well.
It is a useful tool, but as someone said above.... you can have a false enthusiasm as dealing in the virtual doesn't make those people turn out.

Its an add-on not a substitute, IMO.

[wateroftyne]

I run a couple of FB band sites.

I go for quality over quantity. People are fans because they [i]want[/i] to be. And I only post stuff which is of genuine interest.

Post too much crap and you'll just give people update fatigue. If that happens, there's a real chance they'll switch off and miss when you have something [i]really[/i] important to say.

That's why I never got it when people on here (and other forums) post things like 'I've got a mate who has opened a shop - can everyone like him please?'

Uh... why?