MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Just curious as to how BassChatters keep their fans up to date. I do follow bands and artists on Twitter and Facebook who don't have a big label running their social media for them, and although their posts do have a lot of personality, they are few and far between, and are often just announcing gigs. In my opinion, it's not enough. So what do you guys do? I'm interested in social media as a way to build an audience and get your name out and about, and I just don't see that happen when you have a few posts per month (unless they're the unusual ones that go viral). Facebook certainly is king for spreading the message, but there's a need for cross-platform engagement - Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and relative newcomer Periscope. Use them all to push to each other platform. They're all different too, and offer different ways to interact and engage with your audience. Twitter is very accessible, but a total echo-chamber. Instagram is entirely one-way. So I'm interested to hear what people on BassChat do to inform and engage with their audience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Fans? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaahhhhh!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1441369575' post='2858337'] Fans? Bwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaahhhhh!! [/quote] Erm... I don't get it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charic Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Instagram seems to be gaining popularity now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='charic' timestamp='1441369782' post='2858341'] Instagram seems to be gaining popularity now [/quote] It's owned by Facebook, so I'm sure it shares very well on Facebook. Although it's not really an interactive kind of social media. I know people can comment, but they often don't, and the person who posted the picture often doesn't reply to them anyway. I suppose it's just a nice way to share images. I personally like Periscope - Any of you use it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duarte Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Vine is good. An example, we shared this vine video on facebook with the caption "[color=#141823][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Whilst mixing one of our scarier songs I became increasingly paranoid that my Chinese calendar in Spanish was putting me off and perhaps out to get me... "[/font][/color] https://vine.co/v/M5KxUehnBYW Got a few laughs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441369650' post='2858338'] Erm... I don't get it? [/quote] The implication is that Discreet hasn't got any. Fans. I use social media to promote my t-shirts. It's hit and miss at best. Facebook limits the exposure of posts from artist pages...because they want you to pay to promote. Twitter is full of bots. Occasionally I do get a post that gains some attention and interaction but not often. However I'm a bit rubbish at it. Some of my peers have pages with tens of thousands of likes...or more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='paul h' timestamp='1441369966' post='2858346'] The implication is that Discreet hasn't got any. Fans. I use social media to promote my t-shirts. It's hit and miss at best. Facebook limits the exposure of posts from artist pages...because they want you to pay to promote. Twitter is full of bots. Occasionally I do get a post that gains some attention and interaction but not often. However I'm a bit rubbish at it. Some of my peers have pages with tens of thousands of likes...or more. [/quote] It's not easy, is it? The thing is with businesses and bands, it can never simply be a place to announce a new offer, or an upcoming gig. People aren't engaged by that. There has to be a human element. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I run my FB page for music so most of my friends are interested in what we do musically. I don't flog it to death, IMO... but if I tell them I've got a good gig, they trust me to tell it like it is. By the same token, I might have a dep or two and they enquire about it and I'll tell them maybe it isn't the band for them. If I don't rate it much, I'm not selling it, tbh. By and large they trust me to advise them of good gigs and if I am excited about a gig, then it is a fair bet that they should be.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 We have a [url=https://www.facebook.com/DickVenomandtheTerrortones]band Facebook page[/url] as well as one for [url=https://www.facebook.com/mwillwilkinson]Mr Venom's personal musings[/url]. We also have a presence on Bands In Town, Instagram, ReverbNation, Twitter and YouTube, as well as a few forums (including this one), and our own [url=http://www.dickvenom.com]web site[/url]. Overall I think we get pretty good coverage although Facebook is usually the most up to date as it's the one most of our fans use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
discreet Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 (edited) [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441369650' post='2858338'] Erm... I don't get it? [/quote] I think any working band that enjoys even the slightest modicum of success won't touch social media with a ten-foot pole (there it is again!), simply because they don't have the time or the inclination. As far as 'name' bands go, it's their fans that create the pages and do the work to promote their faves. My experience of online promotion is that it's a fantastic way to waste a huge mountain of time with little return. If you're online 24/7 promoting yourself across several 'platforms' you're basically not writing songs, recording, rehearsing, gigging and all those things that bands used to do to promote themselves before the advent of teh internetz. If ever I'm in any band that becomes successful enough to have dedicated 'fans', then I'd be more than happy for them to do all the piddling online crap that I wouldn't have time for, and wouldn't want to do even if I had. Peace out!! Edited September 4, 2015 by discreet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul h Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Not easy at all. I try to humanize my output but for every person that likes that, it will drive one away who wants nothing but t-shirt news. Giveaways are a popular way to build a following but it's never really paid off for me. Currently I have a tee up for sale for a week at a small/medium sized site and so far, a series of fb and twitter posts have hardly reached anyone. Reddit can generate huge amounts of traffic for viral content. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='discreet' timestamp='1441370506' post='2858361'] I think any working band that enjoys even the slightest modicum of success won't touch social media with a ten-foot pole (there it is again!), simply because they don't have the time or the inclination. As far as 'name' bands go, it's their fans that create the pages and do the work to promote their faves. My experience of online promotion is that it's a fantastic way to waste a huge mountain of time with little return. If you're online 24/7 promoting yourself across several 'platforms' you're basically not writing songs, recording, rehearsing, gigging and all those things that bands used to do to promote themselves before the advent of teh internetz. If ever I'm in any band that becomes successful enough to have dedicated 'fans', then I'd be more than happy for them to do all the piddling online crap that I wouldn't have time for, and wouldn't want to do even if I had. Peace out!! [/quote] But I'm not talking about 24/7 social media. I'm talking about having a following and keeping that following informed and engaged. Isn't it perfectly manageable to be writing, recording, and gigging, and also post a picture on Instagram, a post on Facebook, and perhaps a short Periscope of what's going on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441370976' post='2858371'] But I'm not talking about 24/7 social media. I'm talking about having a following and keeping that following informed and engaged. Isn't it perfectly manageable to be writing, recording, and gigging, and also post a picture on Instagram, a post on Facebook, and perhaps a short Periscope of what's going on? [/quote] I'll post an event and invite friends...and if the venue has a page, I might post there. People will post on these pages and you get a little flow going... This is more than enough to get 20-30 ppl to a pub and if the pub has its own fan base, then 60 odd ppl make that evening, pretty much. I may give the event a last shout ....as I did on band hol monday as we only took the gig sunday Lunchtime. As it happens,we had a great turn out and great gig. For ticket gigs, you need to operating and co-ordinating at a different level over a longer period of time. But...the idea is that the gig sells itself...you are just needing to remind ppl of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambient Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Steve Lawson is the expert at this, check his Facebook and Twitter accounts, and you'll see how useful both can be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wateroftyne Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Facebook and, less so, Twitter work for me. As well as the traditional channels, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockfordStone Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 i only bother with facebook these days. its just easier to tell people "we are on facebook" without having to give out instagram and twitter handles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1441379484' post='2858490'] i only bother with facebook these days. its just easier to tell people "we are on facebook" without having to give out instagram and twitter handles [/quote] Yup, then you can direct them from your Facebook to your other social media. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the boy Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441369941' post='2858344'] I personally like Periscope - Any of you use it? [/quote] Oi Oi sailor!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockfordStone Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441380176' post='2858495'] Yup, then you can direct them from your Facebook to your other social media. [/quote] we tried twitter and instagram, but it just didnt carry any weight, so we just used facebook until we imploded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Low End Bee Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I ring both of them up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I'm not entirely certain that certain bands' propensity to spam life trivia every five f**king seconds is the best way to achieve distinctiveness. 'If everybody's doing it, don't do it' is a mantra with much to recommend it. It also depends on the target market. Many 'young people' have the time, interest and energy to follow this sort of thing. Others may prefer to conserve their engagement, granting themselves an occasional visit to the band's website. Frankly, I'd aim to get a buzz going through performance and product then leave the heavy lifting to however few or many obsessive fans one may accrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowhand_mike Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='Low End Bee' timestamp='1441382370' post='2858529'] I ring both of them up. [/quote] ^^this we have some stuff on soundcloud and have a facebook page, i dont handle any of it and have no interest, finding out how few followers we have would only depress me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiltyG565 Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1441382689' post='2858531'] I'm not entirely certain that certain bands' propensity to spam life trivia every five f**king seconds is the best way to achieve distinctiveness. [/quote] No, I shouldn't think so. Something I've noticed is that bands who post continually have no personality in what they're saying, bands who hardly ever post have lots of personality in their posts, but are sporadic at best. How does one strike the balance between the extremes? Regular interaction with fans is important when you aren't gigging all the time, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 [quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1441386315' post='2858567'] How does one strike the balance between the extremes? [/quote] Simple. The formula for optimum number of monthly band posts is ((N / -50) where N= total number of posts and B = total number of bands posting. No need to thank me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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