One thing is for damn sure - if you try something on social media in front of 13 million fans , you are going to know really quickly if it sucks .
At the end , a change in management led to the conversation every social media badass worth their salt dreads hearing …
“ Why should we pay you when we can have an intern tweet and post to Instagram who we ’ re already paying ?”
: facepalm :
Authenticity is even more important in the music industry , because fans can sniff out some management-type , doesn ’ t know anything about the history of the band , inauthentic bullshit in 2 seconds - and they will eat . you . alive .
If you want a kid who ’ s never even heard of Megadeth , who sits watching YouTube videos all day because he thinks he ’ s going to discover the next big artist , and worries more about where he ’ s going to lunch than if his strategies are going to earn the artist money - go for it . See ya .
It ’ s this perception of the impact social media can have on a musician ’ s bottom line ( in their mind , little impact ) that I have run into time and time again in many conversations .
I have determined that the biggest issue ... the number 1 thing ... that keeps most in the music industry from seeing the value of social media and digital marketing is a lack of understanding how it all fits together as an actual sales funnel to get fans to buy that merch and go to those concerts .
You have to meet the fans where they are , they are not coming to find you ( more than likely ). Are your fans on Snapchat ? Instagram ? Do they use Spotify or some other streaming music platform ? You ’ d better know because everyone now - everyone - expects their content to come to them .
And that content had better be good because if not , they ’ re scrolling right past to the next cat video .
Here is an example of how a band should be using social media to build loyalty and sales :
- An Instagram picture is posted of one of the band members getting ready to go out on the road . The post verbiage is authentic and heartfelt about what going on the road is like and what the fans mean to them . There are no “ Buy tickets here !” or “ Download the latest album now !” messages at all . The link in the profile is a trackable link that goes directly to their tour dates .
- The fan is redirected to the mobile-friendly website listing all the upcoming dates with show and ticket info . They decide to buy a ticket - woo hoo ! ( The band should be able to capture these emails from the ticket vendor - if you don ’ t get this info from the vendor you need to fix this ASAP .)
- After purchase , they receive a thank you email with a coupon or offer for merch to get ready for the show , and a form to leave their social handles for a possible shoutout from the band on Snapchat .
- They buy a t-shirt and follow the band on Snapchat .
- A band member does a Snap of them personally thanking that fan and saying they ’ ll see them at the show . They just made that fan ’ s day and a customer for life ! They can ’ t do this for every ticket purchaser , but even once every day or two would put some serious bucks in the brand equity bank .
Did you imagine this whole interaction and how it all flows seamlessly and authentically ? Of course , not every site visitor is going to buy a ticket - but that ’ s the goal , so your socials should serve to send people there . Social network posts should serve fans who want to know more and leave them feeling an emotional connection - they don ’ t want to feel they ’ re being sold to by a used car salesman .
Putting all these steps into play requires everyone in the musician ’ s camp ( especially the musician ) to be on board . It requires some level of workflow and being comfortable with whatever social media platform they ’ re using .
It requires someone making the effort to get the social media profiles of the venues so they can cross-promote . It requires someone constantly looking out for opportunities to engage with fans .
18