Do's & Don'ts of Promoting Your Music Grassroots to People on Social Media

Here are some do's & don'ts of promoting your music grassroots to people on social media from my personal experience.

Artists: struggling to get real plays and likes on your music? Here are the three main things you are doing wrong and what you need to do to start getting results in building supporters with people on your social networks.

We love to get your music and listen to it. We love to make a new friend, but the reality is, there is a right and a wrong way to go about promoting your stuff. If you are struggling to get plays on your tracks, likes on your pages, and a fanbase, please check this list and see what you may be doing wrong. It works for me and it will work for you.

Don't:

Invite people to like your page without introducing yourself. Unless you are friends, most people aren't going to like your page and you'll set the relationship on the wrong foot. Worse, the person might be annoyed and then either delete you or ignore you. This is a common rookie mistake, one we have been guilty of and many, many, many artists are guilty of.

Why: When someone "LIKES" your page, it may bolster your meager numbers, but it will not trick Facebook's algorithm into thinking I like your music when I never interact with your posts, which means less people who care see your posts, which means that's why you have only one like from your fake account or your aunt Mary/girlfriend/etc. on your posts on your artist page.

Do:

Message and introduce yourself. Strike up a conversation with the potential fan. Tell them what your project is all about. Take the time to understand many are artists as well that understands your struggle (if you even looked at their profile you'd see that. Very clearly. At the top. Right there on Facebook).

Appreciate potential fans. Build rapport. Give them a reason to like you as a person because if they like you as a person, they will appreciate you as an artist, even if they don't vibe with your music. People who don't vibe with your music are actually a valuable asset to you in determining and understanding your demographic and obtaining marketing research so you can obtain new ways to promote your music.

Music and you as an artist are a product that are bought and sold. So build brand loyalty. I would say more than just hi. Something like this:

How to handle it instead:

1. Message

"What going on (insert person's name)?

I noticed your post about Bassnectar a few weeks ago. I think his music is forward thinking and moving. I take some influence from him in my most recent track and since you have a passion for that kind of sound I wanted to know if you could take few moments to listen to this track. My neighbors called the cops on me three times this week from the BASS so I think I'm doing something special with this one. Can you take a listen? {X_^} "

2. Wait for them to answer.

3. Then give them the link—if they accept (if not, then just move on to the next person with step 1).

4. Ask them to follow—Now at this point, they gave you feedback. Positive or negative, you are showing you respect their opinion and consider them a human, not just a number. Now it is fine to ask them to keep in touch and to follow. You are the social network of their choice that you are active on or even better on your own website. Design and get a awesome looking site here.

Don't do this to people you don't have much rapport with...

Don't tag me in things I have no part in. This goes to even those who are my friends—yes, you are guilty, and those of you know who you are, stop it, and stop it right now.

Why: it is completely ineffective on a large scale. If we are really cool, I'm gonna give you a like but be annoyed at the notifications and ultimately untag myself, which actually HURTS the amount of people who will see your post. Facebook recognizes enough removed tags as spam, which means less people see your post. Most of the time, your friends are just gonna like it and not actually listen. People who aren't your friends are just going to be annoyed. That's the honest truth.

Do:

Message your potential fan and ask if they have a minute to view an important stepping stone in your career. Make it personal. Ask what they think. Motivate them to use the internet to look at your material, and not fuzzy kittens. Why should they look at your stuff or listen to your stuff instead of looking at what they want to? Build rapport. Make them want to listen to your stuff. They alone give your content value. They're not just a name on your friend's list. They are a human being. Treat them as such. Appreciate potential fans! Give them a reason to share your stuff. Build rapport as mentioned above. Making it personal makes all the difference as art and music are highly personal human things.

Don't:

Randomly inbox strangers on your friends' list a link to your music or page without introducing yourself first.

Why: this is incredibly annoying. It's not personal at all. I can tell you probably copied and pasted that message to everyone on your friends' list. At its simplest, this is spam. You know your email account with all those viagra ads? Yeah it's kinda like that. Why do I care about spam?

Do:

Inbox strangers in an attempt to facilitate a friendship. I mentioned this above. Building rapport is crucial to the success of a grassroots campaign. Friends are the cornerstone of your career and will ultimately help you to be the most successful artist you can possibly be. Remember, you give value to the content you create. Spam is not an effective way to sell a product. Music is a product.

Conclusion:

The approach is known as grassroots. It is a great way to expand your artist career because most of your fans in the beginning will be your friends and family. Making new friends and expanding your network is absolutely important to the success of this approach and is highly effective, so make friends, not mistakes! ​​