1. Networking.
Meeting new people and making new fans is the most important thing any band can do outside of creating excellent music. Twitter is the number one marketing tool in the social media world. Use it to build your audience worldwide, target new fans in new cities and build your voice and authority in the music community. Be consistent. Use twitter every day. Respond to every comment and question and reTweet. Use excellent manners, always give back and always say thank you. Make people love you
2. Build Your Fan Base.
Use Twitter Search to find new fans, venues and bands of like-genre in new cities, states and countries. Remember social media is about a global conversation. This is not “one-way”, “billboard”, “in-your-face”, “all-about-me” marketing. Talk to other people, answer their questions, be friendly and engaging. Be funny. Use twitter to let your personality shine. Follow those who follow you but take a minute to check out their profile and make sure they’re actually a real person or business.
3. Find Out What Your Audience Wants.
You love your art and you believe in it. That’s vital. But it does no good if you’re not delivering what your audience wants. Find out what your crowd is looking for, and work to fit the bill. Don’t change who you are, find a way to be who you are and give people what they want. Ask questions, do some fact finding. Use Twitter Search wisely and you will benefit greatly as a performer. Do people want small venues or large? Do they want to purchase a CD or download a single? Do they want to go to the city for shows or do they prefer the suburbs? Always respond to those who take the time to answer your queries.
4. Reach.
Target your tweets at specific audiences. Twitter allows you to specifically aim at a small micro-group or broadcast to a larger audience. Pay attention to keywords on what is going on in your community. You can do this with Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. Follow your band name to make sure you know what people are saying about you. Also follow key terms that will help broaden your knowledge of what people want and what is trending in your industry and genre.
5. Twitter Loves Breaking News
This is the place to broadcast your press releases and news updates. Make sure to use bit.ly to shorten URL’s and to track how many times the link was clicked on. No other place in social media is more news friendly or more news searched than Twitter. Twitter is tops in search and is only second to Google.
6. Follow Industry Thought Leaders
Know what is going on in the music industry and what is hot in the indie world. The independent rock world is in a state of flux and growth and change, be a part of that by joining that conversation. People will take note, and people will follow. Make your mark. While you’re at it, follow us on Twitter! We are @NewDriven.
7. Twitter is a Marketing Strong Arm
If you’re smart, and I know you are, you are keeping a blog fresh and alive. Blogging is often one of the most missed opportunities by bands. Plan out your blog posts in advance in the beginning as you get into the practice. Don’t worry about being profound or elaborate. Post a picture and a few good sentences – maybe of a song writing session? As you get good at it you might want to increase to several posts a week. Always post the links to your blog posts on Twitter. Use Hootsuite or Tweetdeck to schedule tweets about your blog post throughout the week. Never bombard your audience. Maybe schedule two or three tweets a day about the blog post, spread out with six or 7 hours between posts. Use a bit.ly to shorten URLs and track hits. Market your Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube and other pages on Twitter. But never overwhelm. Try to aim at talking about yourself 50% of the time and engaging with your audience 50% of the time.
8. Respect
You will shine like new penny if you stay upbeat, positive and above the bull shit. If someone says something negative, SMILE. They’re talking about you baby. And that’s a good thing. You know you have made it, when you’ve earned a few haters. Brand yourself as self-assured professionals. Give respect, earn respect.
And remember, respect also means taking the time to say thank you to those who are hoping you on your way.
9. Shine
Show them your personality and make them love you. Develop your own distinct voice. Be authentic. Decide how you want to come across to your audience, and be THAT. Give your audience a taste of who you are on stage. Let them get a feel for who you are and what your music is about. Make them want to see you live.
10. Pictures
Don’t be fooled –Twitter’s a great place for images. Use them often. Switch it up. Post pictures of you, and practice, shows, audience members and your dog. Tweet pictures from pop culture. They spread like wildfire.
11. Community
Twitter allows communities to form around the ideas and interests important to you. It is vastly different than Facebook. And its benefits are completely unique. Many people complain they don’t understand Twitter. Take the time to figure it out. The rewards will be great. Start discussions, talk to people, find new friends and have fun. The world is at your fingertips –make it your oyster.
Being a band gives you automatic clout. You are cool by definition. Use that to your benefit. But word of caution – once you begin you cannot stop. Be prepared to think about Twitter all day long. Update throughout the day, reply to other people quickly. Find your audience and run with the ball.
Twitter is a lot of fun and the most useful of all the social tools. Let us know about your Twitter success!
Sherry DJ of New Driven