7 Steps to Establishing Your Band with Social Media

Social Media provides unprecedented marketing opportunities for artists/bands. We have entered an era where the labels have neither the budgets nor personnel for artist development. Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, arguably two of the greatest and most successful artists of all time, would not survive their first release in today’s market because their initial commercial efforts failed.

In the 70s, boutique labels like A&M records would sign artists with the understanding that artist development takes time. Today, not so much.

The brand is the band. You want your brand to resonate with the essence of your music, image, persona, characteristics, style, intensity and passion.

Ask and answer the following questions:

1.Who: Who are you?

Pick your 3 favorite bands and check out their logos. Describe the first thing that pops into your head when you see each one. That image or thought connects you to and symbolizes the personality of that band. Design your brand to represent you, your core values, personality, voice and presence.

2. What: What are people saying about your brand?

Assessing how fans and critics perceive your brand allows you to determine whether their perception is in line with the image you’re trying to project. Use Google Search, Google Blog Search and Analytic.ly to actively listen to what people are saying and use this information to create a benchmark that represents current perceptions tied to your brand.

3. When: The aforementioned tools alert you when your keywords appear in online communities in real-time. By monitoring the daily level of activity you can identify conversations that present opportunities for positive interactions as well as identify those that lead to negative impressions. It’s worth noting that negative comments are an opportunity to engage individ

uals with positive experiences that may turn them into fans.

4. Where: Identify the communities where your presence will be of the most value to your brand.

Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and genre specific music blogs are the most prevalent social networks for artists/bands in current social media. Use the tools mentioned above to identify communities where fans and critics are talking about music and bands in your genre and develop a strategy to develop and exercise a voice within those communities.

5. How: Become an active part of the community.

Every social network has its own culture, your voice must resonate your brand’s persona in a language/style indicative of their specific culture. By observing the way people interact within the social networks that are of value to you, you will develop an understanding of how to engage without being disruptive/offensive and by monitoring the feedback of each engagement you can hone your approach to be more effective. This will allow you to build relationships and cultivate loyal fans who will likely become advocates of your brand.

6. Why: Discover reasons to engage.

Through observation you will find recurring themes and topics that allow you to engage in conversations within communities that allow you to establish a voice and build rapport with its members. The more positive interactions you have the stronger your voice and presence becomes.

7. Influencers: The power of influence.

There are members within communities whose sphere of influence is expansive and powerful. Identifying and connecting with ‘influencers’ is pivotal in word of mouth campaigns. Employ steps 1 though 6 to identify and engage influencers in the communities that are of greatest value to the expansion of your brand.