While building a large following on social media is important to growing you online presence as an artist, engagement is perhaps event more important. Here we look at the ten types of social media postings most likely to lead to engagement.
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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
When it comes to social media, large follower and friend numbers are okay, but engagement is where it’s at. Likes, comments and shares are the way to go in order to measure how well your posts are resonating with your audience, but how can we get more? There are actually 10 types of social media posts that can lead directly to engagement.
1. Ask for feedback. Ask people what they think of a song, video, or piece of merch. It will get them talking and commenting, but best of all, it will be valuable research that you can put to immediate use.
2. Ask for help with a problem. People in general love giving their advice and opinions on almost any problem.
3. Ask for help for a follower. Maybe you’ve received a question from a follower that could use additional feedback. Consider this crowdsourcing advice.
4. Ask for a recommendation. Ask your fans for recommendations on studio, rehearsal space, venue, a piece of gear, a restaurant, or anything else you can think of.
5. Share an opinion. This can be tricky as it can get you into hot water with some members of your audience, but as long as you don’t start a flame war you’re okay. Stay away from politics and religion just to be safe.
6. Share some breaking news. This could be industry news, or it could be an announcement of a just-signed gig or contract.
7. What would you do? Share an experience and then ask if your followers would do something different.
8. Fill in the blank. Post a sentence with a “…” at the end and let your followers finish it. It can be simple like “Electronic music is…”, or a little more targeted like, “My favorite model of guitar is the …”.
9. The inside scoop. All artists, bands, songwriters, engineers and producers think that what they do when creating is mundane. To fans, it’s inside information that they take very seriously. The drum kit used by the drummer on a recording, the guest artist, or mic used on a vocalist are the things that real fans cherish.
10. An unexpected photo. There are standard photo posts that happen every day, and then there are those that are completely out of character or depict an unexpected twist to daily life. Get’s a comment every time.
These are just some of the ways that your social media posts can gain some new-found engagement. Thanks to the infographic on Social Media Today for the tips, although I’ve adjusted it to apply to artists and bands.