In the wake of new and exciting announcements from Snapchat, (soon to be Snap Inc) we’re looking at some of the favorite and most effective ways for artists to use Snapchat for promoting their music and tapping the interest of fans.
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Guest Post by Ryan Whitman on The Orchard‘s The Daily Rind
With the announcement of Snapchat’s name change to Snap Inc. and the upcoming release of the new Spectacles, we’re counting down 5 of our favorite ways to use Snapchat. What are yours?
1. Track Previews/Announcements
Snap is the perfect platform to tease new tracks by using its concept of short disappearing content. Each Snap video lasts a max of 10 seconds, giving just enough of a snippet to entertain and entice fans. Snap is also a great way to make first announcements about tours, upcoming videos, albums and more in a casual way that makes fans feel they are getting a more personal/behind-the-scenes experience.
2. Questions & Answers
Hosting Q&A’s on Snap is a great way to engage with your audience. As an artist, it’s the perfect opportunity to work in info on upcoming projects and answer more personal questions from your fans that won’t be living on other social platforms. As a label, a Q&A is a fun way to show fans more of what goes on behind the scenes, tease upcoming releases and possibly have artists get involved by doing a Q&A takeover of your Snap account.
3. Vlogging
Fans always want more information about their favorite artists; what they’re doing, how their art is made, how they create. Vlogging on platforms like YouTube can be overwhelming for some artists as it takes a lot of footage and editing. Snap makes it easy to share bits and pieces of your day with minimal work, letting you live in the moment. Because you don’t need to snap on a schedule, you can share only the moments that you want to share.
4. Snap Series
Snap is a fun place to create a series, just look at ‘Damn Daniel.’ Creating different ‘bits’ or ‘series’ of snaps you like to do on a regular basis is a fun way to give your viewers something that they know they can look forward to. It can also create a common language with fans. Say an artist loves to cook and starts doing a series of snaps called ‘crazy cooking,’ this language will then become part of their fan lingo.
5. Fan Interaction
A wonderful use of Snap is for artists and labels to interact with fans. You could ask fans to recreate a dance to one of your artists’ songs, go on a scavenger hunt for a last minute meet-and-greet, snap your artist signing CDs at a local record store for fans to find, and many more ways. Fans love the feeling of being connected to an artist and Snap is a fun and easy way to get them involved.
Happy Snapping!