After spending days and possibly even a significant chunk of change on putting together the perfect music video, your going to want a way to disseminate it to the masses without breaking the bank. Here we look at some effective ways of getting your video out there beyond a lazy click of the ‘share’ button.
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Guest post by Alexandra Kennedy of the Symphonic Blog
You’ve just released a killer music video on your YouTube or Vevo channel and want to share it in the best ways possible without breaking the bank on advertising costs. Now, the more obvious answer that may come to mind here is “social media.” It is a musician’s greatest free tool for promoting content in the digital age we live in.
However, when it comes to promoting music video content, it’s important to recognize the ways in which promotion exists past the YouTube “Share” button at the bottom of your video.
We’ve put together our top 4 ways to share your music video:
1. Utilize a Video Teaser
With all of the content being pushed on social media these days, many people are hesitant to click on a link when they don’t know what to expect. What better way to convince your followers to visit a video link than by giving them a taste of your video? This is where the beauty of a video teaser comes in. Ideally, the teaser should first start being promoted leading up to your release to build the excitement. Then once it’s released, share it again on all social media platforms while linking it to the music video. If a fan enjoys the 1 minute or less teaser, odds are that when they visit the video link, they’ll watch the majority of your video. This in turn will up your average view duration on YouTube and make more of a difference in YouTube’s algorithms than any extra views it gets lasting only a few seconds.
Want to get a video teaser created for your music video but don’t have the time or resources? Check out our Instagram Promo video service.
2. Create a Fan-Contest to Promote Fan Sharing
Keeping your fans engaged and involved is key if you want them to share your video content. An easy way to do so while ensuring engagement is by creating a fan-contest where the end prize could range from things like free tickets to your next show, a meet-and-greet, or some merchandise. Hive is a popular and easy contest-creator site that gives you the option to set up a contest so that the user must share your link on different social media platforms in order to gain entries. This is a great way to attract additional fans to your music video, since it will now be exposed to your current fans’ networks.
3. Get Your Video Picked Up by a Blog
Pitching your music video content to blogs should become a habit if you want the exposure. Do some online research to find out what blogs are out there specific to your genre, and what blogs seem to be putting out a mix of genres.
Every artist wants the feature on a well-known blog and don’t get us wrong–you should still pitch to those–but don’t ignore the lesser-known blogs. Sometimes the more successful blogs find their content from the smaller ones, and any exposure helps at the end of the day.
When pitching to blogs, it’s very important to be professional, concise, and also to include an EPK (Electronic Press Kit), which greatly helps in how they view your legitimacy as an artist. An EPK gives you the ability to include your music, photos, videos, stats, press, shows, and bio. Make sure your first impression is a lasting one with the blogs you pitch to with Symphonic’s EPK creation service.
4. Share in Non-Traditional Ways
When it comes to sharing content online, popular social media platforms typically come to mind first. What many artists forget about when thinking of places to share a music video, are the more non-traditional sharing websites, forums, and groups. Some recommended ways of sharing include:
Reddit Groups
Reddit has countless music related groups that people visit in order to find new music or entertainment. Try and seek out as many groups as you can that relate to your genre of music. However, do NOT spam groups. Reddit has a zero-tolerance policy for spamming, and limits the number of times you can post in groups within a certain period of time.
Facebook Groups
Similar to Reddit, find as many Facebook groups as you can that you feel would benefit from seeing your music video posted in them. If you’re an artist that would rather not post in groups using your personal Facebook account, have your manager or other team member share using theirs. Self-promotion can at times hinder how others react to your posts, and certain groups are against it. Facebook groups tend to have specific rules or guidelines about posting, so keep an eye out for those to prevent being removed from a group.
Directly Messaging an Influencer on Twitter
As cliché as it might seem, slipping into someone’s DM’s can actually help you out with sharing your music video. Sending a sweet and short direct message to a music industry influencer or artist can provide some very positive results. Twitter is a platform that allows for a simple like or retweet to create exponentially more impressions. By sharing your video with an influencer and either articulating that you think they might enjoy the video or asking how they like it, there’s a chance they’ll decide to share.
We hope that this article has provided you with helpful tips to share your music videos and gain them the exposure they deserve.