We get it, you’re on limited time and money resources. Most independent artists are. And that’s okay. What’s not okay, is to waste that little time you have and thus eventually losing all money as well. We’ve put together a list of 10 things you can do at any moment that will boost up those followers numbers.
10. Like And Comment On Your Already Existing Fans’ Photos and Statuses
People love supporting a great artist. What they love more though, is when that artist shows some love back. Don’t take for granted those likes and comments you get constantly. Return the favor every now and then. Chances are, your fans are gonna be so moved that they will feel the need to spread the word about you a little more. And their friends will see that too, and eventually, they will become new fans. If you have 100 Facebook Friends and you comment on each profile picture, and just one more friend of theirs decides to see who you are, you get another 100 NEW FREE VISITORS to your profile. Now whether they stick around or not, is up to your brand image and artistry.
9. Share The Links To Your Music Videos With A Fresh Caption
A lot of artists are guilty of just sharing the links to their music with no attention-grabbing title. As in they just post the link and they think their job is done. Flash News: IT IS NOT. If you decide to share your music, you better make sure you enhance that post with some real catchy title every single time you do so. Instead of the lame ”check out my new music video” BS, switch it up for something like: ”This video took me a whole 72 hours to shoot! Take a look and tell me if it was worth it!”.
8. Respond to old comments with mentions
Do you know that you’re most likely sitting on a bunch of unanswered comments on your social media? If you wanna use the algorithms to your favor (boost your visibility organically), you HAVE TO REPLY to all comments left on your photos, videos, statuses. Here’s THE MOST IMPORTANT THING though: never answer without mentioning the person you’re replying to. Use the ”@” feature to your advantage and mention every single user you’re engaging with. What this does, is 1. notifies the original commentator about a new mention and they WILL CHECK your profile AGAIN for it; 2. It increases the number of comments on your profile and Facebook, as a result, will show it to more people because the algorithm will mark it as ”engaging”. You’re welcome!
7. Partake In Busy Forums And Groups
You’ve definitely heard of Reddit and are surely part of some Facebook Group. Do you know what these 2 outlets provide? LOTS OF FREE TRAFFIC. Choose a topic related to your music career and abilities, and start engaging in the conversation. There are many ish-talkers but few professionals. Make sure you position yourself as a professional and take it up a notch. Offer your advice, opinion, critique, questions, answers, etc. Anything that you can talk in-depth about, will do. If you’ve just shot a music video, engage in topics on how to shoot one, what type of camera to use, how to edit the footage, etc. If for example, you just dropped a 4 track EP, partake in discussing publishing deals, distribution packages, the recording process and so on. When you talk a lot online, you’re again, using the algorithm to your advantage and that website is going to show that thread to many other users, who out of curiosity will click to see who this opinionated person is.
6. Support Another Slightly More Popular Artist
You want to comment and engage with other users on another artist’s profile who will bring more attention to YOU. Let me break it down for you. You have to find an artist you like, that is similar to your own style of music, who has more fans than you BUT… who is not stratospherically famous like Billie Eilish or Lady Gaga. An A-lister gets so many mentions that no one will ever get to YOUR comments. So never waste time on someone very famous. However, someone who is still in the tens of thousands, but under 500k, is getting a decent amount of REAL engagement and whatever you say, will most likely get viewed by all his/her other followers, and that translates into more FREE TRAFFIC to you and your music. Work smarter, not harder!
5. Make A Big Announcement
Another extremely valuable source of traffic to your music is making an announcement that appeals to people on a large scale. It is similar to captioning better an already-existing link, BUT this one is standing on its own. Don’t attach a link to your big news as websites want to keep their users on the mother-website. Meaning: if you post a link that will direct people outside of Facebook, Facebook won’t promote it. If however, you just post a status, with no external links, Facebook will boost it to more friends and followers you have on there. So make announcements regarding a recent award you’ve earned, a certain number of views you’ve reached, the amount of subscribers you got, the spike in Spotify listeners for this month, etc. There are very many things that seem normal to you but can be looked at as an accomplishment from the outside. Use them.
4. Host A Fun Livestream
Whether it’s YouTube, Instagram or Facebook, you have the power to engage in a most fun way with your audience: livestream. The difference though is in having a plan for it. If you don’t prepare for it in advance, it will flop and turn fans away. Risky business: if it goes well, it goes great! and if it goes bad, it goes terrible. So make a bullet list of things you can talk about, ask your fans and friends, approximate alloted time (suggestions: no longer than 30 minutes), intro and outro message, etc. Make sure that YOU TALK A LOT. Ever happened to come across a livestream where the artist was just scrolling through the messages and not saying a word? My guess is that you exited that lame party in less than 5 seconds. Don’t be that douche that wastes people’s time. Talk and engage.
3. Organize A Free Giveaway
You know what people like more than good music? Free stuff. But not just handed for nothing. People must earn it to appreciate it. So put together a contest that will bring more fans to your music: ”share this post with X caption and you will have the chance to win $100 and a CD bundle! extraction will take place dd/mm/yyyy”. It costs them nothing but a couple of seconds and it gets their friends curious too! There are multiple free resources online that can help you make an honest extraction. Easy, little time invested and insane turnouts! Have fun!
2. Post A Big Throwback Thursday
If you feel your career is currently stagnant, I got some good news for you: we all do! It is not everyday we manage to get interviews or shoot dope music videos. So when things get stale and you feel ”empty”, instead of try-harding a Godzilla Challenge, post a nicely-packaged Throwback Thursday type of post. It will feel like comfort food to old fans and sweet deserts to new fans. You can’t go wrong with talking about your initial accomplishments and artistic introspective. These posts get high engagement and boost your reputation.
1. Give Official Thanks To As Many People As Possible
Make a post where you dedicate the content entirely to someone else who’s been part of your musical journey. Ideally, it would be a photo or video with the following caption ”I wanted to take this day to say Happy Bday to X producer and many thanks for A, B, C. You always take the time to listen to me, to adjust and tweak the end result, and you make sure I love the product. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and have a wonderful celebration”, and of course, mention the person within the post, that way they will add it to their timeline be it Facebook, Instagram, or both. Guess what happens when you do that? All of THEIR friends and followers see that you two have a real connection based off the photo or video you posted, and again, out of curiosity, they check YOUR profile as well. Be nice, be genuinely grateful, and show respect to people who’ve helped you along the way. It will pay off BIG TIME!
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Blue Rhymez Entertainment 