To grow a fanbase as an indie artist in 2022 you must ABSOLUTELY understand how to navigate today’s top 5 leading social platforms. If you think that creating content is enough, you’re wrong. 5 times wrong as a matter of fact because the top 5 global platforms have different purposes and requirements. Fail to understand what Instagram wants distinctively from you than TikTok and your visibility will take you nowhere. Read on to discover the key differences between today’s leading social media websites and how to adapt your branding to each accordingly.
5. Instagram
Ah… The good ol’ Instagram. Instagram has a third of Facebook’s audience but it’s still up there. Lately, they’ve been shifting their approach gravitating towards short-form video just like TikTok. Oh, and they gave everyone back the like count. Thank f*cking goodness. Instagram’s definition as per BRE: Instagram is the place where photos still have dominance over its users and people are okay with a sh*tton of advertisement. We don’t like IG at all, to be honest. They’re all over the place and try to keep up with the trends instead of just being Instagram. The good news for you is that advertising on IG is fairly cheap and people are used to seeing one ad every 4 organic posts so they won’t get triggered seeing your music video being pushed to their timeline as well. Everyone on it has something to sell so you’re safe testing out your audiences. Seriously, who’s still on it is absolutely fine with being ad violated every 4 seconds. Do as you please with this information.
4. YouTube
While many see it as an exclusive video platform, YouTube is a major voice in social media and in connecting people to one another. It is also the 2nd most popular search engine after Google. Meaning, people type whatever crosses their mind in the search bar on YouTube and see if there is content pertaining to their subject of interest. If we were to formulate in one phrase what YouTube is meant for, it would sound like this: YouTube is the place where you lay the foundation of your global reputation via long-form video. If you’re thinking “but I am a musician, I don’t have 15-minute videos!” you’re wrong. You could put a video containing all of your remixes, another for all of your freestyles, another for Xmas-themed songs, another of the same song being performed in various places, another of one album being performed by you live from top to bottom, etc. 5 songs at 3 minutes each equals 15 minutes of content. Be smart, be efficient, upload long videos and use YouTube Shorts instead for short-form content.
3. Twitter
Our definition for this one: Twitter is the place where you can use your opinions to bring relevancy to your brand. Follow any Gossip columns and you’ll see just how many celebrities gain considerable spotlight thanks to some scandalous tweet or a reply to another celebrity. It is best used by musicians and brands with a considerable following. So we’ll place that in the tens of thousands as a starting point. Twitter is nowhere near as popular as the others on this list but they did a great job at ridding off bots. So while they boast a reachable daily audience of over 300 million users, at least we know they’re all real. And anyone you could think of is on it. Let’s say that once you gain momentum and need extra attention to your name, jump into Twitter debates.
2. Facebook
Yes Facebook had a major blackout of 6 hours in 2021, yes everyone loves to hate on it these days, yes Mark Zuckerberg seems out of his mind with his metaverse ideas and bringing dystopian images to the public, and definitely yes, whistleblowers have come forth to crap on their former employer. HOWEVER… People who are used to using Facebook, will keep using Facebook. And that’s a LOT of people, 2.89 billion monthly active users to be more precise. And this is great news for adult musicians because Facebook is a place where grown and older people hang at. So if you do Jazz, R&B, Soul, Blues, Rock ‘n Roll, and any other classic genre, your advertising budget will see a much higher ROI on Facebook than on TikTok. Facebook’s definition in BRE words: Facebook is the place where you post what you like and as often as you’d like and you have the option to use written text to push your brand. This is not a bad deal at all considering not everyone has the time and patience to put out video content 24/7.
1. TikTok
TikTok was the giant many doubted and few saw coming. It’s an amazing platform overall with more equal opportunities for short-form video content creators. As per Blue Rhymez Entertainment’s definition: TikTok is the best place to start your branding from the ground up making the best use of your time. Why specifically from the ground up? Well, if you’re established on Facebook or YouTube, making the TikTok transition is pretty hard and chances are your fans won’t follow you on this platform, especially if they’re past their 20s. It’s an entirely different world preferred by young people and if you don’t learn how to jump on trends whilst pushing your own product, you won’t survive. To be great at TikTok you have to consume it quite a lot before you start putting out videos. We recommend at least 30 days of daily TikTok video watching for you to understand what are the trends, who is creating them, what’s your niche, what is your ideal audience interested in, how can you join the community, etc.
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