“The problem with social media and social marketing is this, brands treat social media like it is the great unknown lol.”
In my profession as a publicist, I have watched social media go from the Myspace days to its current glorious and almost monstrous state. What held true back in the Myspace days still holds true today. Social media is a very powerful tool that when used and worked correctly can work wonders for bands and brands in general. The problem is that most people and organizations for the matter, don’t know how to correctly work their social media.
When artists or organizations seeking a publicist’s representation send me their press kits or information, one of the first things I do is look at their social media. Now since we live in a time where you can buy views,likes and plays, I also take a look at their followers and comments left by individuals and fans. This lets me know how organic their social media accounts are and from the comments and followers I can see how well engaged the individuals or fans are and the artist or organization.
Next I look at how well networks are optimized. Network optimization is very simple to do but often overlooked. In laymen’s terms network optimization in this instance means “ the preparation of networks to be presentable to the public” A good example is this- all of an artist’s or brands networks should have similar cover work. What I mean by this is that the same banner photo used for Facebook should be the same banner photo on Twitter etc. Another good example of this is URL handles. All of your social networks should have similar URL handles. Here is a good example, if your artist name was DJ King you would want-
facebook.com/djking
twitter.com/djking
soundcloud.com/djking
youtube.com/djkingmusic (considering if djking was already taken)
The point here is to make your URL handles as similar as possible not only does this look more presentable but it helps fans/individuals and search engines in general find you easier.
Now I always review Soundcloud, Youtube and similar platforms first, before I review Facebook and Twitter. The reason I review these first is this - artist and organizations usually do not know the difference in discovery networks and delivery networks. Soundcloud and Youtube are discovery networks. What this means is that these platforms is where people go to discover music and other similar media content. People do not usually go to Facebook and Twitter to discover music or similar media content. The reason people do not go to Facebook and Twitter to discover music or similar media content is because the networks were not designed for this purpose. Consider your own social media habits and you will see exactly what I mean. Facebook and Twitter are delivery networks. What this means is that people use Facebook and Twitter to have content delivered to them. They want to see what their friends, family, bands and brands are doing, watching, reading, posting etc… What I often see when I navigate over to look at an artist’s or organization's Facebook and Twitter is the same old boring “please go listen to my music post,” “please donate now to our cause.” Now granted they may post a little bit of content but usually catering only to one specific tribe. The perplexing thing is usually an artist or organizations personal page is very well optimized and worked versus their band or brands page is boring not optimized and poorly worked. The reason this is perplexing is what an artist or organization is doing on their personal page posting original content (funny videos, pics post etc.. ), sharing other friends and peoples content ( videos, pics etc.) is what they should be doing on their band or brand page. Why artist/organizations use their band or brand pages to only send blast out about their music or cause makes no sense to me, and this is usually the reason the network is not well followed or worked.
Now by this point I have done a pretty good review of the social media networks. Also at this point I have pretty well determined if I am going to give them any more of my time or not. Now here is something to remember, every other individual in the music industry or media industry is going to review your press kit, media kit, email etc. exactly the same way I do. When you send your information into labels, radio, media etc. They’re going to look at your social networks first and foremost and if you aren’t relevant, if you don’t have your networks optimized, if you aren’t working your media accounts and nothing’s happening, well…. That’s just it nothing’s happening. Whoever is reviewing your music or information is most likely not going to consider you for anything. The reason for this is the bandwagon effect. It held true back in the old days and still holds true now . You got to be relevant, you gotta have fans, followers, likes, shares, post, new music, new videos etc. No one is going to want to sign you, play your singles, or write about you in their magazines and sites if you’re not happening and relevant now.
Now that is the end of lesson one. I am sure that most of you never considered these things applying to social media at all but they do. You would be surprised how these little considerations and changes to your social media and how you use it can have a big effect. In lesson two we will be breaking down the frequency of post and how to work them on your networks.
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