How To Market Your Music On Pinterest

Pinterest, it is one of the fastest growing Social Media networks of all time. It currently has over 11 million users, and it's format is even changing the way people are designing their sites and blogs. The answer?

Well it must be that people just love looking at pictures, and seeing a large selection on a page just takes one more step out of the browsing experience, making much easier to consume the data presented.

I myself have already created a pinterest profile for my visual website www.bloodyloud.com. It is bringing to the site a lot more traffic, but the interesting thing for me is the use of the 'Boards'. It gives you a chance to present your content in a different way, maybe with more fun aspect, and can be used to help develop your online personality. Example: we post loads of things to do with Star Wars, so we create a board called 'These are not the droids we are looking for..'. Each of the items displayed are on bloodyloud as a serious art/news item, here we re title them with something more amusing, and we get more traffic. Also we can use multiple images from same item differently, attracting the user in different ways.

So now as i work here at Make It In Music too, it was great to see an article on Hypebot explaining how you can use pinterest to maket your music.

Writer Valeria Bornstein of Fame House says:

If you have fans that are passionate enough to follow you across multipleplatforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, it is safe to assume that they will also likely follow you on Pinterest as well. Pinterest is a great place to connect with fans on a personal level because it allows you to showcase your tastes, as well as things that interest you individually. On Pinterest, users share primarily pictures (videos too), and again, there isn’t much writing involved so it is more visually appealing and can be easier to capture people’s attention. Pinterest is not a site that is driven by music at all, so it is essentially a platform for purely sharing content with fans.

Pinterest can be an effective platform for building relationships with audiences, but is an ineffective platform to “sell” to them. By sharing on Pinterest, your fans get a better sense of who you are as a person, and you can build emotional connections with them, which should be one of the main goals of any brand-fan relationship. Fans are more willing, by far, to spend money on and support (word of mouth shall not be discounted!) those artists that have made a personal connection with them.

Check out more of her in depth article here.

Written by Steve

Links

http://pinterest.com/

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/05/using-pinterest-for-artist-marketing.html

www.bloodyloud.com

http://pinterest.com/bloodyloud/these-are-not-the-droids-we-are-looking-for/

 

13 Tips on Getting the Best Out of Twitter

I don't how often i have heard people say "No i don't use Twitter, it's just a bunch of people saying where they are, what they are doing and what they had for breakfast" and "What can I do with 140 characters?" Well, it has proven it can do a hell of a lot more than that, from distributing news, social and political commentary, to marketing, distributing not only short bursts of text but also pictures and videos. It has now been around for 6 years, and has pretty much become the leader in spreading information across the world, becoming the social barometer of our times.

It is now an essential tool in any musicians marketing strategy, and there is a wealth of techniques you can use to get the best out of twitter in keeping your fan base informed and engaged.

Not only can you use it as a news service, it also has great potential for you to find new fans, and get them to discover you.

Since its inception, there has become a wealth of third party utilities to help you exploit the potential of twitter to the full. Two i have been using the most over the years are Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. They give you the ability to monitor the 'twitterverse' and search for keywords and hashtags (twitters own keyword system that allows users to find tweets on certain subjects such as #art #photography #ladygaga etc) that could be relevent to you, your music and your goals. They allow you to join in the conversations and connect with people discussing things that could be relevent to you, and in turn, you might be interesting to them.

Chris Singleton over at Prescription PR has put together a list of 13 top tips for musicians and bands using twitter which i think you should take a look at. Here is my favourite peice of advice from his article...

By all means post links to your band's new videos and MP3s from time to time, but do not get too fond of doing so; otherwise you’ll just look like a jerk. Believe me, when it comes to overcommunicating about my own music projects, I’ve been there, done that and bought the t-shirt…and despite waxing endlessly about the importance of musicians keeping schtum for five minutes, I still see artists (who should know better) bore their friends, family and remaining fan to tears with hourly Facebook updates about their latest creative endeavours. Nobody cares after a while (if they ever did in the first place –geddit?). Instead, post links to great content from other sources – whack links up on Twitter to scintillating articles which don’t happen to be about your music (and rest assured, there are a lot of them). Or make witty observations about cheese and/or the credit crunch. In short, get a reputation for being an interesting dude, not a self-obsessed bore.

Check out the rest of his article here.

We also have an article on our Make It In Music site on twitter for musicians here.

 

Links

http://www.prescriptionmusicpruk.com/the-prescription/2012/5/1/using-twitter-top-tips-for-musicians-and-bands.html

http://www.makeitinmusic.com/twitter-for-musicians/

 

Finding a community on SoundCloud

SoundCloud is pretty much a must for any aspiring musician these days - and it's obvious that a community of musicians and creatives ought to be somewhere that you can find support and fans.

Now they are getting to be really helpful in advising musicians on best practice tips for their own service.

We wrote about their overall guide here - definitely check this out - but they keep adding to it.

The latest posts are this one - How succesful SoundCloud users build meaningful connections in the SoundCloud community.

This comes with lots of bits of audio interviews (naturallly....) from those users.

And the other is their guidance post - How to build your SoundCloud community. This is full of great usable suggestions.

If you're not on SoundCloud, you should be and this will help you get started.

 

How to leverage LinkedIn

We have a post on using LinkedIn as a musician - it's got some good ideas about why & how musicians can use LinkedIn to further their careers.

I was reminded of it when I came across this free pdf today. It's written for general business marketing but since it's very much a basic intro to LinkedIn it's usable by anyone, such as musicians!

Topics covered include how to set up a LinkedIn profile properly, using Groups and Best Answers to get noticed and connect with people and proper use of Recommendations.

Well worth a read - sign-up required.

Google launchs G+ Fan Pages

We owe our old chum @Buzzsonic for spotting this slideshow.

Google has announcd Busines Pages for Google+, meaning that you can now set one up for your band, label, or other music enterprise.

I'll be doing this when I have a nano-seond to spare.

Manwhile the slideshow has the goodies.

Google+ for Business: Updated

and there's a good piece from Zdnet on the launch here.

Social Media Tips for Musicians

Another long video from the IMS summit in Ibiza earlier this year.

The people on the panel are genuine experts and I do really recommend that you take some time and watch the whole thing.

BUT, for me the best stuff is from Randy Reed who manages an act called Pretty Lights that you may or may not have heard of. The facts about Pretty Lights are that he has given away (yes, for free) 1.5 million album downloads and as a consequence he sells more albums on iTunes et al and has a career that makes him a very good living from those digital sales plus touring and merchandise.

For me, he is the total answer that freemium (when applied to good quality music) clearly does work. If it's not working for you, my usual hunch is that your music isn't good enough! Therefore what his manager has to say about how to reach fans wuth Social Media is worth hearing, don't you think?

Randy comes on the video at 11.41 and then in a couple of other places, but, like I say, you ought to watch it all!

Here's the video:

 

How Turntable.fm will change music forever

Will it?

I don't know, but I have heard a wall of noise about this new site, Turntable.fm, this week and I've logged in and had a look around - and I was hooked - a bit.

Go and check it out. It's in a 'Beta' mode right now so you might be able to log-in if someone you know (i.e. a Facebook friend) is already a member or you can sign up to their invite list.

I'll point you to this article for the full explanation, but in essence this is a social newtork that allows you to play music to others in self-selecting groups (rooms) and as such it could be the much vaunted 'music recommendation engine' that so many people have hoped for.

On the other hand, it might just be a fun way to play records to people.

I did enjoy it and found myself listening to records that I had forgotten I liked and discovering new ones.

Will this change music forever? - maybe, or maybe not. But I have an odd feeling about it! One thing I do really like is that the way that people vote on each song in the room as it plays could give real feedback on whether people like a song - an unbiased opinion that is otherwise hard to come by.

Check the article here.

Go to Turntable.fm here.

How to use Instagram to promote your band

What - not another social network to update?

Well, actually, no, not really as Instagram is easy to deal with direct from your iPhone and can now be linked to all your other social networks including Twitter and Facebook.

If you recall, in our Twitter music marketing series, we point out how much fans love to see photos of the band doing .......anything!

So, Instagram ought to be a no-brainer addition to your ways of keeping them engaged.

Read exactly how to do it in this excellent piece from Mashable.

Tour diaries: They are the satisfying sustenance required by every hardcore music fan to feed a band addiction. A glimpse into the backstage, on-tour-bus life of one’s favorite band. Now, thanks to the marvels of modern technology, it’s easier than ever to create a highly visual tour diary to sate the appetite of your friends and followers. One word, my musically inclined friends: Instagram.

Read it all here.

Social Media Marketing Report 2011

You might find this a bit dry!

It's written for 'marketers' rather than musicians, but I'd suggest you check it out.

It's a report on the state of Social Media in 2011 and how brands and marketers are using it.

I found the facts about what tools people are using to help them deal with social media management as well as the things that they feel they can outsource interesting.

You might find something that helps you with your music marketing!

Read the post and report here.

Why Google +1 will be good for musicians

You've heard about Google +1?

Google's answer to the Facebook 'like' button which appear in search results in the next few days as they roll it out and later on third party websites. Including yours if you have any sense!

You know how it works, as you're used to clicking the 'like' button already, but I think that this will be great for musicians as people will get social proof about a band right in the Google search results.

So what does this mean for artists, record labels, promoters and ticketing companies? First of all, Google's +1 gives artists and music companies added incentive to integrate social media into their online projects and properties. Think about it: If your competitor has added +1s and has facilitated the discovery of their artists amongst fans' social networks, you would be giving up an advantage if you ignored these social features. Think of music as a zero-sum game. Awareness and sales for one artist takes away from another artist's potential. And by allowing people to +1 an item, you're creating a popularity measure that can be seen by all viewers of Google search results.

Read the full lowdown in Billboard.

And get the mega detail here.

Failing that, and if you couldn't care less, watch the chatting babies discuss it here.

Social Networking for musicians - Quality counts

New guest post on our main site - 'Social Networking for Musicians'.

Simple guidelines for what to do to make your use of social media as a musician effective.

10 strategies for fan engagement in social media

Image by Rosaura Ochoa

This a really handy 10 point list on how to approach social media as a musician.

It's not so much a 'how to', more of a 'why for', if that makes sense.

Still, it's really good and I'd go as far as to say that the thinking behind it should inform your social media use.

But for many artists, social media remains something they choose not to fully delve into. Some find it too overwhelming; with the constant posting of content onto the countless platforms and would much rather spend their time creating music.

Others may even be ready to actively engage in social media, but have no idea how to properly utilize each platform. 

Nancy Baym, a professor of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas recently wrote a fantastic piece entitled "Engaging Fans Through Social Media."

In it, she explains how musicians and audiences can build symbiotic relationships that can nurture and sustain one another over the long haul.

The following 10 points summarize Baym's key ideas on how to maximize your social media effectiveness:

Read the post and get the much more in depth pdf here.

 

Social Networking No-No's!

2 great posts from Laura Marie and her refreshingly honest site - Nerd Alert 4 Musicians.

What you shouldn't be doing in your social networking efforts.

Part 1

Part 2

The key point - why do you want to add all those people on Facebook and Twitter if they aren't going to be a fan? What's the point?

Some fans are worth a fortune - even if they never buy from you!

Image by MoneyBlogNewz

I liked this article because it forced me to stop and think.

Not every fan is going to buy your music and other stuff - merch, tickets etc.

But they can still be very valuable in monetary terms - because their social network spreads your music.

Once upon a time, being a "diehard fan" meant buying a band's album, show ticket, T-shirt, limited edition signed LP — anything your earnings would allow. Today the term can have a very different meaning. You can be a "diehard" by blogging about everything the band puts out, posting links to your Facebook wall, re-Tweeting the band's messages, and commenting on its Soundcloud page, all without paying a dime.

Engaging with music in this way doesn't mean you're hurting your favorite band, either. Recent studies suggest quite the opposite: they show that fans who actively engage in social media bring more cash to the artists they love. Liking something on Facebook or re-Tweeting a favorite song can generate real world dollars.

Read the whole piece here.

 

Musician's Social Media pyramid

You may well have heard of Ariel Hyatt and her company, Cyber PR - she's been a leader in musician advice for some time and has some great detailed ideas.

In her latest blog post she looks again at a graphic tool that she has used to teach people best practice to follow in their use of social media to promote their music.

Obviouly, we have covered a lot of this in our guide to twitter music promotion as well, but I do like the graphical representation to remind you to mix it up.

You can also check out all her other training and well respected courses here.

Watch her video here or below.

 

5 top reasons that your Facebook fans actually hate you

Image by cambodia4kidsorg

Is the way that you're using your Facebook Fan page making you real fans or are you just pissing people off?

Loren Weisman writes on all sorts of issues affecting aspiring artists and his style is unflinchingly direct and honest. I really like it.

You know that facebook page you always check in on?

The one that has interesting updates, good videos, great blogs and cool pictures?

You know that one that even if you don’t see an update on your main page, you will still type in that page just to check in?

Now how about this for another set of questions….

You know that page you can’t stand?

The one that puts up the worst stuff, over posts, has those multiple repeat posts of the same updated two to four times, spams you with show schedules, invites to groups over and over again, excess hype and other annoying updates?

And for whatever reason, you have you have not unfriended them.  Whether it is being nice or feeling guilty or maybe you have unfriended them and they added you again and you accepted them. Maybe you keep them as a friend but you block them and honestly have no idea what they are up to.

Now the real question.

Which one are you?

Go and read the whole piece here.

Use Foursquare to promote your music....how?

There seems to be a deathly silence amongst artists in finding ways to use Foursquare to promote their music.

This post on Hypebot has 5 ways to use it as an artist.

I'm almost as intrigued though by the comments at the bottom - that Facebook and Twitter do the same thing better, and by the discovery of a site called Aka Music. I'd never heard of it and it seems to be doing well as a place that fans can fund artist's projects and the comment by the band, Dallas, about how they used it and Foursquare may inspire you.

Foursquare describes its goal as "getting users out of the house," and one way in which they do this is by offering local businesses a Merchant Platform to attract and retain customers.

Through this platform, a user checks in at a specific venue and is presented with a special offer – usually a mobile coupon, small prize or discount – to entice them to keep coming back. In addition, brands (either with physical locations or without) can create their own profiles to further interact with customers. 

Just this past year, brands such as MTV, Vh1, Bravo, Huffington Post, and Zagat, among many others, have all signed on to integrate Foursquare into their social networking activity.

But I can't help but wonder: where are the bands, artists, and labels? 

I see Foursquare as a great potential here – especially for those looking to build a loyal fanbase.

Read the piece on Hypebot - and don't ignore the comments!

Share music on all your profiles from one place

You might've seen this mentioned on Mashable the other day, but I was just checking it out as it fits in the last part of my now delayed but mammoth series of posts on 'Twitter for musicians'.

Bln.kr allows you to upload tracks and then spread them across all your social network profiles with one click. The Pro version (currently free for 30 days) has some additional functionality.

Mashable had this to say:

Bln.kr is kind of like Hootsuite for bands — a platform that allows musicians to share a song across Facebook, Twitter, etc, as well as track how fans are digging their jams.

The service is rather simple to use: Sign up for a Pro account ($10 per month), and connect Bln.kr to social accounts (Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, YouTube). Upload a track, add a title, cover image, category, tags and download setting (it’s also possible to enable a “Track for a Tweet”-esque feature, which is pretty cool), add a custom message to one’s share and go for it. One click lets a person share the track to all of his or her networks.

Read the whole Mashable post here.

And here's their video explaining the service.

Billboard's 'Uncharted' chart - Huh?

Billboard launched their Social 50 chart a month or so ago - and it got a fair bit of stick for not throwing up many new faces - obviously, the most talked about artists in social media are the biggest anyway!

So, they've hit back with the 'Uncharted' Chart. To qualify, you need to fulfill a bunch of 'we've not been mentioned or charted before criteria' and you need to have a profile on MySpace Music - so that's most artists covered.

The placings are then worked out by counting social media data using Next Big Sound - covering plays on MySace and YouTube, Twitter numbers etc.

Unlike the Social 50, I think this chart has a real chance of exposing emerging talent to the denizens of the 'old school' industry who do still take trade mags like Billboard seriously.

As we said before on the Social 50, I'd make sure to fill in my profile at Next Big Sound and have that profile on MySpace, so that I qualified as you never know if you might make their chart and get noticed from there.

Read their own post about it here.

 

Seven rules for effective social networking for musicians

Image by Rosaura Choa

Not everything in this piece on Music Think Tank is in line with my advice. Read the comments below the piece as well for the full effect!

For example, I advocate Fan Pages rather than personal profiles (or both) on Facebook for promoting your music although I do acknowledge the drawbacks that the comments to this piece talk about.

Nonetheles, it is a GREAT piece that really serves to remind you what is important in the relationship between you and your fans and how you need to nurture that bond.

The most essential point to note in my approach to social media is that it begins with the word social. In order to generate interesting discussions and interactions, you must follow exactly the same practices as you would at a party.  You wouldn’t just stand up on a table in the middle of a room full of people and shout, “come to my show!” or, “buy my music!”  

You need to create engagements where there is a naturally developed interest in your affairs and your music.  If you stick with a party conversation long enough, you’ll inevitably be telling your new friend about your band.  They are a lot more likely to check you out than someone you walk up to on the street and hand a flyer.  

In addition, when you use social media properly, you are promoting the product “you” (I put you in quotes because the “you” in this case is a public persona and is partially distinct from the true you), not your music.  If you want the music you make to stand alone and develop its own social identity without your persona and personal identity backing it, I’d suggest not bothering.

Read the whole piece here.