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What Should A Musician Be Posting on Social Media?

Here’s what you should be posting on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

 You’re on the right track – keeping up with your fans by posting great content on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. But you’re not seeing the engagement you want. Why? You might not be posting the “right” content for each audience.

 Mass-posting looks fake and contrived

One thing you definitely do not want to do is mass post the exact same thing across different platforms. Today’s fans will probably be following you in more than one place, and when they see that you’re posting the same thing on all three platforms, it’s game over. Where’s the authenticity of mass-posting the same thing again and again? Their friends don’t do that. And if you want to create a relationship with them, you shouldn’t either.

 Each platform has its own distinct flavor

 Each of the “big three” social platforms – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram – have their own special niche, and people that use them tend to react to content that takes the form they expect. In general, Instagram is for pictures, Facebook is for people, and Twitter is for letting your personality, thoughts and insight shine in 280 characters or less.

 What you should be posting on Instagram

 Those really nice, perfectly-lighted, looks-like-a-professional-shot-it photographs were made for Instagram. Lots of people use Instagram like Pinterest – creating boards of photos they love and that resonate with them. Your Instagram profile should function like your brand’s personal mood board. Cultivate an aesthetic and stick to it unless you have a good reason to change. This article gives a good description of how a couple different artists use their Instagram profiles to create a visual experience for their fans. Check out how one matches their Instagram aesthetic to the cover of their latest album and how the other has made his into an ever-evolving mural.

 What you should be posting to Facebook

 Facebook is the world’s biggest social media platform, with more than 2.2 billion users active every day worldwide. Too many artists think “Facebook is where everyone is, let me blast out a bunch of salesy posts every day.” Don’t do this. It’s actually counterproductive.  Facebook expects you to be social, not salesy, on social media … and its algorithm makes sure you are. (Plus, they want to sell you ads, boosted posts and sponsored posts for the salesy stuff.) Facebook actually de-prioritizes posts that include clickbait or link to sources off of Facebook.  Facebook posts are meant to provoke conversation, and the most popular way to do that on the platform is to post videos. Videos or Facebook Live feeds of your band backstage, in the recording studio, at rehearsal – these are all low-budget ways to promote your music that don’t “feel” like a sales video.

What you should be posting on Twitter

 Where Instagram is for pictures and Facebook is for people, Twitter is all about ideas. This is great for artists – whose creativity thrives on and builds pop culture.  In 280 characters or less (less is more, on Twitter), sharing your thoughts about literally anything can spark a conversation and build relationships with your fans. And of course, don’t forget to retweet others and join in their conversations, too.  You can also use threads to tell longer stores in a post-after-post format. You can create suspense and set up the perfect punchline when you know exactly how your story is going to be consumed.

We dive a lot deeper into mastering social media in Music Business Toolbox

 The MBT e-book will go not only go further into the question “What should a musician be posting on social media?” but it will also take you through how to make the most of your social media and build the music career you’ve dreamed about. This is in-depth, written-from-inside-the-industry information, and you don’t want to miss it. Click here to explore our book and membership options now.