artists

A Friendlier Facebook: 25 Tips to Improve Your Musician Fan Page

March 7, 2012 By Steve Leave a Comment

In the last few years, Facebook has emerged as the undisputed king of the social networks.

Several other platforms hold their own in a niche battle but, as Zuckerberg’s baby nears 1 billion global users and over 1/3 of the US population signed up, it’s almost impossible to ignore Facebook if you want to reach your fans online.

What becomes the burning question for you artists, regardless of size, genre, or location, is how to connect with those fans and keep them interested in the contents of your Facebook fan page.

The Burden of Growth

Unfortunately, as Facebook’s user count has grown, so has the number of groups trying to get their message in front of ever-wearying fans. To rise above the static noise of this Facebook update deluge, you need to vary your content, encourage fan likes and comments, and keep your posts engaging enough to continue attracting attention.

“Yes, yes, yes, we know all this…”, I hear you chorus, “But how?”

Well that’s exactly why I probed some of the smarter and socially savvy artistic folks I know – in addition to the depths of my own experience – to bring you these 25 tips for creative Facebook fan page content:

1. Ask fans to comment with their favorite artist, song, genre, or anything that you believe will fire their passions to contribute. You learn about your fan base, as well as gaining traction in their News Feed from their participation.

Threyda's Facebook page often posts art for auction or direct sale, based on bids in the comments.

2. Auction or sell one-off items in the comments section of a post, with the image of what’s up for sale. This real-time selling can create visible demand and prompt further interest in your future posts or other sale items, as fans watch more closely for these specials.

3. “A big thing is cross promotion. For example, the Foo Fighters have a FB page and I cover Everlong in a video. So I can tag and say, “Hey, check out my @FooFighters cover” and it will show up on my page and theirs, increasing clicks and impressions.” ~ Khaled Dajani (NYC singer-songwriter)

4. Produce a few different versions of cover art for your next release. Post each separately to a Facebook album and ask fans to pick the art work that you’ll use by most liked/voted for piece.

5. Be timely in responses. You need not be on 24/7, but the sooner you can respond to developing conversations on your page, the better the discussion and closer your fans will feel. Plugging in via mobile devices and getting into the habit of checking in a few times through the day will help your engagement levels no end.

6. Hand over control of your Facebook page to one or some of your most passionate fans for a set period, perhaps a few days to a week. Give them room to express their musical and artistic interests, as far as is appropriate for your page.

7. “Let fans vote on new song choices or additions to your set list.” ~ Karlton Utter of The Hazmats

8. Ask for fan stories from your shows that they’ve attended. Many will be happy to share; you’ll remind them of a great time associated with your music and you’ll get more testimonials/comments encouraging those who haven’t yet seen you to catch that next gig.

9. Check your Insights. Your fan page has the ‘Admin Panel’, which offers a look at your most popular posts by date, time, type of content, and much more. Check these every week to see what your fans are reacting well to and what you need to dump.

10. Let another band or artist run your page as administrator for a few days to a week. Give them access to your audience and they’ll likely reciprocate by bringing some of their friends and followers to your page. It will also freshen up content and allow you to see how fans react to the change.

11. “Use your new show or project poster/art as your profile pic. For your fans, it’s an easy visual reminder of what you’re working on and keeps your visual message fresh.” ~ Alejandra O’Leary (Michigan singer-songwriter)

12. Run ongoing competitions that encourage multiple clicks and comments, such as entries to sweepstakes drawings or picture posting/voting contests. Each interaction gives the fan a greater chance to win and gives you a greater number of connections to these fans.

13. Expanding on number 1, make use of the Facebook ‘Question’ function (pictured left). This gives you instant poll-taking on your page and in the fan news feeds, providing an easy opportunity to encourage one click feedback. Questions on topical subjects, favorite artists, or those that give your fans a choice in your creative process are all great ways for you to increase interactions.

14. Post non-profit or cause related content that aligns with your personality and/or music subject matter. People like and share good causes more readily, helping both the message and your page to spread.

15. Make Facebook content feel like bonus material. Share things there that you don’t post elsewhere, including a look into your tastes, interests, and current listening, viewing, or reading habits.

16. Share an insight into one of your songs, preferably something that hasn’t been explained elsewhere. Ask fans to share their own perspectives on the song & encourage discussion around the themes that develop.

17. ”I’ll use Facebook to discover who I know in each city, then communicate with those folks about how to best turn out their friends and their friends’ friends. The best PR is word of mouth.” ~Danny Ross (NYC singer-songwriter & band leader)

18. Give away one-off items by asking fans to like or comment on the post, keeping entry easy & increasing interaction with your page. Draw a winner randomly and offer unique, unexpected prizes to keep interest and participation high.

19. Weave videos into the tapestry of your page. As YouTube links automatically translate to an embedded video when posted, your fans can watch and listen without leaving the comfort of your page. Remind them to comment or like the post as they watch.

20. Highlight your most compelling content. The new Timeline based Facebook layout will allow you to pin important posts to the top of the page. Take either your main calls to action (e-mail list sign-up, music downloads etc) and make them one of the first pieces of content that people see.

21. Work with other bands to exchange page tags. When you’re playing on the same bill as other artists, this helps to encourage each act’s set of fans to check out the other easily, leading to extra visibility and, in the case of complementary acts, more likes of each page.

22. “Pictures, pictures, pictures! Pictures convey so much more than text alone. Keep your page as visual and colorful as possible to create a non-verbal vibe around your music.” ~ Alejandra O’Leary (Michigan singer-songwriter)

23. Err on the side of posts that inspire conversation and feedback, rather than too much promotion of your own links and content. Of course you should highlight new music and important announcements related to your art, but these should be sandwiched between non-promotional content and entertaining posts. Offer more than just another sales pitch.

24. Request, infrequently, an event or page share. Fans don’t like to feel put upon, yet a certain amount of involvement in sharing your music does help to build a closer bond. When you have an important site on which you need to gain traction, or when you simply need a boost to share your content or a big event, don’t be afraid to explain just how crucial it is and make the ask of your fan base.

25. Integrate your Facebook presence into other social media and communication channels, especially e-mail newsletters. Go a step further than the simple social buttons that often appear in e-mails and create a special incentive for your subscribers to click over to like your Facebook page. Competitions promoted by newsletter but actually carried out on your fan page are a great example of weaving together your communications lines for those who follow you.

Phew! Plenty to be working on there….

….BUT, we’re not done!

What would you add?

How have you used Facebook to offer your fans a unique, interactive experience?

Add away in the comments below or on Facebook itself. Include a link to your site or Facebook page so that I can update this post and give due credit with a link back.

Filed Under: Web Presence Development Tagged With: alejandra o'leary, artists, danny ross, Facebook, facebook fan pages, fan engagement, fan page, fans, feedback, interaction, karlton utter, khaled dajani, likes, music, music sales, musicians, social media, social network, the hazmats, threyda

The 3 C’s of Web Presence Engagement & Interaction

February 14, 2012 By Steve Leave a Comment

Recently I posted more in depth explanations of the first points 1,2 and point 3 on my original 12 point check list for developing your web presence.

Today, we’ll look more at the fourth and fifth points on the list: the touch points of your platforms and using them to form two way conversation with your fans.

Photo Credit: David JW Bailey

These considerations follow on logically from the previous task of selecting your key platforms. Knowing where you’re going to be expending most of your efforts, you can now decide the ways in which you’ll communicate with fans on those platforms, as well as how to involve them in the process.

In short, this is engagement and interaction time!

Compelling. Concise. Content.

There are always a few memory aids to guide your work in any field. Social media is no exception and you will see these 3 C’s crop up time and again as you read further into the effective use of platforms. As overall way points, they will serve you well.

Content is anything from a sub-140 character tweet to an in-depth blog post on your site. To start on the long road to fan engagement, each piece of content needs to be of interest to your target audience. Be it informative, amusing, or something that stirs their passion, hitting the mark consistently (another ‘C’!) is where your content becomes compelling.

Content lies at the core of your web presence. It is the factor that decides whether visitors keep coming back for more, or are uninterested and leave, never to return. The other adjectives really only serve to emphasize key factors in making sure your content achieves the return value that you’re looking for.

Although a given platform will determine the depth of your content (try getting complex in a tweet….ouch!), conciseness will serve you well in almost every piece you post. By all means, explore the intricacies of a topic beyond 500 words in a blog post. Just don’t use a paragraph when a sentence would suffice. Attention spans are short on the web and the average visitor decides in under ten seconds whether or not they will stay.

Having eye catching headlines and visuals to draw people in, followed by the quality content that will keep them interested, is a sure fire way to keep your visitors engaged and coming back for more.

Join The Conversation?

The cacophony encouraging us to “join the conversation” grows ever louder by the day. In reality, this is a catch all phrase that wants a more general response from us: interaction.

Once engaged by your content and creations, the next objective is to draw a visitor deeper into your creative world. This extends beyond mere discussion, delving into the realms of building emotional connections to your art, gathering feedback, involving visitors in the creative process, adding game mechanics to content, or any number of new and emerging techniques to develop a stronger bond. A bond that, as it builds, turns uncommitted visitors into excited fans of your work.

Although the application of these concepts has the potential to become quite complex, the core idea is simple: offer your fans a compelling, two-way experience with your art, in addition to the traditonal one-way consumption.

How to do this?

Think about what your most passionate fans say about your creations. What do they love about what you do?

For a writer, it could be the characters of your stories that pulls readers into the world you’ve created. How can you give those characters a new lease of life across social media? Furthermore, how can you weave your readers into the story, so that their experience moves from passive to interactive?

For a musician, perhaps your listeners have certain songs that really speak to them. Ask for their interpretations, or comparisons to other artists. Bring to the fore their thoughts and opinions about the subjects of your songs, valuing their additions to the discussion. Fans now create videos and other spin-0ff art in response to their favorite music, so embrace these creations and encourage visitors to pursue their own answers to the questions posed by your songs.

The more that your fans become involved and invested in what you create, the more they’ll support you for the long haul. Sharing as they go, the power of social networks can begin to work for you as your creations are spread far and wide, offering opportunities to repeat the process of engaging and interacting with new fans.

Over To You…

How have you geared your web presence to keep new visitors interested?

Once you have their interest, what steps have you taken to interact with people and turn them into fans of your work?

Your insights are the truly valuable element here. The real world examples are where we really gain an idea of how to put all this into practice, so please feel free to share your own brilliant successes here in the comments or on Facebook.

Leave links so I can visit and put your fan-making process to the test!

Filed Under: Web Presence Development Tagged With: artists, authors, books, content, engage, fan engagement, ideas, interaction, interactivity, music, musicians, points of contact, raving fans, social media, social networks, web presence, web presence development, writers

Engaging Art: How Threyda Deliver Stunning to Social Media

January 31, 2012 By Steve Leave a Comment

Synchronicity by Peter Westermann | Threyda.com

Synchronicity by Peter Westermann - Visit Threyda.com for more

A picture is worth 1,000 words, common wisdom has it.

So social media should make it easy for artists to share their work, right? Image galleries, slideshows, done…

…except there’s much more to it than that.

Copywriters are valued for a reason and engagement, though a notorious buzz word, is widely heralded on every social media blog from New York to New Zealand.

For artists, creating a visually stunning piece is just the first step on the road to sharing.

Social Success Story

Threyda, an arts collective based in Wisconsin, is one of the first visual artwork organizations that jumps to mind when I think of in terms of social savvy.

From a simple Twitter follow early last year, I’ve been prompted to move through to their Facebook page, from which I’ve regularly checked out the gorgeously presented artwork showcased on their website. Having not yet taken the plunge to buy a piece, I’m almost certain to do so at some point this year, as soon the right deal pops into my inbox via their regular, though not annoyingly so, e-mail updates.

In summary: Threyda gets it. And they’ve got me.

The Whys & Hows

For a relatively small group of independent artists, Threyda’s army of 11,000+ fans on Facebook and thousands of Twitter followers is impressive in itself.

Digging deeper, there are a number of practices that make the company a shining example to anyone seeking a wider audience for their art.

Here are just some of those best practices:

A Competitive Streak - Regular competitions that couldn’t be easier to enter. Post a new piece, have fans ‘Like’ the post, random winner picked. Hundreds of likes (which feeds into how often fans see their posts in the ‘Top News’ stream - more on that here) and plenty of attention for new creations, even from those that don’t win. Competitions encourage participation and return visits.

Adopt & Adapt – They’ve learnt along the way that each social media channel has its own potential and limitations. Initially posting to Twitter only through Facebook automation, this tweet showed their intention to adapt to a more interactive, Twitter-friendly approach. Though they still have some work to do on interacting with followers, the adoption of Twitpic and @ mentions to friends show the importance of learning and developing…

A Place To Call Home – Despite the many outposts, the (not so) humble website is the central hub of a web presence. These folks seem to get that, with a powerful and visually striking site that is clearly the best place to check out all the creations of each artist. The outposts of Facebook, Twitter et al then feed into this, offering tantalizing thumbnails and Twitpics of the work as a draw to view more angles and full archives back on the website, where visits can be accurately measured and sales more easily driven.

Call To Action – Threyda posts always let you know what their intention is. From transactional (“Save 50% at checkout”) to inspirational (“It’s never too late, go create!”), there is a reason for what they put out there and they explicitly state it at the close of their piece. Clear calls to act drive engagement and sales.

More Than a Feeling - Other than quoting 80′s power ballads, the reason I include this intangible quality is that Threyda create an aura around their web presence. In truth, it is principally fueled by their other-wordly artwork. But their supporting content, such as this blog reflection on a night snapshot from Cleveland, feeds into the ambiance that they exude. Aligning your style to your social media makes the whole experience feel consistent for fans across multiple platforms.

There are always new, innovative steps that we can take to develop our web presence and improve social media efforts. First, however, the foundations need to be set up strongly and the platform hierarchies clear. In looking at the web presence of Threyda, I find a solid base and flexible approach to new media that I think helps them better deliver their stunning art to the world.

And your good selves? What artists or collectives do you see utilizing social media channels effectively?

What aspects of Threyda’s example do you think could be improved?

Filed Under: Case Studies, Success Stories Tagged With: art, art collective, artists, case study, email marketing, engagement, Facebook, social media, social media marketing, success stories, threyda, twitter, web presence

Papering the Cracks? Why Adele’s 2011 Album Sales Mean Nothing

January 24, 2012 By Steve Leave a Comment

We’re back!

Adele '21' Cover

Adele’s ’21′ sold more than 5.8 million last year, with 1.8 million being full digital album sales. These are sales numbers that arrest a six year downward trend in album sales, since the year Usher sold a few million more of his ‘Confessions’ album.

The record industry is dead; long live the digital record industry!

In the snarky parlance of these Twitter-ing times: #NotSoMuch.

Exceptional Exceptions

In no way am I demeaning the achievements of my homeland heroine. On the contrary, the widespread mainstream acceptance of a bona fide musical talent, at a time when Simon Cowell’s mediocrity manufacturing line dominates the pop landscape, affords me renewed hope for the future of popular music.

But it is the very fact that she’s exceptional that makes Adele the exception, rather than the new rule for the recorded music industry.

Consider the wider environment of the year in which ’21′ broke:

CD sales continued to decline, down another 6% by Sound Scan’s 2011 numbers.

Digital sales were up and passed 100 million album downloads, yet the lower price point of these sales – sometimes as low as $1 or $2 – still sees downloads struggling to compensate for falling sales of physical product.

Streaming music sites, based on a subscription, ‘all you can eat’ model, began to spring into mainstream consciousness around the middle of the year. Albums popped on and off of sites such as Spotify, as artists like Coldplay and, indeed, Adele, decided whether or not such services cannibalize album sales.

Another massive sales story, Lady GaGa’s ‘Born This Way’ release, sold millions in a first week promotion at the deep discount price of just 99 cents on Amazon.com. This further diluted the validity of digital music sales as a barometer for the course of the record industry, with Billboard revising their chart conditions as a direct result.

Beyond this, there lie also the questions of cloud storage, digital lending, matching services such as Apple’s proposition (which can be seen as legitimizing past illegal downloads in user music collections), and myriad other digital services that will straddle the increasingly gray area between legal listening and infringing copyright.

In summary, 2011 saw massive upheaval in the ways we can listen to music, with many potential business models emerging but none clearly taking the lead. Against that backdrop, a few wildly successful individual albums can be seen as more of a life jacket for record sales, rather than the rescue helicopter that some make it out to be.

The Future

Future Music? Baby with headphones

Photo Credit: [(O)] Photography

So, where are we heading?

The only concrete positive to be taken from Adele’s example, in relation to recorded music sales, is that mainstream listeners will still flock in their millions when they hear true talent and passion in pop music. When an artist truly connects on a deeply human level.

What we can’t say is that digital download sales will save the day. Or that listeners are flocking back to music purchases after a decade of litigation from the major players in the industry.

What did offer hope in 2011 is that innovation and new modes of delivering music finally started to gain some traction. From streaming subscriptions to storage in the cloud, no one can say for certain that any of the providers will win out as the successor to physical recording sales.

But after over ten years of taking one step forward, two steps back, it’s encouraging to finally start accessing legal music through channels that befit the 21st century. Let’s hope it brings still more success for the likes of Adele, not to mention the thousands of artists eagerly playing away to follow in her footsteps.

And you?

How do you feel about the state of the record industry? Do you see a new business model emerging any time soon?

I’d also love to hear who still buys physical records, who downloads, streams etc. How do you prefer to get your music?

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: artist development, artists, creators, music industry, music sales, opinion, record industry

The Paradox of Choice: Prioritize Your Web Platforms

January 20, 2012 By Steve 2 Comments

Last week I posted more in depth explanations of the first two points on my original 12 point check list for developing your web presence.

Today, we’ll look more at the third point on the list: establishing the priority of your online platforms and the key elements that you’ll need to focus on as you develop them.

Photo Credit: wockerjabby

The Paradox of Choice

There are simply more platforms than you could ever hope to maintain. Whether websites, blogs, personal social networks, fan pages, Wikipedia entries, professional directories, or any combination of those, the choice is rather overwhelming…and it keeps growing every day!

The good news is that you really only need to choose and fuel a handful of these, perhaps even just a couple, to start building a web presence that will deliver tangible results.

How?

Pick the right platforms, then use them in the most time efficient and effective ways.

What qualifies as the ‘right platform’ depends very much on your content, communication, and most importantly your end objective. Often, as in the paradox of choice, less can be more. It certainly makes sense to set out with only platforms that

For help in this area, tweet with the #CreatorQs hashtag or ask away on Facebook. Myself – or a cohort, of equal or greater value – will get back to you pronto (cowboy talk for within 24 hours).

Once your platforms have been decided upon, it’s time to move on to the key elements you choose to build into them. Identifying these will help concentrate your web presence development efforts on the factors that matter most, minimizing time and maximizing results.

In Your Element

How do you know what these key elements are?

This can be difficult to prioritize, especially if you haven’t spent a whole lot of time around social media, so here are some question sets to guide you:

Outcomes

What is the primary result that you want from your web presence?
From this, can you track back through the process of achieving it and extract secondary element goals?
At the start of that process, what inputs will a given platform need to get things rolling?

Example: You’re an artist with striking visual pieces available for purchase. The primary goal is to showcase your works and make sales. Tracking back from the sale, you’ll obviously need clear, simple transaction buttons in order to prompt and process payments. But people need to be stimulated to start that process, so you’ll also want elements that ensure prominent placement of high quality images, such as gallery sections or the ability to quickly pop images out to a larger version. And perhaps potential buyers would like to see what’s popular with others, as they make their decision, so a further element to add could be a rating system or a social network plug in that shows comments for each piece.

Tools

What flexibility do you have with your ability to edit content?
Will your ability to edit content limit the elements you can select? Do you need to enlist help to incorporate the key elements?
Have you explored the available tools (e.g. WordPress widgets, Facebook social plug ins, embedded media) so that you know what can be achieved?

Extra Tip: Researching other sites in your field will allow you to draw out the best and worst of what can be done with your web presence. It may also make clear an area that has been critically overlooked by your industry, giving you a clear priority to exploit as you plan out your key elements.

Photo Credit: Vitamin Sea

The big picture here: be present in as many of the online locales inhabited by your audience as time allows, as long as you can put enough into the platform to offer that audience some value.

If you can’t commit the required level of work to any given platform, better to have no profile there at all than an out of date one that leaves fans feeling abandoned. Concentrate your efforts on growing the core platforms that you select, using the key elements that drive towards your long term web presence objectives. By having a clear understanding of what moves you in the right direction and what is simply window dressing, you’ll be making the most of the time investment that goes into your online world.

Filed Under: Web Presence Development Tagged With: #creatorQs, artists, audience, blog, content, content creation, elements, Facebook, platforms, tools, web presence development, web presence elements, wordpress

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