Promoting your band can be a very difficult task, but in today’s modern world, you no longer have to rely simply on agents to get the job done. For musicians willing to put forth the work, band promotion is a task that can take a lot of time, but the money saved by promoting your own band can pay off tremendously. If you want to promote your band in the most effective way possible, here are some of the best industry tips to ensure it happens.
SEO is Necessary for Promoting Your Band
SEO or Search Engine Optimization is not simply a tool writers or web developers use for articles or websites. It is a tool that can be used by virtually anyone and if you want to promote your band, it is essential that you understand this concept thoroughly.
SEO is a way that Google and other search engines rank websites and content on the internet. You want to ensure you rank high in search engines, preferably within the first 1 or 2 pages ad people rarely venture past the 3rd page when looking for what they want.
When ensuring your content is SEO friendly, keywords are essential. It is important to do top quality research into your individual music genre and find out what keywords are most popular. When fashioning your keywords for SEO, ensure you try to think like one of your listeners. What would you type in if you were searching for your band? This goes for promotional content as well as videos. A good format to use for videos is the song title, followed by a short description, the original artist name, and finally, the name of your band.
Use TikTok as an Effective Promo Vehicle
With TikTok, success is extremely possible, but the key ingredient on this amazingly popular site is having your content show up on as many “For You” feeds as possible. TikTok utilizes data from their users to suggest videos they might enjoy, so naturally, the more of these suggestions you can show up in, the better promotion for your band and there are other algoithm factors involved in using TikTok as an effective means of band promotion.
- Factor #1 – Hashtags is where your big money maker is at. A trending hashtag is like gold on TikTok and those who crack the code and come up with the best hashtag for the FYP will make the most impact. However, the algorithm for the FYP remains a mystery, but highlighting For You Page or FYP in your hashtag does seem to help. You can also try using what is already trending and changing up the hashtag just enough to where you are not copying it, but a misstep by users may bring in more views. It is the same tactic used in website names in which one or two letters are switched around to avoid copywrite laws and receive more traffic.
- Factor #2 – TikTok Captions generate a lot of promotion for bands, but they are different than long tail essay type captions common with Facebook and Instagram. The key in TikTok is to keep things brief. The use of hashtags that turn users back to your content is encouraged in captions, but remember, TikTok is designed to be mobile friendly, so the more brief and to the point you can make your captions, the more users will be encouraged to read and follow them.
- Factor #3 – Unlike other aps and social media accounts, TikTok is notorious for investing in localized results Those that ensure their location is correct and utilize localized events in hashtags and content tend to score higher in TikTok rankings and show up on more FYP’s.
- Factor #4 – Completion rate is a factor the TikTok algorithm uses. Although you may want to promote your video with the entire track available, on TikTok, you will have to bring it down to about 15 seconds at the most. Studies on TikTok show that viewers will watch the whole piece provided it is no more than 15 seconds long and as your completion rate increases, so does your ranking on the site. Keep things brief and to the point, but ensure the core value of the track is emphasized.
Utilize Chatbot Technology
If you have yet to invest your effort in creating your own chatbot, you are missing out on an amazing opportunity to reach more viewers. Chatbots are not new, but for some who are unfamiliar with the concept, it can be a little strange. When visitors to your site or users on Facebook have a question, they will message you directly. These messages can come in the middle of the night while you are unavailable and a chatbot works as kind of an online answering machine. They can answer simple questions and interact with your user without you being present and they come back to the user with an answer instantaneously.
The concept actually adds significant value to your page and shows your users you care about their questions. The chatbot can be accessed from your site or social media when they are linked together. Here is, essentially how a chatbot feature can significantly boost your band’s image and reach.
- When a user visits your Facebook page, no matter if they have an account or are using the guest feature Facebook offers, your chatbot greets them with a message as it pops up on the screen. The message can be customized to meet with your band’s genre of music of overall values.
- The bot offers basic information pertaining to your band such as lyrics, downloads, Q&As, bios of the band, or any other information you choose to offer to your guests.
- The bot can ask the user questions and gain quality intel without you or your band mates contending with any of the work.
- Finally, the chatbot can send follow up messages without your band having to foot the bill for additional ads.
Algorithmic Playlists
Spotify has done wonders for the music industry and music that makes it into Discover Weekly and Release Radar can count on a big boost in users and overall popularity. Spotify regularly monitors each time a user accesses your music and saves noted to their account, so the more hits you get on a specific track, the higher ranking you will receive. It is important that you, as a band and ultimately your own promotor, learn as much as possible about Spotify Algorithms and Organic Spotify Promotion methods. This will enhance your band’s reach and ultimately help you find that coveted spot in Release Radar and Discover Weekly.
