We break down the best ways to fire up your social media strategy and grow your music career.

Whether you’re a new independent music maker or a seasoned artist, getting your music in front of the right people is tough. Promoting your new track, pitching for gigs and managing your social media, all while trying to find time to make music — it can be exhausting.

And while there’s no silver bullet to nailing your social media strategy, getting it right can be the make (or if you get it wrong — break) of your career.

Here are our tips for firing up your social media strategy and growing your music career.

Develop Your Brand

When starting out as a new independent artist, it’s easy to fall into the trap of emulating artists you admire. The way they look, talk and sound on social media, their visual identity and the types of content they’re putting out into the world. But finding your own voice and building your own brand identity is what can set you apart from the rest – the best artists in history all had their own unique brand and way of identifying with their audience.

Your brand should aim to add another layer of experience to your work beyond your music. Think about what story you want to tell. How do you want your fans to feel when engaging with you? Whatever it is, your fans should be able to feel part of your tribe. It should feel effortless, accessible and create a sense of community for anyone listening to your music.

“What makes a truly unique artist great, is their ability to recognise their sound and talent, then play by their own rules, Rebecca Preuss, former Managing Editor at MTV, tells us. “Personal brand is important, so those who draw inspiration from others but then aren’t afraid to create their own vision and run with it, are usually the ones that find success.”

Choose Your Key Platforms

With so many social media platforms to choose from, it’s important to identify the key platforms for communicating with your fans and know where to focus your energy. Do your research and find out where you’ll reach the most new listeners. Are they spending time on Twitch? Is your genre popular on Twitter? Don’t just hunt numbers, look for qualified listeners. These are the fans that have the potential to stay with you throughout your career.

Target Niche Communities

Trying to reach as many people as possible with your music is not always the best strategy for growing your music career. Start by arming yourself with the insights you need to target the right listeners — you can learn about your audience with tools like Facebook’s Audience Insights or YouTube’s Official Artist Channel platform.

Once you know who you’re targeting, start actively engaging with them across the different social media platforms. Start conversations, share your tracks and ask for feedback.

Engage With Your Fans

Social media algorithms generally prioritise accounts that have high engagement rates, meaning your posts become more visible in your fans’ news feeds the better your content performs. Try to make each social media post as valuable for your audience as possible. And don’t forget to tag all the artists, labels, venues and managers who are involved in the projects you’re posting about. This will increase the reach of your posts by appearing on the pages of the people you’ve tagged.

But engaging with your fans doesn’t start and end with your content. It might seem like a no-brainer, but don’t overlook the importance of engaging with your fan’s content too. If they tweet about your track, like it. If they post a Story listening to your song, write back to it. Responding to your fans when they reach out to you is a way to create a meaningful two-way relationship with them — building them into more loyal fans in the long-run.

Personalise Your Content

2019 is all about “peeling back the polish” on your social media. Fans are looking for a way to connect with you, and they’re looking for artists that feel more relatable and less frigid that the major label artists of the past. With this change comes an air of authenticity, and a demand for honest content. Feeling some self doubt about your new single? Tell your fans how you’re feeling and ask for feedback on a snippet from the track. Just played an epic live show? Share some photos of your fans in the front row. Giving your fans access to your world by posting content that shows your personality will give you a more engaged and loyal fan base.

– Amuse