Learn how to build your fan base. Here are ten tips that will help you boost fan engagement, promote your brand, and increase fans. Building a loyal fan base is essential if you want to be a successful musician. Making great music will only get you so far. You’ll also need to be savvy with marketing, branding, fan interaction, and more.

Here are ten effective tips that will grow your fan base:

BUILD A BRAND

Before you do anything else, you must first know your brand. Your brand and story will influence your music career decisions. It will guide your marketing and messaging strategy. It will also influence the way you present yourself in person and online, how you interact with fans, and more. Your brand reflects your style as much as your music!

It’s also crucial to have a vision of where you want your music career to go. So, take the time to discover what’s unique about you, your artistry, and your story. Then build your brand identity from there.

GET FEATURED ON MUSIC BLOGS

One of the biggest challenges as an artist is getting your music heard. Getting your music featured on blogs is one effective way to promote your music and reach new audiences.

Support from a music blog will help you increase exposure, establish credibility, and open new opportunities. However, it’s challenging to get your music featured on a blog. Especially with so many emerging acts striving to get heard. So, how do you submit music to a blog? And, how can you find the music blogs that will feature your music? The guide below breaks down all the essential steps of scoring a feature on a music blog.

RUN COMPETITIONS OR GIVEAWAYS

Offer incentives as a referral strategy to reach new fans. Running a competition or a giveaway is a great way to incentivize your existing fan base. Give your fans something in return for referrals.

Here are some ideas that will motivate fans to refer their friends to your music:

• Run a ‘Like and Share’ competition on Facebook. Offer a free download of your song to anyone who shares your music to ten or more people.
• Offer a free song or merch discount to anyone that subscribes to your mailing list.

CREATE VIDEO CONTENT

Videos are an effective medium for music promotion. And YouTube has become a must-use media platform for musicians.

Beyond being a video platform, YouTube has other advantages. For example, it is one of the largest search engines. People also visit YouTube first to find a song. In addition, music is the most searched topic on YouTube.

Videos also offer a different way to connect your music with fans. Plus, there’s a lot more you can do with video compared to music streaming. Here are some video content ideas:

• Official music videos: Create official videos for your music. Tag them, so they get discovered by potential fans.
• Remixes or cover songs: Showcase music inspired by other artists to reach their fan base.
• Live videos: Capture footage and audio of live performances, making music in the studio, goofing off, etc.
• Updates: Use video to share important news like an upcoming music release, tour dates, etc.
• Interviews: Develop a stronger connection with your fans through interview videos.
• Create playlists: YouTube has a playlists feature that allows you to group several videos. This feature can help keep fans watching longer.

How To Get The Most Out of Your Apple Music Account

Don’t limit yourself to YouTube. Several other video hosting platforms are also effective. For instance, Vimeo, Facebook Live and Instagram.

DISTRIBUTE YOUR MUSIC AND MERCHANDISE

Digital music distribution services help independent artists and labels get their music on major online music stores and streaming sites. These digital aggregators distribute music on iTunes, Apple Music, Spotify, Beatport, Amazon, Google Play, Pandora, and other leading music platforms. Getting your music on these platforms is a sure way to reach new fans.

Leading digital music distributors such as Symphonic Distribution, TuneCore,Digishare Africa and DistroKid also offer a suite of services and tools for artists. They provide everything needed to prepare, sell, and market your music online.

Building an official website for your brand is another effective way to offer music and merchandise. An official website should feature your artist bio, music, tour dates, images, relevant media, achievements, social media links, merch, and contact details. A successful website represents you as an artist, your brand, and musical identity.

LEVERAGE FANS OF OTHER ARTISTS

Leverage the fans of artists, venues, and brands to increase your fan base. For example, collaborate with other artists, create remixes, and play at venues with a loyal following. Tapping into other people’s audiences is an easy way to reach new fans.

Check out MADE IN GHANA Playlist

Jonilar – Made in Ghana

Listen to Made in Ghana Playlist from Jonilar.