Going Viral and Social Media Tips for Artists

We see hundreds of requests daily on what the best way to market yourself on social media is. A lot of interest comes around going viral. There are thousands of artists with millions of plays on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. You may see social media as an instant platform for success.

Having insane social media statistics can be a great benefit to an artist – it proves value and shows an established fan base. However, many artists overvalue the benefit of likes, reposts, and views in their career. While “going viral” is an end results many artist want to obtain, it is not the secret to generating a real revenue stream.

Likes, reposts, tweets, and views do not matter if those users are not converting to your content. Consider “going viral” as a “word of mouth” advertisement – it only works if those who hear it actually follow through with purchasing or streaming your content. An independent artist should not focus on likes, reposts, tweets, and views, but instead focus on how social media can be used to effectively increase sales and streams.

Our independent music marketing series will discuss social media, inbound marketing, streaming services, distribution platforms, and other ways artists can generate real revenue from their music. Interested in what Downers Club Records does for artists? Check out our service offerings.

This article is the first in our series on independent artist marketing. In this article, we’ll discuss establishing a consistent social media presence across platforms.

You’ve just recorded your first studio songs, decided upon an artist name, and you have a release schedule planned. You’ve created a music video, and you’ve told your friends, family, and peers. Maybe you’ve sent our text messages, emails. You’ve probably spoken to most of these people in person. However, you’re now ready to create social media accounts and share your music online.

Wait! Already have social media accounts? Don’t stop reading! These tips will still apply to you.

You will want to have accounts on Facebook, Instagram, SoundCloud, YouTube, Spotify, and Twitter.

But what if you don’t have music on Spotify, SoundCloud and YouTube? Still do this! You will want to get your handles and accounts established, even before your first song drops, so that you can start getting followers in anticipation of your first release!

Before picking a handle (@username), do some research and see if the handle is taken on all platforms beforehand. You will want to have the same name across platforms, so that users who find you on Twitter can easily find you on Instagram, etc.

After you have picked a handle, you will want to create consistent imaging across your accounts. You should have the same profile picture, and header image on all handles. Consistent imaging will establish you as a brand, and allow users to find your accounts without worrying they are on the wrong page. We recommend a profile picture of at least 1000 x 1000 pixels, and a header image of at least 2500 x 1500 pixels.

Next, you will want to ensure your description is consistent across platforms. For artists, we suggest a description that would be used as an artist biography on say, Spotify. The description should reference your portfolio, location, interests, and style, in a way that grabs the reader’s attention, but is not keyword heavy or unnaturally written. Attached below is the artist biography we drafted for Spell Jordan, an artist on our label.

“Spell Jordan took 2017 by storm with a series of singles and albums, notably Models, feat. Lil Xan. Spell Jordan is a twenty-one year-old Washington DC transplant. Since moving to Washington, Spell has created and built a unique following in the DMV area.”

You may need to slightly alter the text length depending on the platform, however, the general message should remain consistent.

After you have created an account on all platforms, with consistent imaging and text, you are ready to convert users from social media to your other social media platforms and music. On platforms such as YouTube, Spotify, and SoundCloud, you can add link to your social media platforms; do so. This will allow users who find your music on streaming sites and social media platforms to easily find and follow your online.

Next, you will want to create a landing page for any content you have online. We recommend using https://toneden.io. You will want to create a “Fan Link” for your music, similar to https://fanlink.to/spelljordan. Read more about setting up a Fan Link here.

Once you have the https://fanlink.to URL, set it as your “website” on all social media platforms.

For your first post, we suggest sharing this Fan Link! See our sample post:

Check out my new music available on all platforms 👇
https://fanlink.to/linkname

You’ve now set up your properly branded accounts!

In the next article, learn what to do after your accounts are set up and your music is ready to drop!