Author : Saxe Coulson
April 18, 2019
10 Strategies To Create A Social Media Brand
We have reached a time where anyone can create videos, take pictures, create music, create art and then share and discuss their creations with the world instantaneously. This has resulted in an overload of content and it can prove difficult for anyone to stand out. Every day an estimated 95 million photos are shared on Instagram with 100 million people using the stories feature. Facebook has over 2 billion active users with 75% of them spending over 20 minutes on the platform every day generating over 8 billion daily views with more than 100 hours of video watched.
Although we spend a tremendous amount of time watching videos on Facebook, the average person only spends 2.5 seconds with each piece of content. That could be 2.5 seconds listening to your track that is 2 minutes long or watching your latest video that is an hour long. If you’ve ever hosted a livestream, you can immediately see how short of an attention span the average user has. You may have 5, 50, or 500 people watching but many don’t stay watching for long. Many users also may not listen to your track or set for very long either. For this reason, it is essential to capture one’s attention within the first few seconds.
In order to gain the average user’s attention, your videos, pictures, music, and art all have to be not only instantly recognizable but also of high quality and shared by a trusted source. It can prove difficult at first and take time to become that trusted source but by properly developing a relationship with your audience over time and delivering quality content, you can eventually grow your brand and instill a certain level of integrity.
We put together 10 strategies to assist with branding yourself on social media whether you are a new DJ or producer or promoter and playing or organizing your first event or you are a seasoned professional with countless releases or events.
Look Towards Similar Pages
Social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter make it easier than ever to find pages that are similar to yours. If you happen to be an artist, when someone visits your page they will get recommendations to follow similar artists. The same is to be said for record labels, event pages, and promoters as well. You may already be aware of many of the most popular ones and it is still a good idea to pay attention to the content they are posting and sharing but don’t just pay attention to those that you are familiar with. Also pay attention to pages that you’ve never heard of and look at what they are posting and sharing as well. Make sure to take note of what is getting the highest level of engagement and how frequently they are posting. It can also prove highly beneficial to keep track of their growth over time. If you happen to notice over a number of months or years that they aren’t drastically increasing their followers or that their engagement hasn’t gone up, then it is obvious that their content strategy hasn’t been effective. On the other hand, if you see that the page you are following has seen a rise in their following and has seen a higher level of engagement then they must be doing something right.
Show Other Pages You Like
Not only do many social media outlets provide their own suggestions of similar pages but they also allow you to suggest other pages as well. This not only helps give fans an idea of what they can expect from your page but also helps with each social media channel’s algorithm. This is especially true with Facebook which allows you to like other pages as your own page and show fans other pages that you like. Facebook will then automatically suggest to like your page when someone visits the pages that you liked as your own page.
Create Custom Hashtags and Use Specific Ones
Hashtags can either be used to create a conversation around a certain topic, track the progress of a campaign, or to offer a discount or promotion for a product or service. Hashtags can either be unique to a certain brand or they can be related to a specific topic. When creating hashtags, it is best to either customize them or make them highly specific and relevant to the content you are posting. For example, if one was to post a picture of what they ate for dinner then instead of posting #Dinner or #Food they can post #SteakAndPotatoes. The same goes for music and events, if you want to reach the right audience, then you wouldn’t want to create a hashtag that just says #Music. It would be much better to post your music with the hashtag #IndustrialTechno so that those specifically looking for Industrial Techno will have an easier time finding your music. For events it can be better to utilize custom hashtags so that those looking for pictures, videos, information, etc. about your event can have an easier time finding whatever it is that they are looking for. This also allows people to connect with each other prior to attending your event or look for missing connections following your event.
Appeal to a Niche Audience
We all might want a million and one followers, but sometimes it is best to have 1000 dedicated followers who are highly engaged and active rather than a million who aren’t. Even if you are promoting Nutella or the new Iphone, nothing appeals to everyone. Some people don’t eat sugar and prefer Android phones. Everyone is a unique individual and therefore has different tastes and preferences. We are also tribal beings who work better in small groups and communities rather than mass congregations and major metropolises. This is why the more niche your sound and style and the more specific your event or festival, the stronger the appeal will be.
Be Very Specific in Your Description
Although some of us might like a surprise every so often, most of the time we like to have some sense of what we are getting prior to trying it out. This is because we value our time and don’t want to spend too much time scrolling through our newsfeeds, clicking on a bunch of links, and then ending up confused or disappointed or just plain mad. This is why it is best to be as specific as possible when posting new content, promoting a new page, writing your bio, or describing your event or latest release. Your fans will then be more confident that what they are about to listen to suits their tastes or the event they are about to buy tickets to will be worth the money and be an enjoyable experience. Nobody wants to feel as if their time was wasted and by providing clear and concise descriptions of both your music and your events, you can assure your audience that their time won’t be wasted in advance.
Be Consistent with Content and Artwork
Your artwork and content should be consistent across all your social media and be the right fit for that specific channel. Everything should have the same coloring, be correctly sized and positioned, and have the same design and logo. This should also carry over with any other branding efforts such as business cards, t-shirts, stickers, fliers, album covers, etc. Although the coloring and design can vary some when it comes to promoting a new EP or event, the variations should be minimal at best. This allows your audience to be able to recognize your new EP, album, event, or whatever else it is you are promoting by the coloration and/or design alone. The same can be said with any content you share as well. Although the type of content and the basis of the content can differ, the content you share should keep to a specific style and guideline.
Stylize Your Videos
Whether it is on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, the type of content that gets the most likes, shares, clicks, and comments is video. Although this might be the case, just because you create a ton of videos or share a ton of videos doesn’t necessarily mean that they will go noticed and even if someone hits the play button, it doesn’t mean that they will continue watching either. This is why it is best to first figure out the right image to present the video with and then capture your audience’s attention from the start. Just as with the rest of the content you share, your videos should be consistent and have a similar style and precedence. A great way to do this is to always have an introduction, be consistent in length, and make sure you use the same fonts and overlays each time. Also take in consideration the background and settings for your videos as well as properly tagging and announcing the location they took place in.
Create A Plan
Not everyone has the same goals and objectives when it comes to social media. Some simply want to gain more followers, some want more likes, and some want more engagement. Others are looking for something more substantial such as clicks to their website, opt-in subscribers to their newsletter or mailing list, or sales of their products or services. Regardless of one’s goals and objectives, it is best to have a set plan and create milestones in order to track your overall progression. It can also prove highly beneficial to create a social media style guide which encapsulates each one of your social media profiles, your social media voice, the type of grammar and terminology you use, the format for each post, and visual guidelines. You will also want to make note of how you use hashtags and handle competitor interactions and respond to questions. Creating a social media plan is essential to branding yourself throughout social media.
Properly Tag and Label Everything
Not only should you be specific and consistent with the descriptions and content across your various social media channels but you should be specific and consistent with labels and tags as well. Events should always be properly labeled and tagged with their location and music should always be labeled and tagged with the appropriate genre. This not only avoids any confusion as to where your event will be held or what type of music one might listen to but it also allows people to easily find and discover your event or music in case they happen to be located nearby or searching for that specific genre of music. This especially goes for underground events that are in TBA locations. If your event is in Downtown Los Angeles or in Queens, New York, someone might not want to travel all the way from San Fernando Valley or New Jersey to get there. Simply stating that your event is in Los Angeles or New York might deter someone from purchasing a ticket if they don’t know specifically what part of town your event is being held in.
Utilize All Available Tools
With so much content being produced and shared on a daily basis, it is imperative that one utilizes as many tools as they can to assist with promoting, marketing, and branding themselves throughout social media. Grammarly is a free tool that can assist with spelling and grammatical errors and it can also help to make sure that the content you are sharing is sized correctly and doesn’t contain too much text in the image either. Each social media channel has advanced search options as well that allow you to perform keyword searches to search for conversations around specific areas and topics. RiteTag’s hashtag search lets you see how specific hashtags rank on social media and BuzzSumo is a tool for you to see which articles, videos, and stories are popular around a specific genre of music or type of event. To post all your gigs or events across your social media channels, tools like Gigatools and Bandcamp are best.
There are countless tools and methods to build your following, your fanbase, and ultimately, your brand. With millions of users becoming a part of the social media frenzy on a daily basis, it is becoming harder and harder to stand out. It seems as if every other person is a DJ from your baby sister to your ninety years old grandmother. Then there are the countless record labels popping up on a daily basis from artists who’ve only released a couple EPs. Not to mention anyone who can bring more than 25 people to the club let alone 50 all of a sudden thinks they are qualified to organize their own event. This is why it is not only necessity but a requirement to properly brand yourself in order for those to recognize that you are a professional and not just some newbie who thinks Tiesto plays Techno music and Carl Cox is EDM.
To consult with those that not only know what proper Techno is but also have proven results with creating a social media brand, implementing a strategy, and coming up with a plan please reach out to info@6amgroup.com or visit www.6amgroup.com/social-media-growth-management