Guest Post: 3 Ways Songwriters Can Effectively Use Social Media

3 Ways Songwriters Can Effectively Use Social Media
By Adam York

As a songwriter, you want your music to be heard. And while there are several channels available to showcase your work these days, social media is among the most beneficial and under-utilized methods. So how can you creatively and effectively use social media to gain attention without taking your shameless promotion too far? Here are a few thoughts to consider:

Scope Your Audience

Not only do you need to know your audience, but you also need to know where they are. Are you trying to reach teens or young adults? If so, you’ll definitely need to be familiar with Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Wanting the attention of women? You’ll need to cleverly figure out ways to utilize Pinterest. Looking to engage with companies or platform personalities? Twitter can be the best channel in this scenario. Ultimately, don’t just depend on Facebook. You’ll definitely want to have a good presence on Facebook, but don’t overlook other social media channels where your efforts might have a better return.

Strategy Is a Must

Once you have a good grasp on your audience and where they are, you’ll need to come up with a social media strategy. Research what artists and songwriters are doing to engage with people through social media channels. Then cleverly craft your own style and methods into posts, videos, images that will help promote your personal brand and art. Make sure your strategy includes a variety of content from videos of your work, pictures of your journey, links to your music, dates of performances, and so forth. Even more, make sure you are engaging with your audience. Comment back, follow other artist/writer pages, offer giveaways, and so much more. Above all, make sure to engage with fans and followers.

Sell a Quality Product

Whatever you do, make sure that whatever you are promoting or sharing is of the highest quality. Your audience can’t be fooled—they can tell if something is worth the listen, share, or view. When you create videos, make sure the audio and visual quality is top-notch. Invest in a good graphic designer or graphic design program when creating flyers, memes, or album artwork/packaging. And, if you’re even slightly questionable or concerned about whether something is of a good audio or visual quality, don’t hesitate to ask others for honest feedback.

These three factors are only a starting point, but if you can at least get a good handle on the basics, you’ll be able to enhance the details as you go along. Don’t be afraid of a little shameless promotion. Those who make constant efforts to be seen and heard will always benefit from the hard work.

ADAM YORK is the Director of Young Alumni Programming at Belmont University. Among his responsibilities is keeping Belmont alumni engaged and connected through social media channels. Adam has provided consultation and strategy for various social media platforms and organizations in the Nashville area including the publishing, music, and marketing industries. Connect with Adam via Twitter.

No