Today, I want to discuss how to quickly get started using Facebook to help market you and or your band.
Facebook is the most widely used social network platform online today; however, it is the most unused for bands and musicians alike. I’d like to give you some quick stats on Facebook, and then you can re-evaluate how important this social media outlet is.
Currently Facebook:
- Has over 1 Billion users
- is the second most popular internet site after Google
- about 50% of users login on any given day
- about 70% of users are outside the United States
- average user spends about 700 minutes (~12hours) a month on Facebook
- Facebook receives over 50 million status updates a day
Now, after seeing some of those stats, why in the world would you not want to use Facebook?! Facebook should be your number 1 social medial outlet, and one of your biggest online marketing tools!
Facebook Profile Types: Personal vs. Brand Page
There are two types of pages that you can create when using Facebook: a personal page and a fan page. Many of you reading this most likely have a personal page, and that’s great, as you must have a personal page in order to administrate and create a fan page (if you don’t have one, go create one now, its fast and easy, and you can connect with your friends!). There are pros and cons to each type of page. For example, a personal page is limited to 5,000 friends, where as a fan page has no limit, and in order to become the next worldwide sensation, you will want more than 5,000 fans! Lastly, and most importantly, a fan page gives access to Facebook analytics (Facebook insights), where as a personal page does not.
Overall Benefits to using the Fan Page:
- Can pin posts on timeline (pinned post will stay on top of page for 7 days)
- Can highlight posts (highlighted post becomes full width of page, instead of staggered, to stand out)
- Creates a unique experience for the visitor (general theme compare to personal page)
- Access to FaceBook Insights
- Unlimited fan base
Note: It is a good idea to start by inviting all of your personal friends to your band’s fan page, and who knows, maybe your friends will have friends that like you. And if you are a band, invite all your band members’ friends…starting to see the bigger picture (remember the last post about social media marketing for bands and musicians?)
What Should I Put On My Band Facebook Page?
Obviously, you want to capture you or your band’s voice. You want to give the viewer an inside look, or behind the scenes story, of what you and your band do.
Some possible ideas you should include:
- Studio session time
- Song info (lyrics, key, effects, etc)
- Release dates
- Tour dates
- Equipment used
- Sources of inspiration
- People involved in project (photographer, videographer, artist, producer, who helped with lighting/sound)
- Shout out to fans
- Interviews with band members or others involved in the project
- Trivia about current or past project
These are just some of the ideas to help get you started. Just remember, to always keep posts short and sweet!! Simplicity is key! indie band
Also, remember to include any photos, videos, or links to help your post stand out and keep your audience engaged!
Facebook Post Creation Guidelines for Musicians
Keep it short and simple! (People want info as quick as possible!)
- 100-250 characters = more likes, comments, shares
- 80 characters or less = 23% more interaction
Keep it professional or the same general tone throughout your posts
- Don’t act one way, and then change you tone on a different post
Include links!
- Don’t shorten on Facebook – use full length site names (ex: https://www.collegetransferstudent.com)
Include photos and videos
- photos and videos get an average of 30% more interaction on posts
Engage your fans
- Asking questions gets an average of 92% more comments on posts
Calls to action
- Fans like posts 3 times more when asked
- Fans comment on posts 3 times more when asked
- Fans share posts 7 times more when asked
What Time Should I Post On Our Facebook Page?
Timing is a big part on how many views your posts gets. Facebook receives the highest user usage at 11 am, 3pm, and 8pm Eastern Standard time. The highest usage is 3pm ET on weekdays, and absolute highest at 3pm ET on Wednesdays; the absolute lowest being Sunday.
General guidelines:
- Post at top of the hour for most impressions/interaction/views
- Post in the morning = 40% more engagement
- Release major stories early in the morning
Facebook has a helpful tool that allows you to schedule your posts, so you can post at high traffic times, even if you are not available to post yourself. There are other useful external apps available such as hootsuite or buffer, that allow you to schedule posts on just about every social media account you have (can be very helpful and I highly recommend).
It is also important to note that you should only post 1 or 2 posts a day, as any more than that will not get as much interaction. So, it is okay to write out several posts, but schedule them in an appropriate way to get the max benefit and impression.
What do Facebook “Likes” really mean?
Getting a “like” doesn’t necessarily mean you created an awesome post. The average post is seen by 10 percent of you fans, and the average number of likes is usually less than 1 percent of your total fan base.
Let me quickly demonstrate:
Ex) . You have 1000 Fans
10% see your posts – 100 Fans
1% register a “like” – 10 Fans
Total impressions = 100
So, as you can see in the example, out of your 1000 fans, 10% saw your post, and only about 1% liked your post. BUT…likes aren’t as important as views.
Views = Impressions
Impressions are how many people saw or scrolled over your post. Essentially, more people saw your post, and are more likely to engage with you in some other way either now or in the future (by liking or following you, going to a live show, downloading a song, buying merchandise, etc…). So, this is why short and sweet, adding media such as photos or vids, and having links will help you achieve many more impressions!
Facebook Contests for Bands and Musicians
Contests are a great way to get more impressions and increase your overall engagement. This can be anything from giving away albums, free downloads, merchandise, and tix, or having your fans help you with something such as cover art or best cover of one of your songs (the list can go on and on)
However, you must make sure to remember the following, as Facebook has rules:
- You cannot ask for submissions or votes via likes or comments
- All contests and giveaways must be administered within Facebook
- You must notify winner(s) via direct message or email
How to Increase Your Facebook Engagement with Fans?
One of the best ways to increase your engagement, is by asking your fans questions. Ask for likes, comments, or shares. Ask for their support to help choose the next single release, art work, or whatever comes to mind (let them interact and help their favorite band). After a fan has submitted their idea, or shared, or commented on a post, give them a virtual “high five” by liking thier response or giving them a thank you comment. Reward your fans for their support by giving shout outs or giving them free downloads.
Another great way to increase you engagement and overall impressions, is by advertising yourself to fans of similar artists (more on that further down).
What is Facebook Edgerank?
Facebook edgerank, is an algorythm that determines what populates, or shows up, in you newsfeed. The more popular a post is, the higher it ranks. Each Facebook user has a personalized newsfeed depending on their interests and engagement with various pages, friends, posts.
There are 3 things that determine edgerank:
- Affinity – The relationship between the friend and user
- Weight – The type of story (is there rich media, number of likes/comments/shares, how much interaction there is)
- Time – The time/action a like or comment was made (how relevant – 1 hour vs a few days, weeks, etc)
How do I Improve my Edgerank?
- Post content that’s relative, engaging, and timely
- Use photos, graphics, and vids whenever possible
- Use time based words like “today”
- Put fans in charge occasionally (involve fans in deciding new single/artwork)
- Target status updates (local, regional)
- Diversify your content (“How To” vids, photos, interviews, releases, sneak peaks, etc)
By doing any or all of the above mentioned, you will increase your overall engagement and impressions!
Promoting Posts
Another way to help increase your overall impressions and engagement, is to promote posts. Promoted posts are seen by more and appear higher in people’s newsfeeds. Promoting a post, allows your post to be viewed by more of your friends and fans instead of relying solely on hoping they see it. Promoting a post will involve payment though, so make sure the posts you choose to promote have amazing content!
Using Facebook Ads for Musicians
After promoting posts, comes a very powerful tool that can help you reach more people than you ever thought possible. However, before we can discuss the what and how of Facebook ads, we must first ask what exactly are you trying to accomplish with the ad.
Define Objective(s)
- Do you want more likes?
- Do you want to expose more people to your music?
- Do you want to sell more merchandise?
- Do you want more website traffic?
Whatever you are looking to accomplish, always define it first!
Creating a Facebook Ad
To start creating an Ad, the first thing you will need to decide is where you want the ad to link to; is it a facebook page or an external line (your website)?
Then, you will have to choose one of Facebook’s 3 goal options:
- Get more page likes
- Promote page posts
- Advanced options
Numbers 1 and 2 are called CPM (cost per 1000 impressions). These are based on the number of people that see your post. Number 3 is CPC (cost per click). In this option, you have to pay for each click on the ad, however, a click doesn’t guarantee a converted like, download, sale, etc. The advance option (CPC) is more expensive, so if you are just starting out, choose option 1 or 2 first.
Basic Ad Construction
There are 3 components to a Facebook ad.
They are:
- Handle
- Text
- Image
The handle is your tagline to quickly get someone’s attention; it is the Call to Action. This is limited to 25 characters, so be creative but to the point.
The text is exactly what you think. It is the body text of the ad. This is limited to 90 characters, and should should describe whatever it is your offering.
The image is what people will see on the ad. Make sure to choose something that is eye catching, but reflects you. This is limited to 72px by 100px.
After you have made the ad, you will have to choose you audience. Facebook allows you to hyper target based on lots of criteria (location, age, gender, interests, other bands/musicians like you in sound/style/genre, etc).
Lastly, you will have to schedule the amount you want to pay and over what timeframe you want the ad to run.
Facebook Marketing for Bands Summary and Take-Aways
Overall, Facebook is an amazing tool for bands and musicians to help get their name out there and directly reach their audience. If you follow the above guidelines, you will definitely notice some great improvement in the number of impressions and amount of engagement with your fans. With the use of ads, you should be able to greatly improve your fan base from just you local friends to around the world. Just remember, when posting or creating ads, always keep it short, sweet, and simple. People have a short attention span, so get right to the point and always use photos and videos (whenever possible) to help you and your post stand out. Make your content interesting and engaging, and don’t forget to ask your fans questions or their opinions. When people visit your artist fan page, it should be a unique experience that reflects a centralized theme. Now, you should have a basic understanding of what you need to do to effectively create compelling content on Facebook.
Until next time…