This is a video series I did on Youtube, that I am now sharing with my podcast audience where you can learn how to promote your music on Twitter.
I will also fill you in on why you should use Twitter over Facebook when you are marketing your music. Here I will show you the quicker benefits that come with marketing your music with Twitter.
So what is Twitter and how can it help me promote my music?Twitter is described as a microblogging platform.
I like this explanation the best. So musicians like to use it as a broadcasting medium or people like to use it as a networking social tool.
When Twitter launched in 2006 it went under some drastic growth.
There are so many different niches of people on here that are interested in hip hop music and are listening to hip hop music from created by your idols.
So this means that there is a hungry audience for hip hop music on here waiting for the next hip hop artist to break or the latest mixtape to drop.
So off the bat, we know there is target market here on Twitter to promote our music too.
Why start with Twitter to promote your music over the other social channels?
This is one of the first music marketing strategies for rappers. Having your own website is like building your own home.
A Website Is Basecamp.Yes, you will need social networking websites to help promote your music as well.
But I fear that too many rappers abandon their own websites because social networking websites appear FREE.
You don’t own or control your Facebook Page.
It belongs to Facebook.You are just allowed to use your Facebook page. Myspace is always the example people use to prove that Social Networking Sites can lose their appeal.
The main goal with all your social networks should be to bring your audience back to a social hub where the focus 100% on your music.
Musicians should always be building their
newsletters and email lists.
Another reason I urge musicians not to use
Facebook first is due to the Fact that you have to build a following first before you can get any traction on Facebook.
Every time you have to either steal your followers from other social sites and bring them to your Facebook or you have to pay Facebook to advertise your artist Fan Page.
Facebook always finds some way of funneling you down the path paying them to progress. #musicmarketing
What Makes Twitter Any Different ? GOOD QUESTION !
From my experience with Twitter I feel due to its more open nature and much more social experience, it feels like one giant forum with many different conversations.
I remember on some music business podcast someone said “Twitter is Giant Cocktail Party” with many different conversations happening at one time.
You just need to find the fans of the genres of music you like and start diving into conversations right here.
Where it is much more socially acceptable to start discussions or partake in discussions on Twitter.
How to find music related discussions on Twitter?
Start using the hashtags that people in your music niche would use when they are promoting their music.
#hiphop #mixtape #datpiff #dropamixtape #newsong #singer
These hashtag give you the ability to locate other fans that have a similar taste in music that you create.
These are they type of people that you want to get as fans to follow
your Twitter account back.
Then after you have built up a sizeable following of Twitter fans, just start micro blogging or start creating conversations that people will join in too.
How can I build a fanbase on Twitter in a quicker time frame?
A fast method for building an audience on Twitter is to use the follow for follow method with similar targeted people that are likely to listen to your music and engage with your content.
When you start following these targeted people on Twitter a certain percentage of them will follow you back.
This method works on Twitter much more effectively as it more socially accepted for random people follow each other, where with Facebook I already mentioned that it’s a tad bit too personal now follow people you don’t.
The follow for follow method on Twitter is the easiest place for musicians to build a targeted audience.
This method for building a music fan’s base only works if you are super specific with the types of people that you want to attract.
It's pointless to start following random people that have no interest in hip hop music or the genre of music that create.
The people you follow in the follow to follow method have to be hyper-target people so make
sure to build a persona of your ideal fan. Then you need to start following people that are similar to that persona on Twitter.
TOOLS TO HELP BUILD A MUSIC FAN BASE
ON TWITTER {FASTER}
SOCIAL CALL TO ACTION TRAFFIC JACKER
This has to be one of the coolest tools out there on the web.
Sniply enables you to create a little pop up message to be added to any link you send out on social media.
This tool is great for promoting new mixtapes , free beats , squeeze pages and building a following on social media.Watch My Video Tutorial For More Information
SOCIAL CONTENT LOCKER
This WordPress plugin enables you to lock certain content like free beats or mixtapes, in exchange for a social follow or social shares.
This a great tool for spreading the word about your website.
Also I found it quite useful for building up my social followers on twitter and promoting new blogposts.
Twitter is a big place. How do I shift through the noise to find the the right music fans ?
One of my favourite features of Twitter is the Twitter advanced search feature. Very few musicians actually use this to it’s full potential.
This will narrow your search down for the right music genre fans, help you find hashtags that you ideal fans use and help you laser target your conversations with the right people.So if we use J Cole fans as an example.
If you make rap music similar to that of J Cole, and you want to find similar people that are fans of J Cole, try and put yourself in the mindset of that fan.
- What are the words people would use in their Tweet about J Cole’s music?
“I love J Cole’s New Album”Listening to J Cole on {Itunes, Spotify , Soundcloud etc}
My favorite J Cole Song is …...
What are the words that J Cole fans would put their biographies on Twitter?
J Cole
Coleworld
Listening to J Cole
Favourite J Cole Album
Biggest J Cole Fan
What hashtags would J Cole’s Fans use in Tweets about his music?
#coleword #jcole #listeningtojcole #newjcolealbum
These lists can be endless. You just need to sit down and think of musicians that make similar music to the music you make.
Once you have established who your audience, then it’s much easier to find them on Twitter. Now you can attract them to your music and incorporate them into your music marketing strategy on Twitter.
I understand that this seems like a lot of work for any musician to do.
But from my experience with rap artists online, the one common mistake
that they make with learning to market their music on Twitter is that they just follow everyone on Twitter.
This is a huge mistake because they are targeting people that have no interest in the music that they make.
They end up with hundreds of followers that have no interest in hip hop music or the music that they make.
This a huge waste of time, counterproductive and doesn’t help you reach your goal which to promote your music on Twitter.Laser Targeting Music Fans On Twitter
Using Twitter As Music Networking Tool With Music Blogs?
Twitter, in my opinion, is an amazing tool to help you network with the right blogs in your music niche.
These blogs have huge audiences and are super influential{ I have a blog post here on how to get featured on rap blog read more here. }
When you learn how to interact with the top music bloggers in your niche, and you find ways to get into their sphere of influence {get chatting to them on Twitter}, they will be naturally curious about what music you make.
DON’T SPAM MUSIC BLOGGERS ON TWITTER !!!!!!
Just by joining in their conversations is enough to get in front of them and the audience that is also taking part in the discussion.
It’s not the easiest form of music promotion.
Networking with music bloggers is hard work and very time-consuming.
But you have to think about longer term goals.
If you network with hip hop blogger and the have influence on major rap blogs, the potential reward is worth the wait.
Influence Is Earned…..
One of biggest mistakes musicians make with marketing their music on Twitter is the level of SPAM.Send unsolicited links of your music to any music blogger is a super waste of time and nobody takes spammers seriously.
I am not saying I am perfect, back the day I will hold my hand up and say that I made these mistakes when I started off with Myspace.com.And at that time it got me absolutely nowhere.
Using other people's influence to promote your music is GROWTH HACKING 101 {AND BOOTSTRAPPING 101}
Why do so many industry rap artists collaborate with one another?
The simple answer is value exchange!
Rapper X has Influence e.g. Large Fan Base, Connections, Marketing Team
Rapper Y has a hit song ready to launch.
Rapper X + Rapper Y = Collab + Value Exchange + Success
Using other people's influence is the fundamentals of any business.
Even though Real Estate agents compete with one another, from time to time they will merge for the greater good of both companies.
Sometimes you just have to get burned to know not what to do.
So hopefully some of the musicians reading this blog post that want to learn how to promote their music with Twitter, will learn from the mistakes that I made.
I really hope they do more productive music promotion with their time on this social platform.
How the hell can I find all these
hip hop blogs and rap music bloggers?
If you subscribe to my blog I give all my subscribers my hip hop blogs cheat sheet which is a list of 700+ rap blogs.
This list has detailed information on rap blogs and the links to their social profiles.
This is one of my golden nuggets that I give out my blog to my subscribers. I can be very hard grunt work trying to do all of this on your own.
So I would strong urge musicians to get help with any influencer outreach.
Not every music blogger is going to reach out with open arms even if you follow the rules.
Plus most musicians will take it to heart when they are ignored or turned down.
This is the main reason I urge you to hire help with influencer out in your music marketing efforts on Twitter.
Hiring short term help from sites like Upwork and Freelancer or Fiverr.com, you will gain that person's outreach experience, and they don’t have any emotional attachment to the music.
So they will just move on until the find influential music bloggers on Twitter that will work with you.
These include trying to network with the big rap music blog’s like 2 Dope Boyz, Uproxx, DJ Booth, Stop The Breaks and DIY CD Baby.
HACK TIME !!!! How To Use The DM Feature On
Twitter To Promote Your Music The Right Way.
The DM feature {DIRECT MESSAGE} has to be one most misunderstood tools on Twitter.
So many musicians use this tool for blatant spam use.
Any the DM feature is an amazing conversation starting tool with new fans of your music and influential people that follow you.You can see that musicians you fill it with thousands of links and for spam purposes.
When you send new followers a link to your music right of the bat on Twitter in a DM you basically tell your new follower that you have no interest engaging with them and you just want them to listen to your music.
This is a shitty and a lazy way of introducing yourself to new fans.You wouldn’t just walk up to people in a music conference or music event and just say these words to strangers in the real world.
Then why do the same thing on Twitter!
Start using the DM feature as an Icebreaker. In fact, I have a video called the Ice breaker method where you can learn how I use the DM feature as a conversational starter in my music marketing efforts on Twitter.
The main way I use the DM feature to promote my music is like using it as a private social email. So my business with new fans or up and coming rappers isn’t pasted all over Twitter.
Sometimes people like to be more open with discussions in a more discreet way and the DM feature gives you this ability.
The main point to take with the DM feature is to try and act a little more professional and think of the way you would like to be approached on Twitter.Behind most Twitter profiles are people typing so speak to them as if you speaking people in the real world.
This will be a 3 part series on the mixtape marketing podcast so tune in for more information on how to use Twitter to market your music.
Also make sure that you check out the Twitter music marketing machines course and the free Twitter music marketing course to help you find the right tools to help with your music promotion on Twitter.
