Have you ever scrolled through Instagram and stumbled across someone that eventually became a regular artist on your playlist? Has YouTube ever introduced you to new artist by recommending someone’s music video? As more and more people join different social media platforms, apps such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have grown to be more than just places to show off your aesthetically pleasing coffee from brunch. Many businesses and influencers use social media to promote their brand, and musicians are doing the same. While an overnight sensation such as Justin Bieber or Lil Nas X is very rare in the music industry, social media is a very helpful tool in accomplishing that goal, as long as it is used properly. If you are an artist interested in learning how to promote your music on social media, the following tips should give a little insight on how these platforms can be used to your advantage.

Advertising your Music

Have you ever seen ads on Instagram or Facebook advertising an artist’s new release? Multiple artists make use of these platforms to promote their music as it is a very simple and quick way to reach multiple people at once. If you are looking to gain more downloads and streams for your music, social media can expose your content to new listeners.

One of the most important parts in advertising is directing your audience straight to your music. While this could mean purchasing advertisements or attaching a Spotify link in your bio, you want to make sure that potential new listeners do not have to hunt to find your content. People lose interest if they have to click through multiple links to reach your content, resulting in a loss of audience and potential revenue. Directing your target audience straight to your music will maintain their interest and will gain you more engagement faster.

Another important tip is to personalize your brand and connect with your fanbase through your social accounts. Rather than making your audience feel as if you are delivering a sales pitch, take advantage of the way in which social media can establish connections between different people. Many artists such as Lauv and Sabrina Carpenter use their social media to share raw demos of their music, covers of other songs, or simple selfies providing their followers with a life update. These kinds of posts not only establish more personal connections between the artist and their listeners, but also humanize the artist by showing how they go about their daily life outside of performing and touring. People are more likely to pay attention to people that they can relate to, and social media is a great way to show your audience how you can connect to them.

Gaining Exposure for your Music Video

There are multiple small artists out there who only get a couple hundred or thousand views on their music videos on YouTube. However, it is possible to gain millions of views on YouTube, thus generating an audience for your music and launching your career in the industry. Firstly, before releasing a music video, you should advertise its release to gain interest and anticipation. Releasing the video after releasing the official audio will draw more attention from the audience you have already established, as people will be interested to see a visual representation of what they are hearing.

It is also advisable to use other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to promote the video. Post a short engaging clip from the music video or take a simple screenshot with the release date to let your audience know when the video will be released. This will generate excitement and your video will gain more views if people are aware that it is coming. Sharing your video on other platforms can also expand your audience. Platforms such as Reddit or Twitter have millions of users online, meaning multiple opportunities for your video to gain more views. One way to get your music video out there is to upload it on a subreddit that relates to your music or yourself as an artist. People that follow these threads are more likely to enjoy your content, thus they will provide you with the engagement that you want on your music video. Twitter is also a great way to connect with other people and ask for support. A simple DM asking for some support could go a long way, as many people can view your content through retweets and sharing.

Another great way to gain exposure for your music video is by making use of people that already have a large audience. In the music industry, who you know can push your career forward, so having connections to influencers or other popular artists can help attract a larger audience to your content. By asking these people for support or even paying for their cameo in your video, this could open up your music to their audience and thus gain more engagement from their fans. Gaining exposure for your music video will in turn, gain you an audience for your music. These viewers should be able to access the audio directly from the video while they are still interested in the music. This can be facilitated by providing the links in the description bar for different streaming and downloading platforms, or an official website for your artistry. Overall, music videos are a great way to reach the public and raise awareness for yourself as an artist. If advertised properly, it is possible to gain a large audience from one video for your song.

Picking the Right Audience

Social media is a great way to advertise to the general public, but it is very important to keep in mind that everyone has different tastes. When promoting your music, target the people that are most likely to enjoy your music. A pop artist will not get as many listens if they advertise to an audience that mostly listens to heavy metal or indie music.

When posting links on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or Youtube, be sure to leave descriptive keywords in the description bar and title to attract the type of audience that will likely engage with your music. This way, more people within your target demographic will easily find your content and will be more likely to interact with your social media.

Overall, social media is revolutionary in terms of personal branding and promotion, however it is important to make use of it wisely in order to successfully reach your target audience. Through these tips, it will be much easier to promote your music to the public and eventually your fanbase will grow as more people discover and interact with your music.