How to Leverage Social Media Like A Pro

So, you found your passion. And you’re ready to follow it. What’s next?

It is absolutely imperative that you form a solid understanding of how to

          Market yourself

          Run a business

          Communicate with your supporters.

Without these things, your art will exist only for yourself. This is great if you prefer it this way, but if your goal is to actually make a living doing what you love, it is essential that you grasp the following:

Your audience is your business, and without an audience you have no business.

Far too many creators continue to ignore this simple and unavoidable fact. The traditional music industry has changed dramatically in recent years; there has been a complete paradigm shift, in which the only way to monetize your art is to establish a relationship with your audience.

In order to make profits, you need to grow your follower base. Treat yourself as a business. This means committing yourself to increase your number of followers on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. This means drafting a captivating mailing list.

Why is it so vital that you expand your foundation of supporters? Here are seven things it will allow you to do:

• Ignore bad distribution deals from greedy executives.
• Expedite your crowdfunding efforts.
• Sell directly to those who already love your work.
• Stop asking permission to create.
• Have the independence to leverage deals.
• Directly engage with your supporters.
• Spread the word about your work to and through followers.

There is truly only one way to succeed as a digital creator. You need to concentrate on cultivating a base of devoted supporters who admire your work and are willing to pay for it.

Start by creating a website with a store, a blog, contact and about page. Next, if you haven’t already, set up a FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and LinkedIn that focus on your art. Then, post new content frequently and consistently.

Next, set strategic goals for yourself on all of these platforms. Develop a definite plan that will help you reach them, then go for it.

Here are some potential goals:

• Post 50 articles on your blog.
• Share at least one video every week on YouTube.
• Reach 2,000 likes on Facebook by reaching out to fans and adding new friends to your page. Don’t forget to provide updated YouTube links to your page. Consider paying for advertisements.
• Reach 2,500 Twitter followers by following others, retweeting applicable content, and posting enticing, relative and shareable content.
• Set your mailing list goal to 3,000 subscribers. This may be the most important platform.

Email marketing is an indispensable tool. It is one of the easiest and most personal ways you can engage with supporters, compared to FaceBook or Twitter. Once you have a supporter’s email address, you can continue to reach out to them in the future. Give them quality content over email, not junk. Subscribers are potential sales. 

Incorporate enticing magnets into your emails to draw people in. Free downloads on your music and discounts on your store are just a few examples. I recommend Mail Chimp to maintain a professional appearance, plan statistically, and monitor the impact of your efforts.

Don’t underestimate the power of social media.

Big corporations, producers, and intermediates lack the ability to connect with your supporters. But as a passionate individual who recognizes the power of marketing yourself, you can create a relationship with your fanbase by providing something of value to them.

In closing, it’s important to remember that your supporters are people, not numbers. The relationships you can build with them are much more valuable than any monetary gain they might bring you, but they can help you survive financially as an artist, too.

This post was inspired by How To Sell your Movie, a course that teaches filmmakers how to get paid for their work.