Musicians using Social Media to Get More Fans



The introduction of social media was such a success because it gave people the platform that they needed to connect with ANYONE. No longer are people held back by the constraints of geography or even the fact that they don’t know someone. With the proper introduction anyone can connect with anyone. Most importantly it gave people the ability to connect with people that normally seemed off limits.

Kutcher used Twitter to make himself seem reachable and fans felt like they were actually interacting and communicating with someone who used to seem so far out of their reach.

Ashton had a sense of transparency with his tweets. Now, if celebrities aren’t interacting with their fan base all they’re really doing is hurting themselves. You don’t have to be some superstar celebrity to use social media to enhance your career though. By being transparent and engaging your fans using social media, you can create a dedicated fan base to help make your music career thrive.

1. Interact with them
Let me start off by saying I know I’m going to catch some flak for this next example, but come on, the girls got over 3 million fans on Facebook… the numbers don’t lie.

Ms. Cyrus (or her record label) realizes that Facebook has the largest active community on the internet right now, so what better place to get fans spreading the word, interacting, and well, feeling the love. Miley’s fan page is used to consistently update fans via the page’s wall but she takes it to the next level by actually using her fan page to stream concerts and uses Ustream to host live chats with her fans. Miley knows her fans are on Facebook. Knowing this, she’s integrating multiple ways to keep her fans informed as well as keeping them involved, on a more personal level.
While I think it’s safe to assume that Miley most likely doesn’t update her fan page herself, she also already has built a strong following. For musicians that haven’t quite hit the 3,000,000 fan mark, this is a great way to make your fans feel important and connected to you. The more connected your fans feel, the more likely they are to share your links on Facebook and go out of their way to promote you.

2. Listen to their feedback, even if you don’t ask for it

Eminem was (and still is) one of the most popular names in hip hop. Known for his “say anything” lyrics and his “I just don’t give a ****” attitude Eminem created a strong following of fans that went as far as to dress and act just like him while religiously buying his albums and attending his concerts. After 3 successful mainstream albums, Marshall Mathers began to lose his touch.

Encore was released to subpar reviews and rumors began to circulate about a potential drug addiction. After taking a 5 year hiatus, Eminem came back with Relapse - an album that was intended to get him back on his fans’ good side, explaining his drug problems and getting back to the playful, less quirky Eminem we all knew and loved. But fans still didn’t buy it. Fans hit up their social media outlets and started discussing how they wanted the old Eminem back without the accent that he used on a majority of his songs off Relapse.

Eminem listened.

After having most of what was going to be called Relapse 2 already recorded, Eminem scrapped what he had and hit the studios to begin creating what would become his 6th major label release. Recovery was both subtly and blatantly an apology to his fans.

Eminem addressed his fans displeasure with his past two albums and brought back his old style of creative, meaningful lyricism and intricate wordplay… without the accent.

See the power of fan feedback? If Eminem had never listened to his fans and used their criticism to reshape his music, he very well could have released Relapse 2 and encouraged his fans to write him off altogether. Instead, Recovery debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart and destroyed the record for best first-week sales of 2010, selling over 741,000 copies - 200,000 more than the previous record holder.

3. Be real

“It can’t just be about commerce. People want to connect with you and get to know you. They don’t want to connect with you if you’re just telling them to go buy your record. They don’t want you to be perfect, either. They want you to be real.” — Evan Greene, chief marketing officer, the Recording Academy

Mike Skinner consistently communicated with fans using @replies, gave away 3 songs to his fans via Twitter, and kept fans up to date with what he was doing even if it was simple.

Skinner may not have openly apologized for being a jackass but he also didn’t hide what fans were saying about the incident. He embraced the negative feedback and in the process made himself seem more human by being open to the criticism.

But, despite Skinner’s success on Twitter he broke the number one rule of social media: be consistent. After months of numerous updates every day, Skinner literally fell off the map and has only tweeted once, with what appears to be an automated tweet, since October 18th (that’s 8 months with just one tweet at the time this was written).

So how can you enhance your presence on the social networks you belong to? Whether you’ve already created a solid fan base or you’re just starting out your best bet is to be transparent. People have so many options of who they can connect with these days, why would they waste their time on someone who doesn’t seem real?

4. Let Your Fans Stalk You

How do you get fans to become so obsessed with you and your music that they stalk you? Let them stalk you. And that’s exactly what Mike Posner did. Posner was a busy man, working on his debut album, flying around the country to do shows and…. oh yeah… did I mention finishing up his senior year at Duke? Posner embraced his hectic schedule and created a video series called “One Foot Out The Door.” The series followed Posner around as he flew to different locations on the weekends, met up with friends in the music industry, put on high-energy shows, all while making it back in time for his exams on Monday.

Mike Posner used his interesting story to grab the attention of his fans and allowed them to be a part of his journey, even if they couldn’t physically be there with him. By providing a window into his life, fans were able to relate to him on a more personal level, creating a greater sense of appreciation for his music.

You can do exactly what Mike Posner did. Let your fans follow your journey and feel like they’re a part of it. It really doesn’t take much. Posner didn’t alter his life to create compelling video footage and he ended up coming off as a sincere, down to earth musician that was doing what he loved and wanted his fans to come along for the ride. Bring a video camera with you where ever you go. Whether you’re rehearsing, recording, or performing your music, get some footage. If you’re on tour or just playing a few gigs in your spare time, let your fans be there - even if they’re a thousand miles away.

5. Let your fans interact with each other

Dave Matthews Band is known for the strong following they’ve built around their heavy touring schedule. A DMB concert is seen as more than a concert to their fans, it’s an experience. DMB decided to create a way for fans to come together and share their experience without having to congregate at a venue. They created an iPhone app that prompted fans to sign up, giving them an identity amongst the app users, and start interacting with the band and each other. With the app fans can access the band members’ Twitter feeds, interact with each other on Twitter or in a group chat, and upload fan photos. And the fans love it.

Plenty of musicians have apps where fans can access their music, check out tour dates, read their Twitter feed, etc. but DMB took the next step and let fans access each other. As an up and coming musician you may not have the budget to create a customized app such as this but that doesn’t mean you can’t execute the same strategy with your fan base. Give your fans a place to connect, interact, and share. Whether it’s on your website, your Facebook, or encouraging fans to carpool with other fans to your shows, get your fans to come together for the sake of your music.

So now that you see the importance of engaging your fans it’s important to keep one final thought in mind: the examples above are not a “one size fits all” solution. It is important to determine how your fan base is following you and where they are most likely to interact with you and other fans. If you create an iPhone app and none of your most active fans have iPhones then what’s the point? Determine which social networks your fans are most active on and create a community that caters to their needs. Keep the conversation open, listen to their feedback and use that feedback to give them exactly what they need. Be open and transparent and your fan engagement will follow.

What are some other examples of how musicians are engaging their fans? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below!