As a musician, it’s natural to want to grow your audience and reach as many people as possible with your music. However, many artists often overlook simple strategies that can make a big impact. It doesn’t always take the most complicated or most expensive tricks to garner some substantial growth in your audience base. In this article, we’ll explore five tactics to help you expand your audience and reach new fans.
Utilize Social Media Effectively
Social media is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reach a large audience. By sharing your music, sharing some of your personality, and engaging with your followers, you can expand your reach and connect with new fans. Here are a few tips for maximizing your social media presence:
- Consistency is key: Post regularly and consistently. Don’t post for two or three days then disappear for two weeks. Make a content calendar and make sure you have something to keep your accounts active and your audience engaged. And of course make sure your posts are high-quality and engaging.
- Utilize visuals: Posts with visuals, such as videos and images, tend to perform better on social media. But that doesn’t mean just start throwing stuff up and expect miracles. You need to think about the platform. Post different types of media on each platform and see what works. For example, if images get more engagement than videos do on Instagram, then focus more on the images.
- Interact with your followers: Respond to comments and messages, and engage in conversations with your followers. Keep them involved by making them part of the conversation instead of leaving everything one-sided.
- Collaborate with other artists: Collaborating with other musicians on social media can help you reach new audiences and expand your network. After all, you may have existing fans who may have never heard of a similar artist. You could collaborate with them to expose your fans to them and get exposure for yourselves to their fans.
Play Live Shows
Live shows are about more than making money. They are also a great way to connect with your fans and expand your audience. When you play live, you have the opportunity to connect with your fans in a meaningful way and build a strong, loyal following. If you play shows where there are multiple bands, then you are getting exposure to new potential fans. Here are a few tips for making the most of your live shows:
- Play regularly: Try to play live shows as often as possible, whether it’s at local venues or at larger festivals. There is something to be said about scarcity and maybe making your shows a special occasion by playing less, but let’s face it. The vast majority of musicians play often and do very well by doing so.
- Engage with your audience: Interact with your fans during the show and make sure to stick around after to meet and chat with them. Go hang out at the merch table and sign your merch. Take pictures with fans. Be personable.
- Offer merchandise: Offer merchandise such as t-shirts, CDs, and other items to your fans. Yes you want to sell as much as you can, but it also doesn’t hurt to toss out some freebies if you can afford it.
- Promote your shows: Make sure to promote your live shows on social media and through other channels to reach as many people as possible. This should be one of those absolute “DUH!” type things, but there are still musicians out there that just assume an event post on Facebook should be enough to bring 1000 people to see them play. Then they wonder why this other band is getting way more people coming to their shows, but never make the connection to the fact the other band PROMOTES like crazy.
Leverage Your Email List
Your email list is a valuable resource that you can use to reach your fans and expand your audience. Here are a few tips for leveraging your email list:
- Offer exclusive content: Offer exclusive content, such as early access to new music or behind-the-scenes access to your creative process, to your email subscribers.
- Send regular updates: Send regular updates to your email subscribers, and make sure to include a call to action in each email, encouraging them to share your music with their friends.
- Personalize your emails: Depending on your mailing list service, you may be able to personalize your emails by addressing each subscriber by name and including information that is relevant to them. If you can do this, even if it means paying more for that capability, then you should.
- Ask for feedback: Ask for feedback from your email subscribers, and use their feedback to improve your music and your overall audience experience.
Partner with Other Artists and Brands
Partnering with other artists and brands can help you reach new audiences and expand your reach. Yes, this is the same thing as collaboration, but earlier we only address collaborating based around social media. Here are a few tips for partnering with other artists and brands:
- Look for opportunities to collaborate: Look for opportunities to collaborate with other artists and brands on projects, such as remixes, live shows, and social media campaigns. Maybe you could arrange a special live show or set of shows where you alternate who is the headliner. Perhaps you could expand your audience by partnering with another artist in a different genre. I always think back to the “Walk This Way” remix by Run DMC featuring Aerosmith. This remix exposed fans of Run DMC to Aerosmith, and while they were in different genres, I’m sure both walked away with some new fans.
- Build relationships: Build strong, meaningful relationships with other artists and brands to establish trust and credibility. Don’t just take advantage of others willing to work with you.
- Offer value: Offer value to the other artists and brands you work with, such as sharing their music with your followers or promoting their products to your audience. Collaboration is a two-way street and will only last as long as you also provide value to the relationship.
- Find mutually beneficial partnerships: Find partnerships that are mutually beneficial and that allow both you and the other artist or brand to reach new audiences.
Invest in Your Online Presence
Investing in your online presence is
a key component of growing your audience as a musician. By creating a professional and engaging website, you can attract new fans and connect with your existing audience. Here are a few tips for investing in your online presence:
- Invest in a professional website: Your website should be professional, user-friendly, and optimized for search engines.
- Offer exclusive content: Offer exclusive content, such as behind-the-scenes access to your creative process or early access to new music, to visitors to your website.
- Utilize SEO: Utilize search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to improve your website’s visibility in search results. Check out our recent post SEO Checklist for Musicians: Maximize Your Online Reach for some ideas on how to improve your SEO.
- Incorporate social media: Integrate your social media accounts into your website to make it easy for visitors to follow you and share your music with their friends.
Conclusion
By utilizing these five tactics, you can expand your audience and reach new fans as a musician. From leveraging social media to investing in your online presence, there are many simple and effective ways to grow your audience. So don’t overlook these strategies, and start implementing them today!