By Owen Kelly of The Indie Digest. Follow him @ojkelly.
Twitter provides a unique opportunity to everyone that has never really existed before. Not only do you have the ability to follow every minute detail of your favourite band, but you can also have a conversation with them.
It’s often been said that twitter is like a bar full of people. You can listen or jump in with any conversation at the bar. Keep this in mind when you tweet.
If you just blurt out “Click here to see my new video!” Then you closely resemble the people handing out crappy pamphlets at the train station, that end up in the bin seconds later.
Anyone attempting to promote a product, be it a song, CD, or even a book, needs to be aware the usual rules do not apply on Twitter. It has evolved with its own set of rules and etiquette. To successfully promote your product you need to be aware of a few things.
Be human.
Most importantly, drop the advertising tone. With the sheer amount of advertising we are all slammed with each day, most people especially online have developed a sixth sense, so to speak, to ignore advertising.
The rise, social acceptance, and in part necessity, of social networks has primed us for reading small bit sized “status updates” of our friends daily lives. Tweets are very much the same thing, just more publicly accessible.
As a band, you have absolutely no reason not to capitalise on this. It is a very powerful tool when used correctly. There is however, a right way, and a wrong way to do this.
The two following tweets put it in a pretty black and white manner.
@SomeBandOnTwitter
Listen to my new single “My New Song” now! [link]
@kmillerheidke
Keir and I have to learn Walking on a Dream for a thing tomorrow. It has nearly killed our marriage.
The first tweet has no real value or hook. It also has a very cold and promotional tone. Sure there is a link. But we see links everywhere, why would your (potential) fan want to click it? Oh you have a new song do you. Well so does everyone. Why is yours important to me?
The second tweet is not only humorous, but also interesting. It works on everything that makes a tweet good. This tweet doesn’t link to anything. Its not trying to sell. Merely to inform.
Now, you can actually get away with using the first tweet, just not very frequently. If you fill your stream up with tweets like the first, then you are really of no value to any of your followers. What are you giving them besides something they, presuming they are fans, already have?
What’s worse, is spamming random people. As the old saying goes, you only get out what you put in. The first tweet is not adding much, the second is.
Don’t Spam your new song/video
Whilst many of you may want to try and show everyone your new song or video, consider it from their perspective. As normal humans in a modern society we are constantly bombarded with advertising whereever we go. Some places its acceptable, twitter is definitely not one of those places.
Twitter works on our desire to be social, to keep up with what’s going on with people we care about. This doesn’t mean you cant promote what you’re doing, you should. The way you do it however, is of the utmost importance.
Remember the first tip ‘Be Human’. Well if your stream is full of tweets that are human and interesting then, believe it or not you can get away with a “New song – [link]” style tweet. The real trick is not to actively sell the link. By which I mean don’t use words like ‘Now’, ‘Click Here’ and my probably the most overused ‘Check Out.’ Not to mention avoid exclamation points if you can!
Twitter is like one big Publicity Campaign
If you need convincing about whether or not to use twitter as a band, treat it like a publicity campaign. And give it as much, if not more, time and energy than you would a traditional publicity campaign.
Regular tweeting is an investment, of both your time and energy. It also a major investment to your public profile, and can have great returns. This goes for everyone, not just bands.
By keeping regular updates on your twitter, you are staying fresh in the minds of your followers. In the same advertising methodology that sees hundreds of ads for Coke every year, it is not about selling per se. Rather its about brand recognition.
The purpose of brand recognition in respect to bands is that, when someone is deciding what to listen to you want to be one of the first things they choose.
Regular tweeting also lets your fans know that you’re alive, but more importantly that you’re doing something. It also helps keep the perception that you are still successful. After all not many people listen to bands that don’t exist anymore.
Let your fans know what you’re doing.
To keep up that pace of regular tweeting, tell us what your up to. If you’ve just finished a soundcheck at a gig, tell us. But also tell us something about that soundcheck.
What’s the venue like? Do you like it?
Are many people coming to the gig? Sold Out?
Is your voice totally nackard from the last few nights?
Or maybe you just finished a gig and it was absolutely awesome. Don’t be afraid to tell us. At the same time be wary of declaring permanent absolutes like “best gig ever”. They get old very, very fast and, they don’t add any value to your tweet. Instead tell us something that happened at the gig.
Did you fall off stage?
Someone profess their love for you? Get heckled?
Debut a new song?
We want to know. Don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself slightly, self deprecating humour is the best. As Nancy Baym said in a recent CD Baby Podcast (#59) twitter is like an extension of your inter-song banter.
That said, set your boundaries early. And remember not many people really want to see your vomit, however epic it may be. Unless you fans want to hear that.
Share behind the scenes info.
As well as telling us what you’re doing, show us what you’re doing. We fans are a hungry bunch. We want to know what its like recording that album, or how it is backstage at that festival. We want to know what goes into making that next album.
Don’t hesitate to upload that new demo to show to your followers. It adds more value to your stream. Ask for their feedback, it could prove to be invaluable.
Many bands have caught onto this which is great, but for those who haven’t show us snippets of video, show us photos of you recording or lazing about backstage.
Sharing all this info helps build a layer of trust between you and your fans, which comes incredibly handy when you have a new song. Your fans will be so involved in what your doing they will probably be chaffing at the bit to hear the it and purchase it.
[Image Credit: marfis75]
@NicksTraffic
Thanks for another great post.
These rules apply to band for sure but I think most of them apply to almost any organization or famous person. Things like sharing inside info, engage the social part of people, keep regular updates, etc.
@ojkelly
Too right. Much of this could be applied to any public figure. However the main difference with artists is that the new model seems to be centered around the artist-fan relationship. It’s more important for artists than any other job/figure/organisation.
A strong artist-fan relationship translates into sales and gigs.
@xarkgirl
Nick is dead on. These are great tips for anyone trying to use Twitter to reach fans or clients. If you aren’t interesting in really connecting to people, you’re just spamming. Nice post.
@xarkgirl
uh, interesting should be “interested.” clearly i need more coffee!
@gtvone
As a regular photographer of bands, I tweet from the “pit” often…(well, when I have a phone / device again I will!) It can provide a cool insight into something that I’m doing that not a whole lot of people get to do – as is the case with bands. I like to see this sort of stuff, which is why I do it. What I don’t like about band tweeters is most of the time if they’ve “made it” they follow nobody and don’t engage their audience at all – #fail (What’s the point?!.. Go sit in your hotel room and smash stuff)
Anyway – The very mechanical tweeting I’ve seen from some bands has actually made me think less of them. If you are a band and your PR is going to tweet for you – make sure they’re interesting. (Or at least daftly funny)
@ojkelly
@Sime, I do the same thing (tweet at gigs). Generally I’m a gig reviewer, so often i would tweet parts of my notes during the gigs. I gained a surprising amount of followers from this, proving that people do want to know. The best gigs are were the band actually tweets back, though it is very rare it adds so much to the atmosphere.
Many bands do make it big and then just disappear into a twitter void, never to be heard from unless they have a new song. These are the bands that deserve a #fail.
@gtvone
@ojkelly Well – I hope to be back in Melbourne in a year or so – Then I’ll tweet you, at those gigs, from the pit!
I was tweeted at a gig ages ago, someone standing against the barrier of a gig tweeted, I replied – We looked at each other, pointed and then burst out laughing…
Nice to eMeet you *followed*
Sime
@Pampelmoose
Pretty straightforward and clear stuff. Here’s my take on Bands using Twitter with some examples from Grizzly Bear and Chris Cornell Twitter for Musicians – Use It Wisely, A How to
@JanePeppler
Good reminders. I’m quite shy about twittering because I don’t want to bore people. By the way, FYI, I think the word is “knackered,” see Wikipedia for instance: the slang expression “knackered” meaning very tired, or “ready for the knacker’s yard”, where old horses are slaughtered and made into dog food and glue.
@ojkelly
That’s right @JanePeppler nackard (or knackard) is slang for really tired. Just a bit of my Aussie slang must have found its way into the post.
I can’t seem to find the post I want to show you, however the gist of it was that you’re not boring. But you may write boring.
Take something simple as “I just had cake, it was good”. Now thats boring, but it doesn’t have to be. Say you elaborate a bit, dress it up somehow.
Maybe something like “Just had a bite from a warm fresh chocolate mud cake, burnt my tongue, but damn its tastes so good its worth it.” I don’t know about you, but if I saw that tweet I would want to ‘get me some of that cake’ I would ‘want to know who made that cake’ (HIMYM ref). At the very least, I want to SEE that cake.
You may think your boring, but chances are your not.
@gtvone
@ojkelly CAKE! can be a good thing to tweet about – Another photog shot this whilst I was “working” …I did actually think about tweeting about it! The guy who sold the cake said “if you don’t like it, I’ll give you your money back” That would have made the whole cake tweet more interesting… perhaps…
As an old rocker – I mean, as in my last demo was on a cassette tape – I think that’s a little harsh to say bands that don’t tweet back “deserve to fail.” People work all day, gig at night, have families… So maybe they don’t log on as much?
@gtvone
Kim, If you’re referring to my #fail – I certainly didn’t say that bands deserve to fail. I mean as part of their social media strategy, if they employ twitter and have 45,000 people follow them and they in turn follow a big fat ZERO – then that strategy is a fail. Engage your audience, they’ll love you more.
(My first demo’s were on cassette as well)
Sime
@ojkelly
Kim, I never meant that bands that don’t tweet back deserve to fail. The more you can interact the better, however as your fans using twitter will on doubt discover, you’re only human.
Set yourself a limit, say 10 mins a day if your busy, to reply. Take advantage of public replies (using the !@username) if everyone would be interested.
No band “deserves” to fail, however nowadays there’s more to being a musician than playing music. One of those is maintaining your fanbase. However you can, just find what suits your lifestyle.