Every musician that has put effort into educating themselves on how to market their material in today’s music industry knows what twitter is and how to use it.
Not every musician is using it to it’s fullest and some are just plain “missing the boat”.
Here are 3 things you need to know to keep your following growing.
Do Not Just Broadcast
Have you ever been to a party or gathering of some kind where there is someone who is just dominating the conversation and not holding dialog with others. They just spout off and annoy everyone, but they don’t get it, see it, or even know it.
If you are not interacting with those who are following you on twitter, you are that person.
Make sure you are reading what others are saying. If you want to see what others are saying about you, check out this blog post here, but make sure you have some sense of what interests your audience and interact with them.
How? The two main ways to interact with your followers is to use @replies and direct messages. Start right from the get-go. Forget about auto-responders, those are old news and are too cold to really make your followers feel like a person and not a number.
I visit the home page of each and every person who follows me on twitter and either read their bio, visit their link to see what they are all about, or both. I peruse what they have been tweeting about and then send them a direct message. I make sure to use their name so they know it’s actually me and not an auto-responder. I may bring up something I liked about thier home page or their bio or their site, or something, keeping in mind that I want that follower to know I personally looked at them as a valued contact.
You could even retweet something right then, showing that you are taking in what they are saying and not just broadcasting like the annoying person at the party. If you want to keep your followers, you need to follow them. That’s the bottom line. Read that sentence again.
Include an Interesting Bio
I can’t tell you how deflating it is when I see I a have a new follower and when I click the link to visit their twitter page, there is no bio.
Adios.
If you didn’t take the time to share anything about yourself or why I should find you interesting, I don’t. Period. You just became a follower of mine, but I didn’t follow you back. As a musician, that’s a lost lead, and a lost lead is a lost fan.
Take advantage of that space on your page for a bio. Remember it like this, a follow is noticing someone at the party, your bio is your introduction during the handshake. If you stand there and say nothing during the handshake, it’s just creepy.
Explain yourself. Who are you, what are you all about, and why should I look over your tweets before deciding to follow you. Keep in mind that you are a person, and that is what you want come across as on your twitter page.
If You’re Not Using Hashtags, I Haven’t Found You Yet
Hashwhat? The quickest way to get found on twitter is use hashtags. If your not sure what a hashtag is or how to use them, you can get more on those in this video.
Hashtags are the most powerful way to be part of something on twitter. Whether you are talking about #music or being a #musician or even discussing your next gig in downtown #chicago, if you make sure to take advantage of how people can search for what you have to say on the subject, you’re going to be found. If not, no one knows you exist, and it will stay that way.
On the flip side, how are you finding people to follow and generate a reciprocal interest? If your not using hashtags to find new fans that are discussing things that interest you or you know interest your other fans, then you won’t find people who care to follow you back.
If you don’t let people know your on twitter, they won’t know they need to be following you. Search some hashtags that interest your fan base. Maybe it’s genre specific, in tune with your lyrical content, inline with your subject matter, or just plain interesting to you as an individual. The bottom line is become familiar with how to use hashtags to not only find people with similar interests, but are now interested in you.
Click here so we can hook up on twitter.
What are some other ways you can generate interest for you and your music on twitter? Post your comments below.
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