Musician Insider Secrets: The Low Down on Social Media Exposed in 5 Easy Tips
You might be like many of the musicians that contact me every day about social media. Maybe you don't understand Twitter or Vine, maybe you grew up in the analog era and are intimidated by social media, or maybe you are an expert and just love finding new ways to use social media. 
Here are a few tips that have helped me succeed in social media music marketing:
1. Don't Be Afraid
The Internet can seem to be a crazy place where everything from contortionist elephants to global terrorism fights for your attention.
Don't be afraid to conquer and control your web presence through smart marketing.
What this means is that you need to find what social media platforms work best for you and are the most organic for your audience. What this also means is that from now on you need to treat the Internet like a marketplace, not a place for rants and inappropriate images.
Watch Social Media Marketing Secrets Now on Youtube!
To be honest, no one cares about your political opinions, how mad you are at your boss, or that pimple that just keeps growing - UNLESS that is part of your branding. I have a good friend who has become an online phenomenon through crazy rants about everything in his life. But it's his brand, his fans love it, and it works. You can get personal, but just realize that it needs to fit your image.
If it doesn't promote your overall image/brand,
then don't post it.
2. FOCUS Your Marketing
Unless you have a publicist or are already a superstar with millions of dollars of corporate marketing underwriting everything you do, you will need to FOCUS your marketing. That means settle on a few sites that actually help you, are easy to maintain, and appeal to your fans. For example, you might focus on Facebook, Vines, Twitter, and Instagram. You may have to adapt as older social media powerhouses are usurped by newer forms of social media, but try to stay focused. For example, I focus on Facebook, Linked In, Blogger, Rebelmouse, Twitter, and various music organization e-lists. I am also on Tumblr, Youtube, Reverbnation, Wordpress, Paperli, Pinterest, Fandalism, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and many, many other sites.
I focus on the sites that give me the most tangible results,
either in engagement, sales, views/clicks, or exposure.
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3. Integrate Your Music Marketing
Save time by streamlining your social media marketing. How can you do this? Simple. Let's take THIS article for example. I will write this very informative article on music marketing that fans will love and SHARE (you are going to share this, right?).
Within the next five minutes, I will post this to:
- Rebelmouse
- Facebook (personal and music fan page)
- E-Groups
- Tumblr
- Wordpress
- Google+
Most of the sites above are linked to Twitter and Paperli (which is linked again to Twitter), which means that I will get a good sized "blast" when I use hashtags like #socialmedia, #musicbiz, or #youtube. Using the @ like @Twitter is also helpful. Make sure that you pic up on what is SEO friendly (search engine optimization, or plugging in the right keywords like "music marketing" into your posts).
Sometimes it helps to stagger your social media bursts. In those cases, I might split the blast into two or three blasts throughout the day, especially if you have fans that live in different time zones, have certain work schedules, tend to check their messages more often on a Friday night or Tuesday morning. (And HOW do you know this info? Well, I will need to save that info for another article on analytics).
WRAP UP
So I hope that this article helped you start marketing your music online. Check out the two videos above for more great information on music marketing. And if you would like me to give you a private consultation regarding your music career, give a lecture at your university, or present at your next event, just contact me directly at spenayoung@gmail.com .
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Composer and futurist Sabrina Pena Young has broken boundaries in electronica music with her "groundbreaking" and "EPIC" film Libertaria: The Virtual Opera, a sci-fi work created entirely online through social media and crowdsourcing. Young's latest works include the social media opera collaboration The Village, the short futurist film Singularity, and the fantasy work Destiny: Eondwyr. Young is a sought-after speaker on music technology and social media.
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