How the world's biggest bands do social media

Social media is an incredible tool for reaching and building your fanbase, but it can feel overwhelming and complex. But, it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tried-and-true tips and strategies for musicians to make managing your social media simpler and more effective. Whether you’re promoting a tour or sharing some behind-the-scenes content, these insights will help you leverage platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Facebook to grow your audience and keep them engaged.

Be consistent

The first point, and you’ll hear this again and again, is to be consistent. It’s important to have a cadence. Posting at least twice a week on each platform is recommended. If you have time, more can be better but not always. It can be helpful to set up a calendar as a reminder and to map out content for upcoming posts.

Why is consistency important?

When someone visits your profile for the first time and sees that you haven’t posted in months, they’re probably not going to follow you. It has to feel alive and like there’s a reason for someone to hit that follow button.

Where should musicians be posting?

Short-form content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts is highly effective. And you can focus on just those three. However, if you’re promoting a tour, you may want to lean into Facebook to focus on specific locations.

Mix up your posts (casual vs. stylized)

Many advise artists to create high-quality content, meaning professional images and videos. However, splitting content into two categories—casual and stylized—can be a really effective strategy.

Casual is behind-the-scenes and fun, taken with your phone, out of focus, with bad sound—whatever feels real.

Stylized is professional band photos, album covers, official videos, tour fliers, and other promotional materials. You should have a good mix of both.

Check out these posts from Billie Eilish for an example of how she mixes the two.

Be sure to take pics and record videos while working on music—whether it’s rehearsal, in the studio, or live—and save them for later to cut up and post.

Authenticity

Authenticity is a word that gets thrown around a lot when it comes to social media. Essentially, if it doesn’t feel like you, then don’t do it. Find what feels like you and lean into it. If you don’t dance, then don’t dance.

Additional tips

• Use carousels: They give fans more to look at, and platforms love to push them.
• Avoid hashtags: In general, they can look spammy and aren’t very helpful.
• Make sure your links go somewhere: Ensure that all your profiles have up-to-date, working links in your bio that lead to places where fans can engage further. And, a link that leads to a page of links can be overwhelming for a fan or potential fan.
• Keep your profile images and logos consistent: You want your fans to recognize your profile and know that it’s you no matter the platform. If you’re promoting something specific, like merch or a tour, ensure it’s consistent across all your pages and links.
• Avoid hacks: There are many strategies, growth hacks, top 10 lists, and paid plans for gaining followers. But the tried-and-true way is to consistently engage with your followers, fans, and community organically. Resist the urge to buy followers, as platforms recognize when followers aren’t real, which can affect your overall reach. Trying to get rid of purchased followers can be tough.
• Post when you can: It used to be important to consider specific days and times for posts but that’s not really the case anymore, so just post when you can.
• Follow who inspires you: Don’t feel obligated to follow back everyone who follows you.

Wrap-up

Consistently posting fun, authentic, short-form content is the key to growing your social media presence and fanbase.