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How To Build A Fanbase

Here’s a guest post from our friends over at ZingInstruments.com who are almost as obsessed about music as we are!

So, you’ve started a band! You’ve played a few gigs, but every show now consists entirely of mates you knew long before starting up this project. Aagh! How do you get past this predicament & build a fanbase with loyal followers who appreciate & support your music? Start meeting other bands and network.

1) Talk To Other Bands

This is an important one. All too often, bands fall into the trap of viewing gigs as some kind of competition. Who is the best performer and how did they bring more people? Who is actually cooler/crazier/whatever-you’re-going-for?

With the exception of those awful ‘Battle of the Bands’ gigs – most gigs are not competitions and other bands are your friends not foes.

Networking with other bands is guaranteed to help you build a fan base and meet some pretty cool new friends too! Creating solid relationships with bands where you can share the bill, means that you can introduce your existing fans to them, and vice versa. Bang! Your Facebook Likes just doubled! And that’s some pretty cool healthy pre-gig vibes, too 🙂 And since we’re talking about networking, let’s take a look at the most powerful tool out there right now: Social Media!

2) Be Active On Social Media

To double your Facebook Likes, you need to have a Facebook Page & a Twitter Account. Most importantly you need to use these sites effectively to build a fanbase! It’s all part of what is called social media marketing, which is key for musicians these days.

Tag everyone! From bands you’re now mates with, to venues you’re playing at, to friends who show up at your show! Hash-tagging stuff that is linked to your band’s genre/general message/location, will help get your name out there.

Regular videos, pictures, gig updates and – if it suits you – song lyric posts will also get you noticed by potential followers. Keep it interesting, and you won’t be considered spammy. With this in mind, use social media marketing on your website too and start a mailing list.

3) Start A Mailing List & Build A Fanbase

You might be considered a bit spammy if you overuse this, but a mailing list – although slightly old fashioned – is a great way to keep in touch with people you meet at gigs or who visit your website and are interested in your music. Adding a simple mailing list to your website is key to building your a fanbase!

This is more popular amongst the slightly older generations, who are amongst the most valuable and loyal fans you can have!

Start a mailing list, mailchimp is a great one! Wait until you have a significant amount to share before sending emails, and respond to your peeps (as long as they’re not too weird!). It’s a friendly and direct way of keeping in touch with those who have already expressed interest. By doing this, you will be on your way to cultivating great relationships and helping to build a fanbase for yourself. A great start to building these relationships is to just start talking about stuff you care about.

4) Talk About Stuff!

Once you’ve started collecting followers, it is important to keep them interested! You can do this by talking about more than just when your next gig is or when you are recording.

People like to put bands into context and to feel connected to the members, so offering information about where you found your inspiration, what your ideals are, even random stuff like what guitar pedals you play, will really help.

If you’re in a punk band, you might want to share thought out political ideals, if you’re in a psychedelic band, you might want to share psychedelic artwork, or music from the 1960s.

These kind of shares on social media will make your integrity obvious, your followers interested, and help you build a fanbase of loyal followers.

Good Luck!

 

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