Is Facebook relevant?

It depends, a lot of users under age 30 are on Instagram, however, there are some features FB has that will help you market your music, including a store to sell merchandise.  This is really great for Artists who do not have their own website set up.

To begin Artists need an ARTIST page, not a profile. What’s the difference? Having a separate Facebook page gives you the freedom to post, advertise, and focus your content around your music and fans.  It also allows you access for Facebook ads and separates your personal life from your Music career.

Setting Up Your Artist Page:

To create an Artist Page go to www.facebook.com without logging in. Beneath the signup form, there’s a link to “Create a Page.” Click that, and go through that process to make an Artist Page.

The option for pages is hiding right down there beneath “Sign Up.”   Pick Artist page, not a business or brand or cause. 

 Best Practices include:

• First is to fill out your ‘About’ section. One of the worst Facebook practices for artists is to ignore the ‘About’ part of your page. That’s the part where you explain what your music is about, who you are, and all that. Fill it out like you’re your own biggest fan with some history and a clear voice
• Select a Banner or better yet a video as your cover image. Use this space to make announcements. The cover image is the first thing they see and so this is prime real estate use it for your benefit.  Remember to make sure it matches with the branding on all the other social media sites for consistency.
• Make sure to link your other accounts. Including your website as you can add that in the about section.
• Description – This area tells people what your page is about. The more information you give potential fans the more likely they are to follow you. You’re limited to 155 characters, and the description shows up in search results, so it’s important to think about t how potential fans might search for your type of music.
• Username – Try to match all social media with your artist name to help promote your brand across all platforms
• Create a Call-to-Action Button - You have the ability to have fans take an action from your Facebook page. They can book you, buy something from your website, learn more about you by directing them with the add page button. 

1. Click on the Button on the Right Side corner of your cover photo. (shop now in the pic above);
2. Choose the type of standard button that best fits what you want to do; and
3. At the minimum add Contact you or learn more if you are not ready for the other options.

Strategies for Facebook

Note all social media continues to evolve so you need to stay updated on the platforms you are using. When new features are added to social media that is the best time to take advantage of the changes. For example Facebook recently adjusted their algorithms to favor live video and image uploads.  This in turn, allows this type of content to be seen by more people and gain greater user engagement.   At the current time many Facebook pages still don’t have video featured at the top and this could benefit you.   

Videos:

• The use of videos engages users more than other posts.  Videos allow you to engage with fans thru the use of comments on native and live videos. The challenge is to make sure people watch the whole video.  Remember to:
• Carefully optimize your video’s text and thumbnail, add relevant tags and a compelling description;
• Schedule the video to be published during a period of high engagement;
• Write the first comment on the video prior to release; and
• Make sure the video is telling a compelling story.
• The use of Facebook live is another way to engage fans.  You simply need a simple webcam and mike or if you have a great phone and access to Wi-Fi you can do it from there. 
• Finally you can schedule a watch party for a new music video release.  It’s a great opportunity to get people together on line like watching a new TV broadcast. 

Facebook Insights:

• After you get more than 30 followers, you’ll be able to look at Facebook Analytics where you can learn all about your audience. You will learn the ages, genders, locations, and to see when most people do things on your page.  This will help you to find a way to talk with them, what times and days to post to increase engagement.   Go to your Posts tab in Analytics, so you can see when your audience is online.

Facebook Messenger:

Facebook Messenger and other messaging apps are surpassing social networks.  It appears that people may prefer messenger to regular Facebook and maybe even check it more often that email.  Here are some ways you can use messenger with fans:

• Send out a group text on messenger while you are at a show.  If people respond engage them by responding and keep the conversation going. 
• Messenger is great for quick responses.  This will get the conversation started about your performances, videos, and official releases. 

All of these tools are free and available 24/7 so take advantage of them and be your own publicist.

Facebook Groups:

Facebook groups can be open or closed groups that organize around shared ideas and common interests.  These groups often have rules that keep the group focused.  These groups can be a powerful opportunity to collaborate and have people engage with your music.  You can either create your own group or join one of the many Facebook groups formed around your genre of music.  When participating remember to:

• Be helpful and supportive towards other group members;
• Be part of the community – do not join just to promote your music as that will more than likely not work and alienate you in the group: and
• Join only one or two groups and be active.

Paid Facebook Ads for Artists:

Once you have tried all the free promo tools and you have some money and want to try paid ads on Facebook here are some of the considerations you need to think about: 

Make sure to focus your message on the Goal.  Is it trying to sell merch?  Are you trying to get people to your show? Figure out the particular goal before moving forward.  Then:

• Target the right audience. Use Facebook Insights to figure out who you need to reach,

and don’t forget to target those people who like similar artists. Pick a target audience that is neither too broad nor too narrow.  If you are trying to get people to a show does it make sense to reach out to 100k people or narrow the search to 1000 people in that area? 

• Experiment with ads to see what works best such a trying a single image versus a video ad. Or selling merchandise vs. getting fans to come to a show. Once you start running ads, Facebook Ads Manager data will inform offer you breakdown options to segment:
• Those who have taken a desired action like leaving Facebook to make a purchase on the website;
• Age and gender;
• Location; and
• Time and Day
• Retargeting can occur after running initials ads. A retargeting campaign allows you to serve more announcements to someone who has already bought from the first targeted ads.  This is great because they’re more likely to purchase again and the cost of meeting your goals goes down.  In other words you spend less to get fans to take another action. 

Make sure your ads are done with high-quality images. No second chance to make a first impression.  Make sure you have the correct sizes for IG and Facebook, both mobile and desktop, or for all placements. You MUST size accordingly to have profession images on the different platforms. 

Make sure you are comfortable letting your paid Facebook ads run for a while before you change or stop them. Facebook Insights won’t mean much if you tweak them after a week. Why?  There’s something called statistical significance or confidence level, which takes the impressions or reach and the results to analyze whether the sample was big enough to justify a conclusion.

You can determine if you get a 95% confidence level or higher by using this calculator https://neilpatel.com/ab-testing-calculator/. It will help you determine if the content you were offering resonated. 

You can learn more about Facebook ads @ https://www.facebook.com/business/ads/

Finally there is a way to set up a shop section on your Facebook for those without a website.  This allows fans to buy your products directly from Facebook.  To learn more about how to set up the shop click here:  https://www.facebook.com/business/help/238403573454149?id=206236483305742