January 10, 2012 12 Ways to Increase Your Fan Base for 2012
As you look to the future you may be getting in the mode to set goals for your career.
I am always surprised when musicians I work for at Cyber PR®, are frantically trying to reach more and more potential fans without really focusing on the fans that they already have. These fans don’t need to be found, because they are already your fans.
Studies have proven that it is much harder to make a new client and get them to purchase something than it is to get a client that already knows you and trusts you to purchase from you over and over.
I always suggest that, in measuring fans, the best place to look is at your social networks and at your mailing list.
Your newsletter list is the only place where you can directly engage with your fans on your own terms and ask for money.
Here are 12 fail-safe ways to increase / engage with your fanbase by pulling from fans that you already know and have who trust and like you for 2012.
1. Get serious about your newsletter. Use Fanbridge, Nimbit, Hostbaby, Bandzoogle or ReverbNation. and send your newsletter one time per month. Track your effectiveness by monitoring your open, forward and bounce rates.
2. Mine through your email inbox and outbox for names and addresses to add. Ask all of your friends if it’s OK to add them to your list, otherwise you might be considered a spammer.
3. Bring a clipboard to each and every live appearance. Invite people onto your mailing list with a raffle or giveaway from stage, and collect e-mail addresses. During your performance, hold the CD up on stage, talk about it and than give it away, you’ve just inserted a full commercial into your set without feeling “salesy” and you’ve excited one of your fans by giving them a gift in front of everyone else who will secretly want a gift too.
4. Include a special offer on your website with a free exclusive MP3 or video (or better yet – several). Use the ReverbNation Fanbridge or Pledge music widgets to deliver it.
TIP: Make sure these downloads are not available anywhere else. Not streaming on your, Facebook page or on ReverbNation – widgets. Only on your website. Advertise that these are available on your other social networks.
And of course it can also be available for purchase on your CD, but make sure that no one can get it anywhere else online. This will motivate people to sign up to your mailing list!
5. Follow 25 new people a week on Twitter. I know what a pain in the arse to focus on this but many of these newly followed people will indeed follow you back and your network will begin to grow.
6. Send out e-mails to your most engaged fans through Facebook and ask if you can have their e-mail addresses for your newsletter. This is a bit arduous but the results will pay off.
7. Do the same with any other networks you frequent.
8. Start a simple Tumblr blog and share photos, stories and thoughts.
9. Start a podcast or a vodcast and interview other artists with big followings. Ask them to share your podcast with their fans and followers. It doesn’t have to be a big production. It can be a small, informal video at YouTube.
Click here to see mine. http://www.youtube.com/arielpublicity (I make them in my office with my iPhone and edit them on my mac)
10. Ask your fans to review your music at CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon. Ask them to make iMixes and Amazon Listmania! lists, and include your music on them.
11. Wish people a happy birthday (everyday) on Facebook! Send a link to you singing Happy Birthday on YouTube… This will be the most memorable birthday wish that they receive.
12. Practice random acts of kindness online regularly. Introduce people to each other who may benefit from knowing one another. Always start by asking how can I help instead of: What can they give me?
Reader Comments (13)
Helpful tips for 2012!
Very well thought out and useful. Great post! I especially like #11
The suggestions given in this piece are lacking in detailed, implementable explanations and lacking in testimonial evidence, examples and data which back up their effectiveness and ROI. In fact I think following most of this advice would hamstring an artist's ability to increase their fan base.
A couple of specific points/questions...
"6. Send out e-mails to your most engaged fans through Facebook and ask if you can have their e-mail addresses for your newsletter. This is a bit arduous but the results will pay off."
Is sending out e-mails to engaged fans through Facebook even possible? Can you give a detailed step-by-step on how this is done? Or are you just suggesting artists spam personal Facebook friends with a request for their email address?
"5. Follow 25 new people a week on Twitter. I know what a pain in the arse to focus on this but many of these newly followed people will indeed follow you back and your network will begin to grow."
The "follow for a follow" strategy gives little or no ROI - the Twitter platform has matured long since this was an effective method for growing your following. Follow for a follow undermines the artist's brand, making them look desperate to potential new fans. Far better advice is to be regularly tweeting good quality, relevant photo and video content, with targeted hash tags.
"9. Start a podcast or a vodcast and interview other artists with big followings. Ask them to share your podcast with their fans and followers. It doesn’t have to be a big production. It can be a small, informal video at YouTube."
Are you able to link to any testimonials, data or case studies showing the effectiveness of this as a strategy? Is there not a real danger it would send very mixed messages to potential new fans - is the artist going to be perceived as a musician, a podcaster or an interviewer/blogger/presenter? And in terms of implementing it, what's in it for the artists with big followings? Why would they agree to be interviewed by someone with a new podcast - a podcast or YouTube channel that has little or no following - when in fact the interviewer is another artist looking to piggy back off of their fan base? Are you able to link to any videos or podcasts where this has worked?
Love all these ideas. I have been singing the birthday song to people on FB for the last 4 months and it has been converting a ton of people into fans. They say "OMG I never knew you sing" or "Wow your amazing.. checking out your site." Here is what mine looks like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELUiX7NKZRI
I think this is a great list of points, although obviously not exhaustive. I believe artists should also consider working with brands at whatever level they're at. This needn't be a sell out, it's about a strategic partnership - athletes do it across all disciplines, at all stages of their careers. I will be posting a number of articles to help artists with this on www.disruptivemusic.com over the next few months.
Email use is way down. Why rely so heavily on newsletters?
Therre are some great tips here but I'd like to add that being fan-centric will enable an artist to use their time a lot more effectively, ie think about who your fans are then choose tactics that help you find and keep those fans.
With regard to point 11, how do you know when it's a fan's birthday on Facebook? I can't access that information via my page and I only have a private profile which I don't want to encourage fans to find. Do you suggest I make a personal profile for my band as well? It's a bit of a pain asking fans to keep joining or adding new things, I think it would put people off.
All are probably good ideas, but this all this activity actually leave any time for one's art?
Art is not just created in the time spent in the studio, but in time spent daily on developing spiritually, emotionally, morally, and intellectually as a human being.
I don't see how it's possible to put so much energy into self-promotion and have much left over for art.
Best regards,
Serge
Absolutely agree with Vigilante Boy - this advice is a bit scattershot at best and outdated at worst. Follow-for-follow doesn't create actual fans, and it may or may not even get your numbers up. Quality, consistent content is the way to go, target Tweeps with similar interests, engage people based on what's interesting about THEM, give stuff away, have sexy photos and lots of fun videos. That's what works for me
I agree about Twitter, I have struggled to make it work for a year and I've given up, it seems to work for people who either already have a niche group or a high profile.
The best advice in this piece is regarding 'pay it forward ' but just randomly linking people up isn't the answer. I have been doing online networking since 2003. Build a genuine network, focus on interacting with people in your network, and in person if possible. Do people favours without expecting a return, and talk about your product in an interesting, informative way are all good strategies for building your personal brand. But there is nothing like respecting and supporting other musicians and their fans, it all starts locally then spreads out. In person, genuine, proper connections with other people that you like and want to interact with - you can throw as much money and time at things like ReverbNation (a scam, IMHO, as they keep asking for money for everything) which is totally swamped with people all struggling for shortcuts to fame and fortune.
fantastic ideas, the only thing I would add is competitions, I am not a musician myself and one of the more fun ways to find new music for me is by looking for competitions, one of my favorites are Make a Star (http://www.makeastar.com/)
Interact with your fans and build a relationship. People are attracted to someone that is like-able. I love how you mentioned emails. Not everyone suggests this, but it does work. We go through Aweber, and it does give great results!