konalavadome

do you need social media?

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Andyb

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« on: April 27, 2020, 01:39:31 PM »
Ive fallen out of love a little bit with social media - One side of me says of course you need social media, everyone does etc etc, The other side says "But i get very little/ nothing from social media so why waste my time with it? So I'm deactivating my FB account for a while (and with that goes my band page) and I'm going to explore other outlets / resources
so with that in mind if anyone uses bandcamp and they wouldn't mind giving me a wee follow then that would be appreciated. I'll let you know how I get on.
https://4belowmusic.bandcamp.com/

CaliaMoko

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« Reply #1 on: April 27, 2020, 05:37:20 PM »
I know what you mean--there isn't much response from social media and I should probably work at building my mailing list instead. One of these days, maybe. So far, most people who *do* connect with me, do so through social media (Facebook, because I'm old).

I did "follow" you on your BandCamp account. If you are moved to reciprocate, my account is at vmgoble.bandcamp.com. But don't feel obligated. I'm not super active so far. Hmmm, maybe it's my negative approach...???

Boydie

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« Reply #2 on: April 28, 2020, 07:49:04 AM »
@Andyb

If you are intending to use social media for “marketing” or promoting something you need to approach it completely different than just trying to “build a fan base”

During you break from social media you have a great opportunity to re-evaluate what you want from social media and start looking in to some of the tried and trusted marketing methods - eg

Be 100% clear on what you ACTUALLY want to achieve - are you looking for bookings, and you looking to sell CDs, are you looking to “create a buzz”

Just looking at those 3 examples - each one would require a COMPLETELY different marketing approach and trying to do all 3 at the same may not be the best approach so you may also want to take this time out to prioritise what you want social media to do for you
To check out my music please visit:

http://soundcloud.com/boydiemusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoydieMusic

cowparsleyman

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« Reply #3 on: May 13, 2020, 02:25:05 PM »
@Andyb - I don't entertain social media. I've never been attracted by it.

For me I'm intrigued by who listens and where, SoundCloud has some excellent stats about that, as does DistroKid, my songs have been heard in 50 countries without me having to do anything more than just releasing them, How do they get to know about me in Guyana or Nicaragua? I can imagine some bored soul in Riyadh finding one of mine, and wanting to delete it, but pressing play by mistake. Why should I have more plays in Busan than in Chesterfield..it's all relative..

I suppose it's all about how much recognition means to one, and as @Boydie says, what you are doing it for...Dosh?..Fame...Kudos(h)

The fact that this is organic is what appeals to me. I'm not playing live, not likely to play my songs anywhere live, let alone tour..I just love making and playing music.

Love it.


 



Andyb

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« Reply #4 on: May 13, 2020, 02:43:50 PM »
@cowparsleyman well I took myself out of social media for 2 weeks and guess what, it didn't make the blindest bit of difference! I play a handful of shows per year with my original stuff and as most of those have been cancelled postponed. I guess it's useful to spread the word about stuff like that but as for music plays through FB ? next to nothing - even more hurtful as these are your "friends and family"  but that is a discussion for another time!

cowparsleyman

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« Reply #5 on: May 13, 2020, 03:18:30 PM »
@Andyb - it's sure interesting to know about Social Media, as one who avoids it, the impression I get is that it's essential, but also it's impossible to get anyone to listen...

Oh well that sailed past me again...

Back to the studio....

Boydie

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« Reply #6 on: May 14, 2020, 08:04:47 AM »
Quote
I took myself out of social media for 2 weeks and guess what, it didn't make the blindest bit of difference!

@Andyb

I would of course argue that this is because you did not have a social media strategy to achieve a specific objective

Just putting a song on social media is not enough

If you want social media to work you need to put in A LOT of hard work in behind the scenes

How many times did you reach out to family and friends actually asking them to take a listen - not just a post but individually

If a friend just posted a song on their timeline I would probably just scroll past

However, if I received a personal message (or got tagged) that said “Hey Boydie, I just recorded this song and I would love to know what you think of it - is the intro too long?”

This is MUCH more likely to get a response

If you are looking for increasing your followers then just asking for a “share” can work wonders - make it as easy as possible for people to do what you want

Most humans are “people pleasers” and will do things when asked - the mistake most of us make is that we think others should know what we want and just do it

If you want social media to work for you, you need to be 100% clear on what you WANT people to do - and then encourage them to do it eg by: just asking, using techniques like behavioural science (eg saying something like “after listening to this song 90% of people share it with their friends” to encourage others to feel like they should do the same), providing a big colourful button “click here to share” etc. etc.

The more planning and thought you put in to exactly what you want to achieve from social media the better it will work for you

The hardest bit is being crystal clear on the specific thing you want to achieve and trying not to do it all at once (and not underestimating the work involved!!)
To check out my music please visit:

http://soundcloud.com/boydiemusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoydieMusic

PeteS

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« Reply #7 on: May 22, 2020, 10:36:04 AM »
This is a fascinating topic.  Me and Neil are not in it for fame, money or even gigs, just for fun and to get people interested in something that we have managed to create.  Most of our friends and family know that we play and have played in bands ove the years but this is different.

We soon realised that friends and family were a waste of time.  He shared to all his (I'm more shy!) and got lots of pleasantries but what use are they?  I have probably 4 friends who I think are musically interested enough to care.  My daughter who is very musical (in a non playing sense) has a wide taste and a lot of overlaps with mine, gave them a cursory listen and said I like a couple of the fast ones, the others were OK.  Another mate who is in a bad, has recorded and released over the years heard I had done it and asked for the lin k and said nothing, one who is a joker and I think would just take the piss and the other is my son in law, who played in a death metal band that toured european festivals, he stopped a couple of years ago as he needed a really money making career (he is married to my daughter after all  ;D) and I have yet to play them to him although that is where I am expecting the most useful feedback if he has the nerve to be critical.

That's what I joined here.  Feedback from people who can afford to be critical and who understand that it's not just a song.  The lyrics tell a story, the ability to play all of the instruments vaguely well enough and the ability to record and mix the result are all factors that need to be got right to create something worthwhile.  And even in songs you don't like, some or all of these features will be present.

Will we do any more than this?  Who knows?  probably because we are fools at heart!
New album out now - Wrong Time, Wrong Place : https://open.spotify.com/album/7AKxi8xiendb9dY22v4QnP?si=AR0VZ1pjSDOwVosifVd_sA
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Boydie

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« Reply #8 on: May 23, 2020, 10:23:11 AM »
@PeteS

Quote
probably because we are fools at heart!

and I can think of no better reason!  ;D
To check out my music please visit:

http://soundcloud.com/boydiemusic

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BoydieMusic

Cawproductions

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« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2020, 04:42:35 PM »
Hi all,
Interesting read,
i have just watched a video (a forced ad) of how a guy spent over 200 dollars a month using facebook ad campaigns on a video he did.

This guy produced a very tasty film like video to go with his track, and also a ropy iphone style one of them playing,
Seems no one cared about his lavishly created music video but they liked more his iphone shot single take thing of them bothe playing and singing.

Ok, my point, a ropey single take video had more plays and built him a better fanbase
second point, he spent over 200 dollars a month to get there.

i am not sure if anyone cared too much about the song, more the watchability of the video.

Social media can work but you have to pay for it to work.
Instagram seems to be a better place as you can upload a wider range of content, although I do ask my 18 year old duaghter to help me coz I am getting on.

my thoughts for today....for what they are worth.
Andy

CharlieSmith

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« Reply #10 on: September 16, 2020, 12:09:50 PM »
I've been getting abit burned with it I must admit. I have never invested any money in it but it seems facebook really hides your stuff if you don't pay. You do need to put alot of effort into it, like anything in in life I guess. Post for me never seem to reach anyone at all about 20 people that is in when I have over 80 likes. Now videos thats different. My video tend to get tons of video because I share them to groups. My top video has 1.1k views. However it does seem to have little engagement which is bad I would say. 

You can also see how many people click links through to your website etc. And that is also pretty low.

If you don't enjoy I wouldn't bother but in this current climate with covid you kind of have to go online. Otherwise I'm not sure of anyway to really build yourself up.