Do You Need To Post On Social Media Everyday?
Short answer: no. Long answer: definitely not.
What we’re going to do today is look at what I consider to be the greatest social media myth of all time – and debunk it. Then, we’re going to look at a few artists with very effective social media personas and see what we can learn from them!
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Contents
Why You Really Don’t Need To Post Everyday
Firstly, and most importantly, not every day has an event worth posting about. The fact is, some days you just don’t do things that are very interesting! For example, last weekend I spent an entire day filling out visa paperwork. Who cares? No one!
Secondly, there is simply too much content on social media for your posts to break through if they are not excellent. When I announce a new tour, a new video, a new single, contest, etc., those posts do well because they are meaningful and people interact with them.
Actually, that’s all I post now. Everything I post gets a healthy amount of interaction – shares, likes, comments – and my Facebook page looks super active and engaged.
Lastly, you basically have to pay Facebook to push a post to fans that already like your page.
As an experiment, this morning I posted on my artist Facebook page about the weird weather that we’re having in my hometown, and didn’t boost it. It reached 6% of my Facebook fans (all real, no bought “likes”). When I boosted it for just $2, the post did a lot better, getting dozens of likes and a few comments.
Even though it’s just $2, it can add up pretty quickly. Since I only post things I actually want people to see, I almost always put a few bucks behind my posts. So for purely financial reasons, it’s becoming less feasible to post everyday.
The Exception To Posting On Social Media Every Day
That being said, if you have something you think people would care to see, post it.
I’m going on tour in a few days, and when I’m on tour, I usually post everyday, and the posts usually do really well. People are always excited to see what we’re up to.
I also post everyday because I usually mention the show that’s happening that night, put a few dollars behind the post, and target wherever I’m playing.
Believe it or not, this actually puts more people in the room. Targeted Facebook advertising and targeted mailing lists are the most effective ways to let fans know when we’re in their city. We figured this out simply by asking people how they heard about the show when they came and talked to us at the merch booth.
What I’m saying is this: you don’t have to post everyday. But I’m not saying you shouldn’t if you feel you’re sharing quality content.
Social Media Strategies That Work For Musicians
As the guy who runs my band’s social media pages, I’m still working on developing a tone and style that is our own. I find it very helpful to look at people who have excellent presence on social media, not to copy them, but to learn what makes their socials “tick”.
I’m going to talk exclusively about two small/medium sized indie acts, because I feel that’s who we can best learn from.
Here’s who I’ve been studying:
Vulfpeck
I’ve talked about Vulfpeck before, and I’m going to talk about them again. They nail everything they do – musically and otherwise.
If you go over and take a look at their Facebook page, you’ll see that they post frequently and have extremely high fan engagement.
But if you look closer, you’ll note that it’s carefully curated, and yet comes across like they don’t really care about social media.
Their whole attitude is “music first, business last”, yet they do a remarkably good job of the business side of things. Vulfpeck shares fan videos, fans covering their songs, fans dancing to their songs, tons of new, original musical content, as well as lots of quirky videos about fixing arch support in shoes.
All of these things make fans feel like they really “know” these guys even if they've never met or talked to them.
They also do an amazing job of replying to fans and interacting, even if it’s just little things. My band did a cover of a Vulfpeck tune, and within a couple hours, they commented on the YouTube video and said “this singer’s a true tenor!”. Not much, but enough to make us feel pretty special and valued. It was awesome.
All this means that when they order a bunch of vinyl copies of their album, they literally sell them out in two to three days, every single time.
Steve Poltz
A little background: Steve Poltz is a hilarious, gifted, folk singer who’s interactions with his audience are absolutely key to his shows. He interacts with the audience non-stop and treats everyone like they’re his best friend.
Steve is a guy who posts a lot. He has around 18,000 “likes” on Facebook, which is respectable but not super ridiculously famous caliber. He posts twice, sometimes three times a day, but people love it. I love it!
His personality shines through his changing social media in a big way: he mostly shares the weird, comedic thoughts in his head about the people and places that surround him. He also shares well thought out anecdotes about his growing career.
A lot of the comments on the posts are things like “you my friend, are a hoot”, or “thanks for making our cheeks hurt last night… and this morning!”. His show basically carries over to his social media presence.
Other hilarious things Steve Poltz has done on Facebook:
- Post pictures of news headlines with his name inserted in key places.
- Various videos of him cat-walking down a hotel hallway.
- Regularly posting about his hilariously large collection of weird socks.
And people just eat it up! When he asks people to share something, they do. When he asks for support on something, people take action!
What To Learn From These Artists
Something about your show, video, or song made a person want to like you on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. The struggle is taking that thing that a fan fell in love with, and injecting it into your social media activity.
Vulfpeck takes their down-to-earth attitude, musical sense of direction, and humor and turns it into a great social media presence.
Steve Poltz takes the comedy and the connection he makes with fans and translates it to his online presence with great effect.
How will you turn your personality and show into an online presence?
P.S. Remember though, none of what you've learned will matter if you don't know how to get your music out there and earn from it. Want to learn how to do that? Then get our free ‘5 Steps To Profitable Youtube Music Career' ebook emailed directly to you!