As a guitarist, Facebook remains one of the best social
media platforms for the purpose of connecting, networking, engaging and
interacting with your fans. You can communicate with your fans directly, send
out updates (text-based updates or photos and videos), and create events to let
people know about any upcoming performances or gigs.
As a guitarist, your Facebook page provides your fans a
snapshot of everything they might need to know about you, and of course, it
also gives them a chance to interact with other fans.
It is therefore essential for you, as a guitarist and
musician, to have a presence on what is one of the largest communities in the
world (1 billion large!).
Earlier this year, Facebook (forcefully) switched all fan
pages to the Timeline format. The timeline does away with many of the old
features of Facebook pages (such as custom landing pages) and bring a host of
new features to the table (like adding awesome cover photos and the ability to
add something at any point in your timeline). Contrary to popular belief, it is
still very simple and very effective to market yourself on Facebook. Here’s why
every guitarists and musician out there should be on Facebook page, and how to
go about creating a strong presence for yourself on Facebook in an effective
manner.
Advantages of a Facebook Page Over a Personal Profile
Before we dive in, it is important to know why it’s
necessary to have a separate Facebook page for your fans and for the purpose of
promoting your music. For starters, it keeps your personal information safe and
secure by giving you a Facebook profile that is separate from your personal
one. You might not want everyone to have access to your personal photos, info
and updates (and other stuff that was probably meant only for family and
friends), however with a separate Facebook page, you’re able to control what
goes on it, and hence keep it exclusively for updates on your career as a musician.
Secondly, Facebook profiles have a limit of 5000 friends.
With a page however, you can have an unlimited number of fans, millions even.
A Facebook page also allows people who might to be your
fans, or those who are not even on Facebook, to see your updates and your
content. Anyone with an internet connection will be able to follow you on
Facebook. The good thing about Facebook pages is that they usually tend to show
up on the first page of Google results as well, so if for instance someone
looks you up on Google, it is likely that your Facebook pages shows up in the
results.
A Facebook page can be personalized with an easy-to-remember
URL. After you reach a certain number of fans on your page (25 fans, to be
precise), you can get a Facebook.com/YourBandName URL. These make it easy for
people to remember your Facebook ID, and be able to access it easily as well.
It also means that your Facebook page can function as a website/blog of sorts
as well.
Facebook pages come equipped with analytics and insights –
information which is probably invaluable to a marketer. It provides you with
all information regarding your page, including the number of people talking
about you, and the people that you were able to engage. You can look upon the
demographics of your page’s traffic.
And finally, you can run an ad campaign on Facebook, for
your page, in order to get more fans and followers for it. The purpose of these
ads is exposure, and you have more people hear about your music and like your
page. When someone likes your page, your content, updates, photos, videos and
basically anything that your share will show up on their timelines. Facebook
ads are pretty cheap, and quite effective as well.
Creating a Facebook Page
Creating a Facebook page is a 4-step process, and as simple
as signing. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to go about creating a Facebook
page:
1. Go to Facebook’s
‘Create a Page’ page to get started.
2. Select ‘Artist, Band or Public Figure’.
3. Choose any one of the following options listed under
Category: Artist, Entertainer, or Musician/Band. I’d recommend the latter.
4. Enter your name (or your band’s name), click ‘Get Started’
and voila, you’re now the proud owner of your very own Facebook page!
Setting Up a Facebook Page
Once you’re in, begin by setting up your Facebook page and many of its different
elements.
1. Start off by filling out all the relevant information
about you or your band. This includes any and all basic information such as
about you/the band, link to your website, and the like. The About You section
is limited to 150 characters, so be as precise as possible.
2. Put up a cover photo. The cover photo is one of the best
aspects about the new-look Facebook pages. Its an 851x315 px place on top of
your Facebook page that can be used to personalize it. It is the first thing
that people see when they land on your page, similar to a banner on a website.
Think of it as a gigantic billboard for your Facebook page. Put up an
eye-catching photo here, something from one of your performances, a memorable
shot of you performing on stage, or a hi-res version of your band’s latest
album cover.
3. Put up a profile pic. This is a 180x180 px space, usually
used to put up something like a band logo (or your own, for that matter), or
even a mug-shot. This photo appears in the left-side of the page, directly beneath
(and slightly overlapping) your cover page.
4. Start adding stud to your timeline – you can add stuff
virtually anywhere on your timeline, so begin by putting up a ‘founded on’
update, complete with pictures and images, along with all your album releases
and their covers as well as performances, shows, gigs, jams and other milestones.
Milestone are major events from the past, like when you got featured on the
cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, or when you signed with your first label.
Milestones can be accompanied with 843x403 images.
5. You can add up to a grand total of 12 Apps for Pages as
well, straight from the Facebook App Center. Apps are organized by categories,
and I suggest you head straight to the Music category in order to find apps
relevant to your page. CDBaby’s MusicStore app, for instance, lets you sell
your music on your Facebook page. It adds a music player and a store on your
page, and your store’s look can be completely customized. You can add 4 apps to
your homepage, while the other ones can be accessed through a drop-down menu.
6. Also add any upcoming events to your page, especially
gigs, performances or any live appearances that you might be doing (a radio
talk-show, for instance). Use the events app to create an event, and share it
with your followers. Make sure that the events app is in the top-4 apps/tabs on
your page (along with the MusicStore app); this increases their visibility and
allows for easy access.
7. Promote: One of the final steps in creating and setting
up your Facebook page is to promote it. Get as many people as possible to like
it – friends and family initially for instance. Ask for endorsements from your
peers and other musicians, have other spread the word. Put the personalized
Facebook page URL everywhere – on all your merch your album covers and CDs,
posters, tees, caps, your website (add a Facebook social box to your website
too!), and on all your social media profiles (ask your Twitter followers to
like your page).
8. Remember that creating your Facebook page was the easy
part. Keeping it updated is what really matters. Post updates regularly, at
least one update-a-day, without spamming your fans. Post band-related updates,
updates related to your music or stuff that you might be working on, a video of
you jamming in your room, photos of project(s) that you might be working on,
pics of a recording session, a video of a jam session with your bandmates...
anything! Share tabs and notes on your page. Use your page to share personal
photos of you and your family on a vacation, go on a political rant, and watch
as those likes come flooding in!
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