PosterMyWall live class: 6 strategies to engage your music fans
If you’re a musician, you’re constantly looking for new ways to engage your fans, build a loyal fanbase, and perhaps even create new revenue streams in the process. In this week’s PosterMyWall free class, music marketing expert and content lead at Artist Collective, Leonard Patterson, shared six case studies of super creative fan engagement ideas that you can adapt and use for your own music business.
Here’s what Leonard had to say:
Why is fan engagement an important part of music marketing?
Fan engagement is a great way to turn a passive viewer or listener into an active one. For instance, if your fans are aware of you, you want them to engage with you in some shape or form to help them get to know you better. Fan engagement is a great way to achieve that.
How can I get more fans for my music?
The most important thing is to be yourself when you share your story. Tell your fans about your ups and your downs, and stay true to yourself. The next most important thing is to always provide a call to action after you share your content – a website or a page people can go to to buy your merch or music.
Now let’s get into the case studies!
1. Create 30-second affirmation videos for your fans
Case study: H’Atina
H’Atina is an artist who keeps her fans engaged through weekly email newsletters. But these aren’t any ordinary emails. Her emails contain short, 30-second videos in which she shares a positive or an uplifting message. Fans look forward to these videos because they provide inspiration and make them feel good.
H’Atina streamlines her promotion by sharing the same video each week on her Instagram as Reels and on Facebook and YouTube. And she gets hundreds of likes and comments. This ensures maximum engagement with minimal work.
This is a great engagement strategy for musicians with limited budgets and resources. (And what musician doesn’t have a limited budget?) Record your video on your phone and send it out to fans instantly. You can also use PosterMyWall’s video templates to easily create a really cool video.
2. Run weekly live streams to engage your fans and sell merch
Case study: John Stevens Jr.
John Stevens Jr. is a country-rock artist who’s really mastered the art of keeping his fans engaged. His signature approach? Weekly live streams on social media. The response he gets is tremendous – about 500 comments on every video!
John keeps his live streams as conversational as possible. He’ll start a stream by asking his fans questions, taking requests, and encouraging people to engage with each other in the comments. By using StreamYard as his streaming app, he is able to display those conversations and comments on the screen. This adds yet another layer of engagement.
When John gets a lot of recurring requests for the same song, he’ll ask his fans if they’re interested in buying merch. When he gets a positive response, he creates the merch and sells it instantly. This is one way for musicians to make some extra money off of their most popular songs. He’s also able to guarantee that the merch will sell by getting fan input before he has it made.
3. Launch a Patreon and share exclusive content
Case study: Prateek
Prateek is an artist who uses the concept of exclusivity to keep his fans engaged. This is something you can try out as well, especially if you’re looking to build a strong cult following.
Prateek approached fan engagement in two steps. First, he secured a loyal fanbase on social media. This consisted of a few hundred fans who were consistently liking and commenting on his content.
Next, he launched a Patreon. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Patreon, it’s a membership platform that connects content creators with their fans and generates revenue for the artist. Fans who subscribe to your Patreon get access to exclusive content that they can’t get elsewhere. Prateek uses Patreon to do live streams and share snippets of new music.
Prateek’s strategy works because his audience relates to him and his content. For instance, he hosts Sweatpants Sunday sessions, in which he engages with his fans in a casual, informal live stream setting. His strategy also works because he posts consistently.
Note that Patreon is most effective after you’ve already built a community online. You need to show your fans you’re worth the cost of a Patreon membership before you invite them to subscribe.
4. Inspire your fans’ creativity through tips and advice
Case study: Julia Kahn
Julia is a musician and songwriter who has kept her fans engaged by offering them tips and advice on how they can hone their own creative skills. She routinely shares her songwriting process and gets her fans’ input on her ongoing projects.
Recently, Julia did something really cool. She designed a blank journal with writing prompts that her fans can use to record their thoughts, dreams, and ideas. The journal has writing prompts and little nuggets of advice for budding creatives. At the end of the journal, there’s a QR code that takes fans to a hidden webpage where they can access exclusive content including playlists, ideas for new content, more prompts, Julia’s new music, and stories.
Julia’s fans stay engaged because she continually demonstrates that she gets them, and is always offering something unique and appealing.
5. Take your fans on an immersive journey when you launch your album
Case study: Chris Robley
Chris is a vocalist and songwriter who created a very unique way to engage with fans and new listeners. When he launched his last album, he created a virtual walking tour and invited his fans to sign up.
The fans who signed up received one email every day for seven days. Each email contained a different tidbit of information about Chris’s new album – his inspirations, the meanings behind his songs, etc. At the end of the seven days, people exited the tour through a virtual gift shop where they could purchase the album or merch.
Chris’ 7-day virtual tour intrigued fans and kept them coming back for seven consecutive days. This built anticipation for the album and inspired many fans to share the experience with their friends. Pretty incredible, right?
6. Use NFTs to create an engaged online community
Case study: Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold is a heavy metal band from California that’s been around since the ‘90s. Earlier this year, they launched their own custom NFTs, which are essentially custom death metal characters. Fans who purchase the NFTs become members of the Deathbats Club, an exclusive club whose members receive access to unique fan experiences and band content. The NFTs are inexpensive to create and are helping Avenged Sevenfold to expand its fan community.
Pick your fan engagement strategy and start building your fanbase!
Unique and interesting fan engagement strategies will help you build a loyal fanbase–and Leonard’s case studies are full of inspiring ideas. To help you get started, Leonard has put together bonus content containing a 35-day social media planner, as well as links to all the artist content shared in this class for you to review and adapt for yourself. You can start adapting with PosterMyWall’s music posters which will help you get a head-start on your promotions.
So what are you waiting for? Pick a tactic to experiment with and get your fans engaged with your music!
