ASK A PUBLICIST is a recurring column on Haulix Daily where we pose a question about music promotion and publicity in 2016 to the team at Catalyst Publicity Group. If you have a question for the team, email james@haulix.com and we’ll try to find the answer.
QUESTION: What value is there in ‘social media takeovers,’ and what should artists hope to gain from such exposure?
Social media is a wonderful tool to gain additional exposure. The value in social media takeovers in particular is that as an artist you are introducing yourself to a whole new group of potential fans. By partnering with a publication, a non-profit, a brand, and so forth you are inviting those social media fans into your world by giving them a sneak peek of your project. Often times during a social media takeover artists will give fans a behind the scenes look at the making of an album, a music video, tour life, or a significant day for the artist such as a festival performance and so forth.
Think of social media takeovers as a more targeted approach to reaching a new audience (who will already likely enjoy your style of music, if the brand you are taking over aligns right). Typically when an artist takes over a social media account, whether that be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope, and the likes it is important to remember that not all of those fans on said platform will know who you are or follow you back on social media. If you want to be remembered and attract new fans, don’t forget to consistently re-state your name, use a particular hashtag to follow the takeover and tag your social media accounts. It is as beneficial as sharing with your own fanbase, and then some. You are giving an “elevator pitch” and a glimpse into your life, so make it meaningful and powerful to keep those new fans intrigued about what you have going on. Don’t forget to give it a more personal approach, giving fans (old and potential) a look at life behind the scenes, the work you are putting into your career, and what it takes to be in a band. It draws a higher level of respect towards and interest in the artist.
In music today, success is hard to quantify in numbers because success is so much more than just likes and followers. It’s also how many people are talking about you, will come see you at a show, or at least recognize your name enough to check you out when you pass through their town on tour. Will you get more followers from takeovers? Probably. Will it be a lot? Probably not. But your name is out there to a whole new group of people who didn’t know you before, and that’s the takeaway lesson for today.