Guest post by Leonard Patterson, Indie Band Coach
5 TYPES OF CONTENT YOU CAN SHARE ON SOCIAL MEDIA AND EXAMPLES OF ACCOUNTS THAT USE THEM
Question for you! I know it may have been a while considering the whole stay at home season we’re in, but think back to when was the last time you invited someone over to your place?
Chances are you probably cleaned up a bit before they got there because you wanted to make a good impression — swept the floor, washed the dishes, cleaned the bathroom… you know, the usual.
Now, let’s look at your social media as your online place. How many people are visiting you on social media and what impression are they getting? Right?
So before you randomly spend more money on Facebook ads (i.e. inviting people over), let’s take time to make a plan regarding what they’ll see when they get there! Trust me, I’m just as guilty as the next Facebook Page admin, but it all goes into that initial first impression and will help you build your brand!
Here are FIVE types of content you can share on social media! Use this guide to find your ideal “social mix” online and be sure to follow the accounts that do them well.
ENTERTAINING CONTENT
Your audience wants to feel something — anything. Especially with everything going on right now. So depending on your personality, this could take on humor, action, performances, etc. It’s all up to you but this is one of the best ways to keep your fans tuned in!
Entertaining Examples
- Behind the scenes pics and videos
- Tik Tok videos and challenges
- Music videos and livestreams
This Life. We Lead. is an example of a fun, entertaining artist with great content AND great music. He’s a teacher by day and hip hop artist by night and often uses both as a backdrop for his Instagram / Tik Tok skits. I could have also easily placed him in the inspiring category as well for his recent release of “Black Lives”.
++ Turn Your Audio Into Visuals with the Wavve App
Gigmor Live on Twitch Another example of entertaining content is of course Gigmor. The team has taken an obviously non-ideal situation (lack of booking live shows) and turned it into a weekly series for artists to share their talents. Not only do they host Gigmor artists every week, but host other channel’s videos when they’re not live on air themselves.
INSPIRING CONTENT
Of course, you can randomly post interesting quotes for #MondayMotivation, but is that really enhancing your message? If you take some time to curate content that means something to you and you can add your own value, maybe it is?
Inspiring Examples
Think about all types of inspiring content your audience might enjoy, like:
- Your music
- Resources to help your audience
- Motivational passages or videos
- Links to uplifting stories
Rock/Star Advocate I’m so happy to have gone to the DIY Musician Conference a couple of years ago. I had a chance to attend a session with Suzi Paulinski, owner of the Rock/Star Advocate and one of the truly inspiring accounts on the interwebs. Her whole focus is sharing tips and easy-to-apply resources to help artists focus on their career.
EDUCATIONAL
There are some great accounts sharing educational content for musicians, but what kinds of things can you share as a musician that would help educate your fans?
++ June’s Virtual Courses: Classes & Lessons to Power Up Your Musicianship
Educational Examples
- How-to videos on your side hustle
- Local and/or social causes
- Music industry news
- Top 10 Lists on interesting topics
- Informational posts about a passion of yours — cooking, sports, day job, etc.
Ellen Allard is an award-winning children’s composer who also happens to be passionate about health and gluten-free living. When she’s not composing, chances are she’s cooking which she turns into educational recipes and resources for her fans!
✅ Content Tip: Think of it like this – how would you answer the following question: “What’s a topic you could talk about for 30 minutes with absolutely no prep time?”
If you have a couple of topics that pop in your head that get you excited, they just might be great contenders for content your audience might enjoy!
Cherries On Top: One of the educational resources for musicians that you should definitely visit is Cherries On Top! Amy shares amazing tips on growing your fanbase, creating content and branding your band!
Other musician resources you should check out…
- @artistcollect – one of the best educational resources for musicians to help you with marketing, management, and of course, your music
- @indepreneur – these guys & gals are serious about helping you grow and monetize your fanbase
- @popofcolouragency – Clarence helps artists every day with great content and offers services like awesome artist bios
ENGAGING CONTENT
When it comes to engaging type of posts, what we’re really talking about is the structure. So, an engaging post is any type of post that encourages fans to interact. One thing to be careful of here though, is the difference between “engagement” and “engagement baiting.” Social platforms are cracking down more and more on posts that ask viewers to comment a specific word or phrase or ask for specific responses.
✅ Content Tip: Think about engagement as conversation. What are some questions you might ask someone in real life? What are some genuine things you might like to know from your audience? Is there a way to weave it into a story or anecdote?
Engagement Examples
- Open/closed topical questions (see below)
- Opinion polls — most if not all social channels have built-in poll features
- Caption this type posts
- Choose between two options (“this or that”)
- Instagram Stories stickers – polls, questions, challenge, swipe, ask me anything, etc.
Sharon Lia Band uses a great example of a combo type post.
You can see the “topic” is actually about Pat Benatar, but it’s also talking about inspiration while also encouraging interaction. This post was a decent success for the band as it generated approximately 20 comments from fans.
PROMOTIONAL CONTENT
Over the years, as I’ve helped 100s of bands book shows, the promotional content seems to be the go-to, fallback type post — “come to my gig”, or “tune in to my gig” might be more appropriate at the moment.
“A closed mouth never gets fed.” — Unknown
While you don’t want to bombard your audience with straight promo posts, you also can’t be so shy that you never ask them to buy anything or support you. Instead, use a mix of the content we’ve shared here and mix up the type of promotions you’re doing so it doesn’t get to be redundant.
Promotional Examples
Don’t be afraid to give direct calls to action to encourage your audience to:
- attend shows
- viewing livestreams
- buying merch
- joining email list
- following you on social
- Buy. your. music!!!
Dee Rivers Heminway does a Radio Show where she interviews talented musicians and artists. She’s always got great guests and promotes her livestreams on her channels.
Something to note is that these are tools, not rules. You may or may not have content that fits nicely into one of these categories, and that’s perfectly fine. This is all about finding your “social mix” and “cleaning up” before your fans come over!
Other blog posts that might be helpful…
++ How to Succeed on Social Media with Consistency
——————————
Leonard Patterson is a former front-man for a 6-figure party band, a booking agent with 1000’s of shows under his belt, and a certified digital marketer. He launched Indie Band Coach with a mission to help indie bands create, curate, and automate their social media to share their music and get better gigs. Subscribe to the Indie Band Coach YouTube Channel and get more tools, tips, and training to help you on your journey.
