In the new music business, it’s absolutely essential to build an online fanbase. We’ve seen plenty of artists break through almost entirely due to TikTok and other online platforms. The message is clear– Investing in an online following can lead to real life changes with enough time and effort.
At Koji, we’re all about empowering musicians to grow their own audiences and build sustainable careers. So, we’ve put together a guide for building your online presence as a musician, whether you’re just starting out or already have a couple of hundred fans under your belt. Let’s jump right in!
How To Build An Online Music Following: 7 Effective Strategies
Creating a robust music following online isn’t always easy, but it can definitely be done with the help of the following tools and strategies:
1. Funnel your fans strategically.
Many musicians underestimate the power of having a proper landing page. There are only so many opportunities to captivate your fan’s attention, and having a well-designed link in bio like Koji can help you effectively stand out from the crowd as a musician.
Koji’s link in bio is easy to customize and doesn’t take your fans away from the platform they’re viewing your links on. Instead, your audience is able to seamlessly view your music videos or check out your latest Instagram post all while staying on your Koji profile.
Make sure your Koji profile has all of the essential mini apps for musicians like Music Links, Love Jar, Sell Physicial Products, and Locked Audio. From there, you can customize your profile to your liking! Be sure to update all of your social profiles to funnel back to your Koji – this way, you can effectively evaluate your link in bio analytics to see what’s performing best.
2. Consistency breeds quality.
One of the most important principles for anyone in the entertainment industry is understanding the importance of consistency. This doesn’t just extend to marketing your music and checking in with fans via social media – it also relates to consistently creating music to better your craft.
Remember that being consistent doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t creating quality work. In fact, in many cases, consistency is the very thing that brings quality: if you give yourself more opportunities to create art and content, you’ll undoubtedly become more skilled at most.
Stay as patient as possible and challenge yourself to stick to a creation schedule that makes sense for you. Even if you’re not in a current album cycle, you’ll still need to check in with your fans to continue to foster that relationship. You can use Koji tools like Shoutout, for instance, to consistently engage on a personal level with your audience.
3. Work with other artists.
Building a dedicated following when people have yet to learn your name can be challenging. A great place to start is to network with other artists. By nature, musicians are music lovers, so they might just be open to checking out your tunes! However, note that to earn support, you have to give some support yourself.
You can do this by engaging with other artists’ music and content or even show some of your appreciation through Koji mini apps like Top 8, where you can feature other creators’ profiles on your page.
It’s also wise to collaborate on music with artists if you can. Not only will this allow you to cross-pollinate audiences, but you can learn a lot by working with someone who has a totally different set of tools than you do.
4. Don’t forget about your offline presence, too.
As important as it is to build your online presence, don’t forget to take the experience offline periodically to connect with your fans on another level. You can use tools like Event Calendar to help rally your fans together for a concert, meetup, or anything in between!
5. Spread the love.
To get love, you have to give love. Make sure you’re taking the time to answer comments and questions from fans, and make a habit of highlighting some of your top supporters on social media or at shows. Don’t just focus on building your network; take the time to nurture the relationships and fans you already have.
6. Consider what makes other artists stand out from the crowd.
You can learn how to effectively market your music by considering how you discover your new favorite acts. What causes you to delve deeper into an artist’s back story? Is it their distinct style? Their vulnerable, poignant lyrics? Their hilarious online persona? Whenever you catch yourself becoming intrigued by a musician in any way, take a second to analyze why. Before long, you’ll be able to look back on your findings and apply them to your own career.
7. Put in the work.
Most overnight successes are hardly that. Behind every “breakout star” is years of hard work that led them to today. Try not to get discouraged and remember that all of your artists worked quietly for many years before appearing to the public eye. It’s hard for a reason, but with enough time, commitment, and most importantly, awesome music, you’re bound to gain some traction online!
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to marketing your music. However, these strategies will certainly help guide your overall strategy to finding new fans online and offline! Enjoy building your fanbase with the help of Koji’s supercharged link in bio.
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