For artist your online brand is usually the first interaction that your fan base will come in contact with before they make the decision to follow you or engage with your content. Potential fans will be will most likely be judging you based off of your image or brand identity. This fact alone is why your vision should always take the lead when developing a social media strategy for your music career.

A solid brand is crucial when building your network and creating rapport with other artists, labels and industry regulars. The ultimate goal is to have your brand resonate with your target audience, no matter it be fans, label executives or concert promoters.

If branding yourself online is one of your goals, Twitter is the perfect platform to get started. Although there can be a lot of noise when it comes to the many social media antics. The platform hosts a wealth of creatives, artists and music professionals to connect with through the sharing of blog posts, websites, news, videos, photos and podcasts.

More importantly, Twitter is also full of fans who listen, share and buy music. Growing your Twitter following can also be translated to future ticket sales and other valuable conversions.

Music fans on Twitter are also instrumental in shaping the streaming landscape — according to a Twitter-commissioned study, 42% of Twitter music listeners say their fellow followers come to them for recommendations on what to play next.

The platform is full of individuals who influence people to stream new music, watch an artist’s new video and attend concerts. This can be a major help for any artists looking to climb the streaming charts on SoundCloud, YouTube or Spotify.

Now let’s deep dive into the ‘5 Reasons Why Artists Should Be Using Twitter Right Now’.

1. Easy To Communicate With Your Fan Base

Twitter is fairly simple for artists to use, if you’re wondering what you could post on your profile feel free to visit some similar artist accounts to do research on content strategy and put your own remix on it.

Below are some ideas to explore:

– Entertaining or attention-grabbing photos.

– Concert or tour announcements etc.

– Spontaneous life or industry insider tweets.

– New music announcements, unreleased content previews etc.

– ‘Retweet with a comment’ (Responding to tweets with genuine feedback).

– Retweeting follower’s tweets that you’re mentioned in.

– Showing support for other artists and music professionals.

– Tweeting videos of new music you are working on, preview new sounds, etc.

Engaging on Twitter is a great way to grab a potential fan’s attention. I would suggest liking comments and retweeting content that involves your fan base to let people see that you’re active and involved. If you’re a rising artist and haven’t built a full fledge fan base, a great way to engage and gain followers is to reply, comment and like topics involving your brand to cultivate an online community. This is essential when growing your following on Twitter and is a great part of the process.

Utilizing ‘pinned tweets’ is another great way to showcase what you’re currently working on or presenting a new video for your fan base to check out. Most artists use ‘pinned tweets’ to showcase their tour schedule or promote new merch that has been recently released. This isn’t a permanent placement for your tweets, so be sure to change it up when necessary!

2. Direct Messages (DMs) Allow For More Opportunities And Creative Collaboration

Twitter is a great way to network with fellow creators and industry regulars. The Direct Messaging feature is an efficient way to contact fellow creatives privately. The DMs allow you to bypass emails, texts and tweets to go directly to the source.

DMs can also be used as a way to gather research, get advice and even thank fans for their support. Thanking your fan base is big way to build your fan base on Twitter. In the beginning of building your fan base you want to be as personable as possible. DMs are a more static version of communication versus replying to a tweet that may get lost in a very active timeline. Twitter and its DM features are an excellent way to connect with mutual followers, fellow artists and take advantage of potential opportunities.

3. Retweets = Boost In Engagement, Reach And MORE FOLLOWERS

Retweets are considered Twitter gold. When you’re active on Twitter, retweets can bring in a good amount of traffic to your tweets and profile. For artists, retweets and likes from different artists can be pre-arranged, spontaneous and even better (a given).

By supporting each other and being continuously engaged in Twitter conversations you will naturally gain a number of followers from your interactions with other people on the platform. This can grab the attention of bigger artists too if they see the support and want to get involved in a growing movement.

4. A Straightforward Way To Interact With Your Fan Base

Twitter recently acquired Tweetdeck, the platform has quickly become a go to for artists and music professionals. Tweetdeck allows you to organize multiple feeds, schedule post in advance, as well as follow hashtags and trends. All in one interface.

This is critical when you have built a substantial following and need to reply and engage with your online community. This can be difficult to execute if you’re just utilizing the Twitter app. Overall, make sure to choose a tool or platform that will help you in achieving your business goals that you have set up for yourself.

If you’re focusing on growing your account, networking, messaging multiple parties and managing different situations. Tweetdeck is for you.

For example, you can create the following lists:

– Content creators & music blogs

– Magazine & blog writers

– Fellow artists, videographers & music producers

– Rising artists.

– Music professionals (managers & engineers)

– Top followers

Keep in mind, these are ‘deliberately’ chosen individuals. Depending on your career path and where you want to take it. You can start local and build an international network that will help you execute your desired goals and objectives.

Content creators and music blogs can help you grow your follower base and expand your reach. Always, leave a comment and support these individuals or companies.

Magazine and blog writers fall in the same category as creators, their success in general could benefit your career in the long run. Always network and get to know people that could provide a familiar face when visiting new city or bring light to your content.

Fellow artists, videographers and music producers are like co-workers. Even though you all may live in different cities or states. We are all apart of the same industry. They could also offer support and help you grow your Twitter community.

Networking with rising artists is great way to give back and support the individuals in your city or town. This could be applied to regional cities as well, breaking down barriers is a great way to drive creativity.

Cultivating relationships with music professionals such managers, engineers and booking agents are also a great way to build up your following on Twitter. These interactions are what help you to grow a legitimate fanbase. These relationships will help you in getting booked, doing shows and performing at festivals. So always keep a good energy and never burn your bridges.

Top followers and fans are great to engage with on Twitter. They spread your content and make great recommendations when potentials fans are considering investing in your content. Be sure to let them know that they are appreciated and that you are grateful for their continued support.

5. A Practical Advertising Platform, Equipped With Re-targeting

Twitter’s advertising platform and targeting features have also developed into an essential aspect of an artist’s social media agenda. It is straightforward, simple and you can re-target followers who have engaged with your content such as retweets, likes or comments. This is efficient because it allows you to reach users directly when you have a new song, video or plan to go on tour.

Twitter’s advertising platform also allows you to create ‘look-a-like’ audiences of artists that are in the same genre as you and target those specific audiences with similar interests. I would suggest posting organic content first to see what works or what speaks to your current audience and then dissect that data to create a more focused Twitter Ad campaign.

The convenience at play for artists and music professionals is that there are millions of music professionals using Twitter as a marketing platform. So there is plenty of examples to take note of, as well connecting and working with artists and music professionals with similar mindsets.