Category: Social MediaCategory: Social Media

Had a conversation this weekend at Furnace Fest, about waiting to start sending a newsletter to a small list (about 10 people), which reminded me of this story:

Learn from Chris Spencer of Unsane, from an interview with Echoes and Dust:

“We played a show at CBGBs, we got offered a show with Sonic Youth and we got there to find out that we were playing the graveyard shift, which was actually after Sonic Youth … we had to go out and the place cleared out and we went on to like twelve people!”

Got ten people on your list? That’s enough.

Don’t wait for more people – level the room. Impress the people in front of you. Serve the people who signed up.

“Fortunately for us, Gerard Cosmos from Matador Records happened to still be there and offered us a record deal after that, so it actually really worked out.”

You never know who might be reading your newsletter, so don’t hold back.

Why else should you send to a smaller list?

Because you can make your mistakes now, and learn from them, with a much smaller impact.

If you mess up a link to 25 people, fix the link and send it again. Learn to double check that sort of stuff now, before you fuck up with 2,500 people.

“I would also send DMs to new Twitter followers, thanking them for the follow and letting them know about my newsletter,” says Dylan Redekop

Since Twitter and other social media networks love throttling your reach when you include a link in your post, experiment with sending DMs to new followers, or maybe people that regularly reply to your posts.

The days of getting 50,000 clicks from Facebook are long gong, but the vault is still open.

As I’ve said in “THE VAULT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IS OPEN SO TAKE WHAT YOU CAN GET” –

I have good news, and I have bad news.

The good news is the vault is open, and by vault, I mean social media.

You’re still able to link to your latest video, or a new song, or ask people to join your email list.

The bad news is that you can only swipe a few dollars at a time from the vault.

What would it hurt to try this a few times this week?

Approach your social media and email newsletters like a DJ.

A DJ doesn’t open the set with self-promotion; they give the audience a carefully chosen playlist of music, drawing from various sources, sounds, and eras.

Similarly, you can blend your influences and experiences into a cohesive online presence for your audience.

Plan ahead and schedule social media posts on specific days. Set a rhythm for your posts, and tastefully repeat announcing your new songs, tour dates, and upcoming events.

We do this because, “if your social media posts are seen by less than 3% of your followers, that means over 97% of your fans didn’t see it.”

Now, when a DJ is sourcing music for a mix, they draw from their own collection, along with new material. Random discoveries from other mixes.

In a way you’re probably already doing this.

You’re sending new music to your friends, and going to shows.
Dropping links to music videos in the group chat.
Talking about upcoming shows in Discord, on social media, in person.

You’re more of a DJ then you realize.

Your “online presence” is your existence in the digital space, so keep it authentic.

Use your good taste and share that with your audience. Tell them the new album you discovered, the old album that moves you to tears, a book that inspired your creative journey.

This makes “marketing ” feel less gross because you’re just being yourself, reshaping the conversation into whatever online container you happen to inhabit.

This from a Chris Dalla Riva piece called ‘Your Followers are not Your Fans.’

“Your followers – and maybe even your listeners – are not necessarily your fans.”

Riva goes down the rabbit hole of how Spotify plays and TikTok numbers don’t always translate to ticket sales.

Social media vanity metrics don’t always translate to real world fandom.

People who “like” a post probably won’t buy your album, sign up for your course, join your email list, or share something with their friends.

Many followers like you, but they don’t LIKE-LIKE you.

A “follower” starts at the very top of the “marketing funnel.”

Moving the follower down the funnel is an adventure.

One does not simply turn this casual fan into a customer overnight.

Customer. Subscriber. Student. Client. Whoever you’re trying to bring into your world.

You probably know this because of the very few followers that even see your social media posts, very few click anything.

So in our SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE PLAN journey, we’ve been doing a lot of ATTRACTING (at the top of the funnel).

Our next move is INFORMING.

Nobody knows everything you’re doing.

Most of your followers don’t know about your next course, your next photo session, your next tour, your new shirt.

They don’t know they can subscribe to your cool email list.

Here’s some wild things you can do:

➡️ Reply to someone who leaves a comment with a link

➡️ DM someone and let them know about your new project

➡️ Email someone directly

➡️ Make personalized videos with Loom and send to fans (like this):

You can directly reach followers, all while watching Ahsoka on a Tuesday night, or watching the Jets season implode in just 75 seconds.

It’s hand-to-hand combat from here on out. It’s gonna take time, and it doesn’t scale, but it can help move casual fans to people who absolutely love what you do.