Social media provides aspiring and established DJs with the single biggest and most powerful promotional platform in history. Cast your mind back to a time when social media wasn’t a thing and DJs had to work so much harder to build a following.
Think about it – how on earth would you reach out to local audiences (let alone international listeners) without the internet even existing?
To call social media a gift would be an understatement, but it still tends to go underused and underappreciated by a lot of DJs. This, despite the fact that investing even a modest amount of time and effort in your social media activities could help you achieve the following:
- Build a huge fan base for your music, by reaching out to and engaging listeners from around the world
- Share information about your latest releases, promote your upcoming performances, and generally make yourself known
- Get more gigs by showcasing your talents to promoters and reaching out to venues directly with your showreel
- Stream your sets live to a potentially infinite audience of listeners worldwide and show everyone what you’re capable of
Plus, the fact that all of the above is available 100% free of charge makes it a no-brainer. But for those who aren’t entirely familiar with the complexities of social media, where and how to get started with the whole thing?
Platform Selection
First things first, you cannot realistically expect to go nuts with your promotional activities across every social network in existence. There are just too many of them for this to be a plausible prospect, so it’s best to focus on those with the most active and engaged audiences of listeners.
Examples of which include:
- Soundcloud
- MixCloud
- Snapchat
- YouTube
- Snapchat
- TikTok
You need to ensure that you have a complete and convincing profile on all of these platforms while putting out plenty of content on a regular basis.
Other than this, there are five solid-gold tips, tricks and tactics for building a bigger or a more credible presence on any of these social networks.
Use the Right Hashtags
Hashtags are used by social networks’ algorithms to recommend content to those using their search engines. You, therefore, need to ensure that you’re not only using hashtags but using the right hashtags.
Consider Paid Ads
Paid social ads can be great for generating a quick engagement boost, with products and dj finance packages available to suit all budgets. Best of all, paid social ads to allow you to target specific audiences with pinpoint precision, by way of things like interests, location, age, gender and so much more.
Collaborate with other DJs
Make the effort to reach out to other DJs on a regular basis with ideas for collaborative content. If you can convince them to include you in just one of their videos, you’ll be showcased to their entire audience, and you could get a ton of new followers/listeners on board.
Run Contests and Giveaways
Simple but effective, there’s nothing quite like a freebie to grease the wheels on social media. Just as long as it’s something your listeners will be interested in, you can pretty much guarantee they’ll be keen to take part.
Engage, Engage and Engage
It’s your job to interact and engage with your followers on a continuous basis – not the other way around. Make the effort to make yourself an important part of the community you’re targeting, and show genuine appreciation for those who follow you and enjoy your music.
