trying to help bands avoid communication fails...
Back in February I published an article, “Building Fan-Band Relationships In 420 Characters Per Day” that put forward some tips on how bands could take better advantage of the Twitter platform, and utilize it to more effectively communicate with their fans.
Since then, I have seen a large growth in the number of bands who are using Twitter, and have seen many examples of good practices and some examples of not-so-good practices, some of which I’d like to call attention to here.
Some great example posts of good use of twitter by a band:
- “We’re #1 [national] artist for most views on Youtube today!! You guys rock keep checking the [song title] video! -N
This is a great post because it’s informative, yet promotional, but doesn’t sound egotistical, in fact it has a thankful tone, contains a directive inciting fans to perform a desired action, and the post is “signed” by the band member, so a reader knows which band member logged in to Twitter that day.
- playing at 1714 XXXX street in LA at 2pm. directions at http://XXXX.com – only room for 50 people so come get in line asafp!!!
Another great use of twitter, in that it announces a promotional message that your fans would care about, (a secret show), gives specific details, conveys urgency, and excitement.
- @username What exactly is a garbage plate?
This is a great example, because it’s a conversational response to something one of the band’s fans actually said to the band. Interacting with the fans is crucial, because the Twitter platform is not meant for one-way communication. It’s meant for conversations.
- http://twitpic.com/XXXX- yes, you can play with the mac, just don’t touch the keys or drool on it.
This one is great because it uses a twitpic, and everyone loves to see pictures posted from their favorite bands. Especially when the photos and caption provide insight into what you’re doing, showcases your personality, or something that you’re passionate about, and has an interesting caption. The immediacy of Twitter makes the photos seem even more special because there’s the feeling they are happening right “now.”
- sick with flu, in bed, brain full of emptiness. watching DVD of doctor who and drinking hot toddys. life, love & time are great mysteries.
Another post that shows personality, talks about some non-music related interests, keeps fans updated in a very intimate way, and still manages to contain a profound thought.
- What are some new bands/artists that don’t suck? I need some new music that doesn’t sound like some regurgitated crap I’ve heard before.
Okay, so this one isn’t articulated the best, since its a little negative, but the idea of polling your followers to get them to talk about other bands they listen to is a great idea. Not only does it engage your audience, get them talking about music, but it actually also gives you useful info about your fanbase that could help you better market your music.
In general, posts that inform, inquire, engage, and interact are the best. For a really great example of an artist who is being extremely effective on Twitter, check out @amandapalmer. She’s the lead-singer of the band The Dresden Dolls and also a very talented solo artist. Whether you like her music or not, you could learn a lot stylistically from her twitter account. She does twitter-based Q&As with her fans, holds impromptu secret shows announced via twitter, does quick promos like “first five people to @reply me get on the guestlist for the show tonight”, surprise fan meet-ups, polls her audience, talks to them, has conversations with them, posts lots of twitpics, and demonstrates many other lessons in effective online fan-communication via Twitter.
So just before I wrap this up, I think it’s only fair to comment on a few bad practices, however I’m not going to call anyone out or anything like that, but here are a few “please don’ts” to keep in mind…
- please don’t publicly thank people for their support when really what’s happened is that you followed them first, and now they decided to follow you back out of courtesy. Note, this is especially bad when you do this with famous musicians. @depechemode is not showing their support of your band, by returning a follow.
- please don’t REPEAT OVERLY PROMOTIONAL TWEETS THAT ARE WRITTEN ALL IN CAPS. PLEASE DON’T REPEAT OVERLY PROMOTIONAL TWEETS THAT ARE WRITTEN ALL IN CAPS. PLEASE DON’T REPEAT…see what i mean?
- if someone follows you, don’t automatically assume they’re now your fan. Don’t auto-DM them thanking them for their interest in your music, or make any other assumptions like that. Consider that the online equivalent of someone saying “hi, what do you do?” and you’re response being “Oh my god, it’s so great you talked to me, because now we’re best friends, and we’re gonna hang out every day and you’re mom’s gonna bake me cookies.” It’s a little weird.
- please don’t ignore questions or comments from your followers. Even if it’s only 140-characters worth of attention they gave you, that’s still effort they didn’t have to bother making, so if they’ve gone out of their way to do it, you had better pay them the respect of replying.
I’m sure there are more of both good practices and bad practices… but I’ll tell you what… I’ll stop here, but I invite everyone to continue this post through the comments section. What are some more good and bad practices that you’ve seen?
I think the key thing here is “Do Not Spam”.
Also if you do have some people you follow that are annoying spammers then keep following because they are great examples of what not to do.
thanks everyone for all the comments!
- InHim…keep it up… and you can always just use your first initial to sign posts.
- Tim… I completely agree. Well said. If you’ve got that down, what else could you be doing to interact and grow your audience?
- Phobik… it’s true, however fans are very understanding of that fact. They want you to grow your fanbase, they’ll understand when your interaction with them changes. But don’t take it for granted… and don’t just look at it as throwing crumbs at those “real fans” who will stick around as you get bigger. I’m sure it wasn’t your intention, but that sounds fairly arrogant. And you should always remember you’re nowhere without your fans. Always treat them respectfully. Always.
- Molly…thank you for the kind words, it’s much appreciated.
This is a post I recommend to anyone, musician or no. Brief, to the point and open for comments of real life experiences/interaction from the Twitterverse.
It may seem easy in concept, but possibly become difficult in the long run to answer every message out of hundreds/thousands. In the end, I think the “real” fans will still stick around, and drool at any crumbs they can get thought.
Great article. I feel like I am achieving those things!
I am a firm believer in deciding EXACTLY what you should be using twitter for and working towards that. It determines who you follow and it determines your interactions with followers.
Hi,
Thank you for this post! We really try as hard as we can to be interactive with our Twitter followers, and we try (if characters allow and appropriate for that specific update) to put the name of the band member posting the update.
Thanks again, and have a great day!
Andy and Miranda – In Him