A Blog Featured My Music – Now What Do I Do?
Congratulations on getting some positive press from an outlet you respect. You’ve made a substantial bit of progress. Many artists have their work left on the cutting room floor, with even small circulation blogs getting far more submissions than time to post. It is an honor that someone took the time to cover your music. So, now what? Here are some things you can do to help your own cause, pay a bit back to the blog, and make sure that your fans have extra love for you.
1) Compose a separate PUBLIC message to thank the blog for the coverage. Whether it’s on Facebook, Twitter, or both, be sure to make a specific “shout out” message. Something like, “Thanks for the coverage @EarToThe_Ground! We’re glad Greg liked *Album Name Here* so much! Check out the review ” If you do this, any of your fans on the edge of whether to buy the album will read the review, which of course will be positive and might convert the album sale. Additionally, any retweets or likes on the post will increase visibility. Total cost = zero.
2) Compose specific messages to send to your friends. You get bonus points if those friends are people of influence. “Hey Bob who now stars on a TV show… we got some great press… yada yada.” This targeting makes Bob feel like he should reply. At very least he will be cool and say “hey that’s great.” Any reply works magic with the social media algorithms. If a few other friends see it (like people you and Bob went to high school with together), they may like it as well. Don’t be spammy, but if you do this with a handful of friends for each piece of press you get, that will really help.
3) Don’t be desperate, but ask others to share as well. Let people know they are really helping you (because they are) if they share your post with a few friends. If everyone who knows somebody tells a few people, you will have incredible reach. It might feel a bit cheap, but consider offering tickets for “street team” work if you can make it work. Not only will it get people to your shows, but it will also give those friends a sense of investment in your success.
4) Confirm for your fans that they were wise to discover your music. Your fans love to know they were right. When a fan reads that a band that he/she loves is actually being respected in the broader musical community, that lends credibility to the discovery. If your press is on a big time outlet like Rolling Stone or Pitchfork, it’s all the more credibility lended to your fans. So tell your fans all about it. The day that the review runs (if the blog tells you), be sure to share the post.
5) Revisit the post in two weeks, then again after a month. This might seem like overkill, but you may have gained new fans in that time or even the blog has. Rekindling the social media conversation doesn’t have to feel forced. Just say “checking out that review again. So flattering to be featured on your amazing site.” Something like that, refreshing the link with a few different/new tags, can go a long way in getting your exposure to new places.
Remember that the great advantage to being featured by a publication is not just the few thousand people who read their site. The benefit is in the legitimacy that it grants you. Make sure to have an active press page on your website with relevant links. Offer a quote, “EarToTheGround Music calls *Album Name* the best Americana album to come out in five years…” then hotlink that bad boy! When people visit that page, they will be inclined to click the link. Again, having the outside opinion helps to bump people who are on the verge.
Fans want to be the “first” to discover new music. They want to be known as the person who “broke” an artist to a group of friends. Even people who aren’t as obsessive about new music as we are here do still want to have that credibility for their own music taste. Make it easy for them.
All of the options mentioned here are free. Of course you can delve into sponsored posts if you have the budget for it, but make sure not to let press go to waste. If you learn nothing from this post, please remember to DO MORE THAN JUST RETWEET THE ARTICLE. A reviewer probably listened to the album several times, contemplated the music and the lyrics, and crafted a formal opinion of your work. They took the time to write sincere commentary on the album to help spread your art; the least you can do is set up a few social media posts to make sure your loyal fans (and maybe some new ones) can discover the article.
