For a musician, one thing matters above everything else – being heard. It used to be that the Terry Wogan’s of this world decided who was heard and who was not. But the meteoric rise in popularity of the internet and more recently, social media has smoothed out the playing field. Major record companies still dominate – but they are no longer the gate-keepers of our ears. In this presentation, we explore the options available to you as a musician, in promoting yourself on Facebook. There is no one size fits all or guarantee of success. Only best practices and good ideas.

1. How to effectively
promote your music
on Facebook
Facebook as a platform for musicians
By Kevin Bolger, MSc Mathematical Modelling

2. About the Author
I, Kevin Bolger, am a MSc Student at the University of Limerick
studying Mathematical Modelling with a insatiable enthusiasm for
tackling problems in the emerging Data Science Industry.
With regards my experience with Facebook, I once ran a
successful news/ entertainment website which had a Facebook
presence of 140,000 people before enrolling in my Masters.
I also run several high profile Facebook pages as a hobby, and
have gained a lot of experience using Facebook to promote my
family's business.
I can be found here on Twitter @Kevin_Bolger or here on LinkedIn

3. Preface
In this presentation, I have taken extracts from an article which I wrote
for YHSounds.com and modified them to suit the platform.
What is Included in this presentation?:
- Section 2: The NewsFeed (Edited for Slideshare).
In the Article on YHSounds.com?:
- Section 1: Setting up your Page
- Section 3: Advertising

4. The NewsFeed
The algorithm:
Facebook want to reward quality original content –
that is the key message they are trying to send
out.
Content is weighted in the newsfeed in the
following order:
Video > Links > Photos > Status
This changes - but you should not change with it.
Find out what works for YOU and DONT waste
time chasing an algorithm

5. The NewsFeed
Musicians by nature create quality original rich media content on a daily basis.
The only problem is, most don’t know this. The key is spotting the opportunities
to market yourselves on Facebook and not letting them pass you by.
Right: Here is an
example from my
family’s business - a
recording of a cover
song uploaded to
Facebook.

6. Videos
Uploading regular quality video content on
Facebook is a sure fire way to build an audience.
Videos are the highest ranked post type on
Facebook. What this means is they receive a larger
weighting in the newsfeed algorithm than any other
post type, making it possible to reach more people
than any other media type can (provided the
content is good of course).
Right: Mumford and Sons get a massive reaction
to a teaser video to their new album on Facebook.

7. Videos
Posting videos of band
practices and pre-gig
warm ups recorded on
your smart phone can be
a good way to keep the
momentum going in
between your higher
quality music videos.
Right: An early video on our
Facebook Page, teasing out
an upcoming music video.

8. YouTube or Facebook for Video?

9. Facebook or YouTube for Video?
Pros Cons
Facebook Larger Organic Reach
Good environment for lower
production quality videos.
Harder to be “discovered”.
YouTube Best Video Platform
available.
Easier to be “discovered”.
Superior archiving of
videos.
Organic reach is not as
good as YouTube videos
are treated as links.

10. Facebook or YouTube for Video?
Here is an example of search results on Facebook and YouTube. Its clear that
YouTube is far superior when it comes to video discovery.

11. Facebook and YouTube together
DO BOTH!
The home of video on the internet in clearly YouTube. You need to be active
here. And driving your Facebook followers here is important.
But the thing is, when promoting your music online the main aim is exposure.
And there is no question that when posting a video to Facebook that uploading
the video natively is the way to get the most organic reach.

12. YouTube or Facebook for Video
My preferred method:
- Post the YouTube video first, sharing on Social Media.
- Once the video has run its course, upload it natively to
Facebook and enjoy a fresh wave of excitement over
your new music video.
- Link to the original (on YouTube) in your Facebook

13. YouTube or Facebook for Video
Right: An example of one of our
music videos uploaded natively
to Facebook.
You can see the YouTube
version is linked in the
description.

14. YouTube or Facebook for Video
Play to their Strengths
- YouTube should be used as an archive of your best
video content.
- Facebook can be a good place for lower quality video
content intended only for the platform. e.g. Videos of
your band tuning instruments backstage before a gig.

15. Photography
Great for driving engagement
and connecting more personally
with your fans.
Right: Irish Musician Jamie
Harrison takes a picture before
recording some new music.

16. Photography
Use photo albums to
tell a story.
Right: We posted a
collection of photos
to build anticipation
for a new music
video ahead of its
release.

17. Photography
The Facebook news feed has such a short term
memory – you need to be posting consistently. Once a
week won’t cut it.

18. External Links
Avoid Click Bait and Low Value Content
Facebook hates click-bait
and will punish you for
sharing it.
Sharing links to websites with
low value will result in a
poorer performance in the
newsfeed both for the post in
question and potentially even
future posts.

19. External Links
Top Tips:
- Be sure that the content you are sharing is off high value.
- Providing a summary of the key points of the article being shared in the text of
the post is also useful.
- This gives people the option of choosing if they want to read in more detail on
the content.
- Be sure the content you are sharing with your fans is relevant to them and
what they expect from your page.

20. Your Own Blog
I would insist that every business has a blog on their main
website where they can post content regularly that is
relevant to their target audience.

21. Your Own Blog
Blog about your experiences.
Blog about your latest tours, gigs or studio sessions.
Give people an in depth behind the scenes look at what goes on with
your band. That way you are driving a relevant audience (Your fans) to
your website where you can potentially sell them merchandise, tickets
to shows, albums – or just develop a stronger connection with them.
Simply reminding your fans you exist can be crucial.

22. Further Reading
To read the unedited article in full visit:
http://www.yhsounds.com/2015/05/how-to-
promote-your-music-on-facebook/