Marketing: Glow up your instagram!

Social media is an incredible tool for artists to market themselves. 

In this article we’ll look into how to glow up your instagram and why it’s so beneficial to artists looking for work!

Instagram is one of the most the most powerful tools you can use to get work
Your instagram page acts as a personal portfolio to potential clients. It's super easy to share content, look professional, highlight your best bits and manage direct contact with venues and audiences

Marketing

Instagram is the best platform you can utilise as a musician for a number of reasons. It could be argued that you can make money using TikTok, however that’s a different ball game and we’ll discuss that separately. 

The reason that insta is so important is because it acts a portfolio of your work and brand that is easily accessible by venues and fans. You can also reach more fans and gain a following by posting quality content – remember instagram favours quality over quantity. 


Cross posting to Facebook

The beauty of instagram and Facebook being the same company is that you can post once and reach different audiences across different platforms. Creating content can be time consuming and this feature can really help you out! Be careful about downloading videos and uploading to other platforms such as TikTok because they don’t like each other and algorithms stem their reach on each others platforms. 

Social media is the best place to store your photos and videos for clients to access easily - make sure to pin your best videos to your page!

Content 

Instagram has a premium feel to it, so you should try and fill it with good photographs that are HD where possible. A great way to get awesome photos for free are to attend free events like songwriters nights, open mics or festivals.

 

Pin your best content to your profile

Highlight your best achievements and performances by selecting the three dots at the top of your post and scrolling to pin to profile. That way the first thing your clients will see is your best performances! 

 

It’s the next best thing to a website

Instagram has a bunch of features that are really useful, including image and video uploads, testimonials (via comments) and private messaging. 

You can also view insights to understand which of your content is working best! 

Instagram will give you key insights into the performance of your content and help you understand your audience

You can gather your tribe

Instagram can be used to build a strong following of both long and short distance fans. Having followers is not essential, but it certainly acts as a testimonial for potential clients. They will be more likely to hire you if you have mutual followings! 

Similarly, advertise your instagram at any live performances to gain a local following – these guys are super important because they will actually attend shows if you play in the area. Also having that social interaction makes them feel more connected and they will tell other about you too! 


Stories 

Stories are arguably the best way to connect with your audience. They want to see your day-to-day and you’ll find that people are interested in whatever you do. 

Added to this you can add to highlights, where you can bring some of your older content to the front of the page – for example, gather all your live performances on one highlight for your users to scroll through! 

Some people may disagree, but I’ve found instagram to be the most useful of all platforms for reach, lead generation and to quickly send my work to clients. 

If you’re looking to get paid for you work, I’d highly recommend you take some of these tips and put them to good use! For more on marketing, sign up to our newsletter!