Over the years, Instagram music promotion has gradually risen to boast the highest engagement rate across all social media campaigns for musicians.
With over 500 million daily users, it’s no surprise to see some of the most prominent global artists like Beyonce, Justin Timberlake, and J Balvin posting on the platform to keep their fans engaged with their day-to-day activities.
The platform has gradually become an excellent avenue for the fanbase to be in the loop, and to get the latest news on their favorite artist!
Nevertheless, if an artist isn’t using Instagram the right way, it can be a severe waste of time.
As such, we thought it best to compile this comprehensive 7-step guide on how to get started with promoting your music on Instagram using the right marketing tips.
1. Transforming Your Personal Account to A Business Account
If you’d like to get started with using your Instagram account for music promotion, it’s essential first to convert it into a business account.
A business account operates in the same way as a personal account, with the only difference being is that there are some additional features added.
Some of these features include analytics to monitor your engagement, as well as the addition of direct contact buttons.
To move to a business account, navigate to the ‘settings’ menu, and select ‘switch to a Business account.’
Before setting it up, Instagram will prompt you to connect to your Facebook artist (business) page.
Here’s a detailed video on how to go about converting to an Instagram business account:
2. Improving Your Profile Bio on Instagram
While the bio section on Instagram may not be so detailed, you can do a lot to optimize it.
For instance, you’ll notice that some of the bios from world-renowned artists like Beyonce have bios with very few words but act as a highlight of their super pitch.
The goal of your bio isn’t to tell people about the kind of music that you make.
Instead, it’s to tell your story and to single you out as a unique artist. You’ve got to develop a hook that will get people invested in your page!
The language that you use is also essential to connect with the target audience you’re selling to. For example, if your target audience is teenagers, then a simple, natural flowing language will do.
If you have a more adult-oriented fanbase, you might have to take the dialect up a notch.
3. Choosing A Great Instagram Profile Picture
Similar to your bio, your Instagram profile picture should be a representation of you as a musician. In simple terms, it should accentuate your musical spirit and vibe.
If you might be missing some professional photos of you (or the music group that you’re associated with), this might be an excellent opportunity for you to go for a professional photoshoot.
After doing so, you can use them across your different social media channels. But it doesn’t have to be professional photos only. You can also have a great logo or cover art to do you justice too.
4. Tips on Taking Your Instagram Photos and Editing Them
When it comes to taking photos, the first thing that you need to be mindful of is the lighting. The use of indirect, bright, and natural daylight will give you the best lighting.
It doesn’t matter whether you are posting a shot of your daily life, the band, or a concert. Nevertheless, you can also make creative photos with backlighting or even harsh lighting if you want to take your creativity a step further.
Just like in music, every one of your photos must have a central theme to revolve around. The theme of the picture could be your fans, a new album release, a lyric sheet, or anything that is tied to your music.
When it comes to taking photos, the use of a great smartphone can do the trick. This detailed video shows you how to go about it:
Alternatively, you can use a camera to take high-quality photos because it provides additional features.
After taking the photos, you can use an Instagram Uploader such as VSCO Cam or Afterlight to edit your photos and make sure that they are amazing. You can stick to the basics of photo editing, such as changing the images Contrast and Brightness. You can finally apply an Instagram filter to the process before finally posting it online.
5. What to Post Regularly For Better Instagram Music Promotion
Using Instagram successfully for your music marketing all boils down to using content marketing strategies effectively.
Your objective is to share with your fans valuable content that will make them adore what you have to offer and get them invested in your life.
Here are some great posts to get your fans interested.
You can start with 60-second videos and upload them to your feed. These videos could be anything from clips of you or your band performing live, to videos of you showing your fans how to play the guitar to one of your songs. The creativity of your videos all depends on you!
Apart from videos, you can also post images of you in the studio, on tour, or even backstage after a fantastic gig chilling with the fans.
6. Writing A Great Instagram Caption
Because of its high engagement, Instagram is a great place to write captions that portray your self-image, or that of your brand.
So when it comes to writing captions, they must relate to your music career. Think of writing something that gives the vibe of an ongoing story.
Each of your captions should add value to your Instagram post. The objective is to tell your story in a creative and captivating way, absorbing your fans into your world.
You want your fans to feel involved, to comment on your post and share it with their friends. To vote for an upcoming gig that you’ll be hosting. The options of a great caption are endless!
7. Instagram Stories and Live Videos for Musicians
Instagram Stories are another great way to post on Instagram. These are different from regular posts in that they remain active on your feed for only 24 hours.
Keeping this in mind, stories are ideal for showing glimpses of your daily life, giving fans a preview of behind the scenes of your latest video shoot, or a sneak peek into a new project that you’re currently working on.
The fact that stories are not permanent means that you don’t have to create them as frequently as possible. And they also provide you with an opportunity to showcase more of your personality with each post.
Stories are also an incredible way to have your fans engaged with what you are working on. You can even share your music directly from Spotify to promote your music through your stories.
Instagram Live Videos- IGTv
The use of Instagram Live videos is an essential way to interact with fans and forge a long-lasting relationship with them.
You can use your phone to go live and stream anything from Q&A sessions, make recent announcements, and do songwriting sessions.
And now that you know how to post on Instagram, the key to successful posts is consistency.
So even if you are creating incredible content on your IG, or are gaining a massive following on the platform, it’s just one foot into your Instagram promotion strategy. You need to start thinking of the bigger picture and getting your Instagram followers to buy your albums, your records, and sign up for newsletters.