Social Networking and the New PR
Everyone seems to have a music blog these days. Nearly every time I log onto Twitter I find headlines from blogs that I didn’t know existed the day before. It can be exhausting to keep up with! Nevertheless, as music blogs gain popularity they are also becoming a key taste-making voice within the industry and among listeners.
Music blogs are becoming such a prominent source of online promotion that many artists are eating up any information they can find that might help them get their own name in a headline. Many helpful articles have been posted recently that offer all sorts of tips and advice. Some deal more with protocol – don’t spam, don’t beg, do your homework, etc. Others deal with tactics, such as including an mp3 or two for the blogger to offer as free downloads for their readers. All good advice. However, I noticed recently that there was one very important tool being neglected in the majority of these articles – relationships.
I recently posted an article on Creative Deconstruction that dealt with this idea of relationships. I’m not going to rehash that post here, but the primary point that I want to get across is that if artists want bloggers to pay attention to them, they have to take the time to build a rapport. Building relationships and making connections are the most effective ways to rise above the din – online or off.
The Power of Networking
Networking is an important skill to master regardless of your industry. Even in white collar corporate world the most successful salesmen are the ones who know how to talk about more than just their product.
Musicians are not exempt from this. In fact, I would argue that the opposite is true. Artists need to develop the ability to make connections on two different fronts – fans and media. Most of the focus has been on the artist-fan relationship, but unless your band can afford a professional PR campaign it is going to be up to you to get your name out there in the media.
Thankfully, social media has made this much more attainable. Just about anybody can be found these days through social networking, including (or perhaps especially) bloggers. Twitter is particularly useful in this regard, because there are no barriers between users. Anyone can follow anyone. I’ve seen countless relationships – even partnerships – form over time on Twitter. It is simply too useful to be ignored.
DIY public relations through social networking is an effective, free tool that is available to every artist. Take advantage of it. PR people can be very helpful in getting a promotion off the ground. But at the end of the day PR people can’t build relationships for you. Most bloggers won’t even open a press release if they don’t know the person who sent it. Relationship is what sets one particular communication apart from the rest.
So the next time you consider sending a mass-mailed press release, or tweeting “Check out my new EP!” into the ether, remember that your words will have much more impact if the connection you have with your recipients goes beyond impersonal self-promotion.
I agree, in theory, but what to say without sounding like a big phony? “Hey! Err … Sweet profile pic dude…”?