Are You Making These Mistakes With Your Music On Twitter?

First, let's go through what NOT to do when marketing on Twitter...

1. DO NOT individually tweet your music link to everybody. 

Unless you have an EXTREMELY catchy headline with your tweet I'd stay away from this. Most people just skip over this kind of tweet anyway.

2. DO NOT post your music link saying, "Hey, thanks for following me. Check out my music."

This is part of the 'What can they do for me?' approach. Someone listening to your music means taking time out of their day. There needs to be more of an incentive for them to listen.

3. DO NOT just post about your music all the time. 

Your followers will TUNE YOU OUT. If ALL they see is you posting your music links it's not really interesting content. Try posting your music link 1 of every 4 tweets or so to space it out.

4. DO NOT have a Twitter handle that is explicit or have inappropriate pictures on your Twitter.

I see this one far too often. It looks unprofessional and as soon as some potential would-be fans see that they instantly do not listen. You want MORE fans of you and your music.

People following you just because they see some inappropriate photo as your avatar won't lead to them automatically listening to your music. You're more creative than that.

5. DO NOT ask someone to re-tweet your content when you've done nothing for them. 

Why would they re-tweet your link when they get music links sent to them ALL the time? And it saddens me to say this, but even if your music is good, that's not enough incentive yet to get a random person to listen to it.

Now, I've told you what not to do. I'm going to tell you the secret on what TO DO to get people to listen to your music on Twitter.

1. CARE about what your followers are interested in! 

(This is HUGE!) Post relevant and interesting tweets that your followers are talking about (and other things than music also). The best way to start a conversation with an unknown person on Twitter is to do a little homework on them and find out what THEY are interested in. Not tweet to them about your music right off the bat.

The way I started getting THOUSANDS of plays to my website per day was from caring about what other people cared about BEFORE I even asked them to listen to my music. If your followers tweet about their music, tweet or DM them about THEIR music. Then see how much more likely they are to listen to yours. If they tweet about inspirational quotes, talk to them about their tweets BEFORE you ask them to listen to your music. Show an interest in them, and they will reciprocate it. (This is best done with direct messages but you can @them as well)

And this isn't just saying, "Hey, what do you do? I'm a music artist check me out!!!" You would already know what they're interested in if you looked at their bio or some of their tweets.

2. DO use Tweetdeck to follow people with similar interest as you.

 Tweetdeck is a platform where you do very specific searches on Twitter. For instance, if you make a song about world peace, you can search for people on Tweetdeck interested in world peace and start a real conversation with them. Work your music into the conversation this way and they will be MUCH more likely to listen and support you since you showed interest in what they cared about first.

3. DO use interesting hash tags when posting links to your music. 

For the example above, a hash tag could be #WhyWeNeedWorldPeace or #JoinTheFightForWorldPeace. Not just #NewSingle or #RealMusic.

4. DO follow up with your followers. 

If someone tweets about your music, be sure to retweet, reply, or favorite their tweet showing appreciation. Also, people with larger followings will be much more likely to retweet about your music if you are kind and show an interest in THEM first using method 1 above.

5. DO BE CREATIVE. 

If you see everybody else posting about their music links the same way you are, you'll notice you're in the same position they are, which is not progressing with their music career! Step out the box and make your Twitter unique and innovative to reach new audiences.