HOW TO: Engage Fans On Twitter Like Snoop Dogg

This post is by Hypebot intern Hisham Dahud. His Twitter: @HishamDahud.

As a Hypebot reader, you're undoubtedly informed on the importance of artist-fan relationships and how Twitter has broken down the walls between the artist and the fan by keeping each one at arm's length from another. Yet still, many artists I know refuse to enter the "Twittersphere" as they are still not fully convinced that they need it to communicate with their fan base.

While an artist may not necessarily need to Tweet, it certainly opens up an entirely new landscape for fan interaction and engagement.

One music artist who is a master of digital fan engagement through Twitter is Snoop Dogg. As of this writing, Snoop has 2.4 million followers! This gives him an incredible sphere of influence. So how does Snoop keep his fans engaged?

Here are four ways:

1. He regularly posts his own trends. Snoop will regularly create and post his own trends where he encourages his followers to participate amongst each other.

For example, Snoop recently trended #ifismokedwithsnoop, where his followers got a chance to share what they would do if they got a chance to smoke with the famed rapper. The trend board was updating with several responsorial tweets per second!

2. He lets us in on his daily life. But Snoop goes one-step beyond simply talking about his daily life. He regularly posts "twitpics" which bring his followers along for the ride. This is an excellent way to bring his fans into his world. It's much more engaging for him to upload a picture of himself in the studio, than to simply tweet "I'm in the studio." 

3. He rewards his followers. If Snoop reads a Tweet from a fan that he thinks is funny, or includes some sort of free promotional content (like a twitpic of his newest album), he will retweet that fan to his 2.4 million followers.

He'll also occasionally reply to some of his fan's Tweets personally. These sorts of virtual pats on the back keep fans coming back for more. He'll even award backstage passes to fans that can answer trivia questions he posts!

4. He's consistent. Snoop is very consistent in his participation on Twitter, never leaving more than an hour or so between tweets. As a result, his fans are just as active. So while he may post only once an hour sometimes, there is still plenty of activity surrounding him and his community.

Participation is marketing.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Not all of us are legendary rappers that have 2.4 million followers. But what non-Twitter users can learn from this is that Twitter has ushered in the era of digital real-time fan interaction with a focus on constant and consistent content to keep fans engaged.

"Participation is marketing. Don't think like a marketer, think like a contributor," says Danny Dee Aguayo of Topspin Media.

As a contributor, your goal should be to have your fans contribute as well…

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Hisham Dahud is a Hypebot intern, independent musician, and music producer. He currently attends San Francisco State University where he studies Marketing and Music Industry Business.