6 Tips From Nimbit’s “Ultimate Guide To Selling And Promoting Your Music On Facebook”

Last month Nimbit added Spotlight landing pages to their direct to fan Facebook storefronts. They're now spreading the word with a guide to selling and promoting your music on Facebook that gathers together their top tips and insights on Facebook marketing. Included are tips that may seem obvious but continue to be overlooked by DIY artists.

Nimbit's "Ultimate Guide to Selling and Promoting Your Music on Facebook" focuses on a series of articles about Facebook marketing and music sales that are useful whether or not you're currently using Nimbit's products. The majority are written by folks at Nimbit including one by Nimbit's VP of Marketing, Carl Jacobson, that appeared on ASCAP's site, "Fans on Facebook: What to Do Next to Engage Your Fans, Increase Sales and Grow the Relationship":

1) Be Ready To Sell Today!

Make it possible for fans to buy your music when and where they discover it and get excited.

2) Engage…Don't Advertise

Instead of shouting "BUY MY NEW ALBUM!", try asking for their feedback on which track should be your next single.

3) The Virtual High-Five

When somebody says something nice, "Like" or respond to their comment. If it's outstanding, "share their comment with a thank you / shout out on your wall."

4) Reward Fans Then Ask Them to Reward Their Friends

When you offer a free download, encourage fans to pass it on with a personal note. If your fans care, they'll spread the word.

5) Advertise Yourself to Fans of Similar Artists

Once you're set up on Facebook, use their advertiser tools to identify who likes similar artists in regions that you reach locally or through touring and focus FB ads on them.

6) Get Creative [and Switch Things Up]

"There are as many ways to succeed with your fans on Facebook as there are songwriters signed to ASCAP (maybe more). So find your voice, and try things out. The nice thing about the Facebook, is if you try one promotion, and it doesn't work you can quickly switch to another."

Despite the fact that Tip 2 says "don't advertise" and Tip 5 says "do advertise", I'm assuming you'll take the point that once you've got a fan, engagement is more productive than a hard sell. But, if you're looking for new fans and can target them accurately and inexpensively, then advertising is worth a try.

Nimbit's Guide has numerous other articles worth checking out, in particular, a piece by Nimbit founder and CTO, Patrick Faucher titled "A Fan Found You on Facebook…What's Next?," that addresses the all important issue of what happens after you've been discovered:

"There's been a lot of news that's come out about Facebook Music…Everything that was announced had to do with music discovery (Spotify, Rdio, etc.) and you just have to look at the new Ticker to see that more people will be sharing and discovering more music than ever before. THAT'S GREAT, but then what's an independent artist to do once a fan discovers them on Facebook? Streaming revenues alone are no way to make a living with your music."

See Nimbit's "Ultimate Guide to Selling and Promoting Your Music on Facebook" for more on what to do after you've been discovered by your fans.

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith maintains his freelance writing hub at Flux Research and blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest topics for Hypebot, contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.