For emerging artists, online marketing is critical to building an audience and getting yourself heard. Music marketing is all about promoting and raising awareness about your music. It helps people know your music exists and convinces them to listen to it. Leveraging the internet to get your name out there is a great way to market your music because of the ease and the potential reach it offers. With online marketing, you can create awareness for your music from the comfort of your home and have the potential to reach people all over the world.

Here are ways how to get your music heard using online marketing:

Build an integrated social media strategy

Use a variety of platforms that are connected to build an audience on multiple fronts. While virtually every artist is on Facebook and Twitter, there are several other social media platforms you can use, such as Instagram and Snapchat. It might be too demanding to be on all these platforms, so you should prioritize based on your target audience and how you want to position yourself as a musician. For example, you can use Facebook and Twitter to reach a broad fan-base, while Instagram and Snapchat can be used to reach a younger fan base.

Don’t use these platforms only when you are releasing new music. Instead, use them to tell your story and jump on trends. Make your fans your friends – and part of your journey.

Make a music video

Video works great on the internet. There are different kinds of videos you can use for your music including the official music video, a lyrics video, audio videos, visualization videos and recordings of live performances. Did you know that YouTube is the top online streamer of music? You can upload your video on YouTube and share it with the world. It’s a good idea to share your videos on other platforms as well, such as Instagram, Facebook and Vimeo.

Include bloggers and journalists

Blogs and the media are a great marketing channel because they have a ready-built audience that is receptive to messaging. Incorporating them in your marketing strategy can increase your reach tremendously. Build relationships with bloggers and journalists, then send them your music and videos, asking them to review your music or write about you in their publications. However, to be effective, your strategy should incorporate bloggers and journalists who will help you reach your target audience. Connect with bloggers and journalists in the music industry who are interested in your type of music.

Build an email list

Building an email list will help keep your fans engaged and make them more likely to hear your message. With email, you can connect with your fans on a personal basis and keep them updated on what you’re working on, or when your next track will drop. Sending personalized emails to your fans every time you want to pass across a message also helps cultivate loyalty. With about 54% of all emails opened on mobile devices and 81% of smartphone users using their phones to check their mail, email offers you a way to reach your fans wherever they go, at any time of the day. Email converts three times more often than social media. Building an email list is a key strategy you should not leave out.

Create your own website

Building your own website will allow you to have a central portal where you can coordinate all your marketing strategies. From your website, you can share everything with your fans, including your SoundCloud tracks, links to your social media profiles, your music videos, your tour dates and personal news. You can also sell your music on your website, while at the same time allowing people to book gigs and performances.

SoundCloud is number one

Every self-respecting musician has a presence on Soundcloud, and it’s no wonder that the platform is the reigning heavyweight champion of social media for music. SoundCloud allows you to share your music with the world and be found by new and existing fans. Make sure you step up your game here and build a solid following. Make sure your account and tracks on the platform are optimized so that they show up in search results. Also, stay active on the community and network with influencers and other artists.

Pro tip: buy SoundCloud plays and followers

To jumpstart the growth of your SoundCloud profile, you can buy SoundCloud plays and followers. Buying plays and followers helps to provide social credibility for you and your music. You are deemed to be popular and therefore, new fans will be more willing to give your music a chance. In addition, buying plays will help your music rank higher in SoundCloud's search rankings.

However, buying SoundCloud plays and followers can be a risky tactic if done incorrectly. If SoundCloud finds out you’re buying plays or followers, your account could get banned. To avoid this, you should ensure that you buy plays and followers from high-quality providers. The plays and views from high-quality providers cannot be detected by SoundCloud’s algorithms. To evaluate whether a seller is genuine and will provide you with high-quality services, check whether they offer extra marketing options, their turnaround times, their customer protection policies and the quality of customer service they provide.

Interested in finding out where to buy SoundCloud plays? Check out this list of the top 10 companies we’ve already tested and reviewed.

Date: August 10, 2016 / Categories: Getting Discovered, Marketing, / Author: Johnny