Yes! I finally have my single ready to release, plus a release date of about a month ahead of time. But what am I exactly to do on social media to create awareness and get the most out of my release date?
Today we will take a closer look at the 30-day plan to follow for you to get the most out of the release date and make the maximum use of all your contacts and support groups so that everyone will be on fire about your single to finally drop.
I am releasing a single in 30 days, so I thought it would be great to take you on the journey with me step-by-step, even if I plan to do some things from scratch again.
Day 1-3: Preparation Phase
We need to get a few things in order before we can start. In this phase, there’s no particular order that you need to cover. It might be that you already have some of these to-do’s ready and in place. In that case, you can already move on to the next phase.
See it as a short checklist.
Have Your Social Media Accounts Set Up
Often we find that our social media accounts fall asleep and we don’t publish content often enough. This phase is ideal for you to post regularly and get the latest photos and interesting news out there to awaken your audience and spark curiosity.
Which social media platforms are you planning to use?
I am planning to use a Facebook page and an Instagram account. I will soon link all of these to this website as an example.
I have decided to do a 4-day paid ad as an experiment on my Facebook page and it activated engagement from half of the page size which is impressive.
For example, if my page has 1000 members, 500 of them interacted with the boosted post.
I set up a new Instagram account as an example and posted 9 pictures, and cross-advertising fans from the Facebook group to join.
This helped me to narrow down to the die-hard fans that interact with all the content published.
Take Notice Of:
- Be prepared to adjust and publish plenty of content during the next month. You want people to reach you and get the feeling that you are serious about it.
Have a Centerpoint for Collecting your Photos
I set up a band photo folder on Google Drive and shared it with all my band members to add the photos that they all have.
Now they also have all the images for their personal use which will stay valuable to all of us.
Optimize your Profiles
Fine-tune your biography and update your press kits.
I am also writing a press kit that will be handed over to the editor of our distribution. The Media Press Kit took me about 3 hours on and off to complete. I took plenty of breaks in between to carry on and review it all with a refreshed mind.
This is important to have perfect since I know that our radio interviews will be based on the content. If you would like to be prepared for radio interviews, don’t miss the helpful blog I published about Rock your Radio Interviews for Bands and Musicians.
This post was written and published by De Wet from startingmyband.com on 16.06.2023. The content was stolen from me if this blog post is seen anywhere else.
I structured the Media Press Kit content like this:
- The band story
- Highlights from the past
- Our plans and goals
- Interesting Facts & Information
- Where to find your music & Social media
- Album covers, the band logo and other relevant images
I am currently busy with an article about writing your own Media Press Kit which I will place a link here soon. Keep an eye out for Write Your Own Media Press Release From Scratch.
External Factors
Reach out to upcoming music bloggers and podcasters and ask them to review your single for the release. As a bonus, they get an early single release and an interview with the band.
These reviews would be extremely valuable for the week before the release.
While you are posting on social media, use lyrics from the new song to make people curious about what this song is about.
I recommend you make at least one post per social media account per day. Since I am still awakening my audience after taking a sabbatical, I will post 1-3 times per day just to get people curious again.
I will describe each picture posted with stories about our journey so far, thanking people along the way, and tagging them. This increases interaction with a wider group and people really appreciate it.
Try to write a true and meaningful story. Leave spaces between the sentences so that your audience will keep reading until the end. This will enhance the building of an emotional connection with your fans.
You can also make videos with small teaser moments that indicate that something new is being cooked up. Videos in the studio or even singing in the car works great! (I honestly don’t know why!)
Announcements
I like to make people curious about what we’re up to. Sometimes even too mysterious.
As a buildup to the release announcement, I recommend asking the audience on social media what would make their day even better. Perhaps somebody will answer correctly.
Post a picture of your guitar and the lyrics and a pen and ask them what they think could they be expecting soon.
The next day, post a picture of your band members being active in the studio. Now ask them again what they think is happening.
Post a video of some behind-the-scenes footage of the recording process as a final announcement that there’s a new single on its way and it’s only 20 days away.
Day 11-16: Interactive Content
- Post a poll on social media asking your audience what genre they believe the new song will be in.
- Share stories on social media so that people can feel close and connected.
- React to all the messages that your fans are writing to you, preferably in a visible reply.
Day 17-21: Collaborations & Influencers
Nominate between 4-8 well-known people with authority in your genre that you can get in contact with. This could also be other buddy bands that you shared the stage with.
Design a social media post to announce your single and ask them to please share it on their platforms. You will be surprised by how cooperative other artists can be!
Make sure that your post also links to your social media platforms to increase your online audience.
Day 22-25: Exclusive Previews
- Share an interview with the band on social media about:
- What the song is about.
- Sing the chorus together.
- Share the artwork of the new single with your audience.
- Explain to them what the meaning behind the cover artwork is. People become attached to things that they understand and connect emotionally with.
- Release snippets of your music video.
- It is highly recommended to release a music video with your single. I know that is difficult to pull off at the beginning, but even if it’s basic and budget, it will work!
Day 26-29: Countdown & Personal Connection
- Have live Q&A sessions on Instagram where people can interact personally with the band.
- Use the reviews from the first week to publish on your social media channels to create awareness of the quality and build song popularity.
- Share a story of one of the band members about what inspired them to pursue music.
Day 30: Release Day
The BIG day has arrived. It’s time for celebration. But to be honest, the work has now only started.
Here are a few to-dos on the release day:
- Roll out new merchandise: 5 Modern Methods of Merchandise to Monetize Your Music
- Social media posts and announcements
- Run ads to promote your music and Self-Market Your Music
Now it’s time to fill your schedule with bookings and perform your new music live.
If you are interested in knowing more about getting booked more often, I got you! Find my free guide to What to Do to Get Booked Regularly as an Artist here.
See you on the stage!