(Hypebot) — Learn how to use your Instagram platform to push music sales in 4 simple steps.
A guest post by Randi Zimmerman from the Symphonic Blog.
As you know, being an artist is more than just making great music. You have to sell those tickets, push your merch, and make money on top of everything else to support the job. How you sell these things is totally up to you, but Instagram is a great resource to help you out. With so many people using it as their main platform, it’d be a missed opportunity to not utilize it to drive sales. To do this, you’ll need to create something called a sales funnel. It’s super easy to do, and we’ll break it down right here.
Let’s break it down…
A sales funnel is made up of four features: awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty, and they’re exactly what they sound like. To successfully create a sales funnel, you need to make your fans aware of what you’re selling, encourage them to consider buying whatever it is, get them to buy it, then keep them as a loyal customer moving forward.
Pretty simple, right?
Step One: Build Awareness
In this stage, a couple things about your profile need to optimized to draw in the attention of your fans. First, your Instagram bio should have everything someone would need to know about you right there, front and center.
- Alongside a quick bio that exemplifies you an an artist, additional links and tags are super important for directing fans where you want them to go. If you’ve got a new song out, a link to it should be in your bio. (Along with anything else you want to show off.)
Next up in this stage of building awareness, think about what makes your product so good. What about it is so interesting that would make someone want to check it out?
- To build this, you should be posting cool content about whatever you’ve got, building an engaging story around it and why your audience needs it in their lives. (Don’t forget to add relevant hashtags to drive discovery and boost awareness.)
To make your content even more engaging, consider partnering with other musicians or influencers in your space to really grow your content’s reach.
Step Two: Consideration
Now, you’re ready to hit the consideration stage. In this stage, you’ll need to start building credibility.
Why should your audience trust that you will deliver what you say you will? You can prove that your shows are worthwhile by posting behind the scenes videos or user-generated content from your shows. You can prove the likability of your music by posting your accolades when they happen, reposting love from your fans, etc.
Get creative with it!
In this stage, it’s also a good idea to building as many leads as possible through your usual Instagram advertising efforts. You want as many people to be aware of what you have to offer as possible. Instagram makes advertising easy for beginners and experts alike. // To learn more about advertising on Instagram, check out “Instagram Ad Basics for Musicians”to sharpen your skills.
Step Three: Conversion
Now, it’s time for action. The key here is getting users to access your products without having to leave the app. That’s where links on Instagram Stories and your Instagram Merch Shop come into play. These are two great places where your fans can see your tickets, merch, or whatever else you have to offer, and buy it with one quick tap.
✨ Pro Tip: A great way to get people to buy your product is to offer limited time runs of merch or to offer time sensitive discounts if they act now. Who doesn’t love a good deal? ✨
There’s a great article on the web that talks about the tons of different ways to sell items on Instagram. I highly suggest checking that out right here. From product tagging to Instagram’s new wish list feature, the options are limitless.
In this stage, it’s also a good idea to be tracking the success of your efforts so far. It’s important to be aware of which avenues are working for you and which are not doing so hot. Don’t waste your time on things that aren’t working. Check your content’s insights and switch up your strategy as you go to see the best results.
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Step Four: Loyalty
Finally, we’re at the brand loyalty stage. Think about what makes you loyal to your favorite brands. Are they interactive with their followers? Do they offer great discounts for repeat buyers? Whatever makes you feel valued by them, this is what you should be doing for your own audience.
What makes me feel valued by my favorite artists is when they show appreciation for the fans who love them so much. Be consistent with thanking your fans for everything they do to support you. After all, your fans are the reason you have a career at all. That’s a big deal!
At the end of the day, what you’re doing here is building a community. Repost content from fans where they hype up how great your last show up, reply to comments, stay involved with he community you’ve created and show you care.
In Conclusion…
Your brand as an artist is your business. You need to cultivate engagement with your services just like any other business. A sales funnel is the best way to do that. With it, you can not only drive sales, but grow your audience and nourish your community all at the same time. In turn, you make more money to put back into the funnel and improve your efforts over time.
Good luck!
