How to get the most out of Facebook for musicians

As of November 2021, 4.6 billion of the global population have access to the internet which means that Facebook is used by 58.8% of everyone in the online world - that’s how powerful the platform truly is. Although its role and the way it’s been used have changed over the years, from a marketing perspective, it’s still the go-to platform for events and the latest news from people’s favorite brands, including artists and musicians.

Would you like to know what fundamental steps to take to start promoting your music on Facebook? Then keep reading!

The first and most important step is to set up a business account for yourself (for that you need to already have an existing profile). With a business account, Facebook will let you publish new content as a professional, promote your page, and showcase your music as well as your merchandise in the shop section.

Setting up your business account is pretty easy, too! Just go to the top of your home page, choose ‘Pages’ and ‘Create a Page’! All you have to do here is fill in your artist name, define what it is that you do in ‘Category’ (Musician/Band), and use the ‘About’ page to briefly write about who you are as a musician, or provide important information regarding your music, such as a link to your new music release on a platform that suits you the best (Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp, etc.), or a date and link for your next upcoming gig. Don’t be afraid to get creative to be more intriguing and to stand out, but bear in mind that whatever it is that you write here will immediately be visible to anyone landing on your page. Therefore, consider your brand and stay relevant to your music.

What’s great about Facebook is that it provides a preview for both desktops and smartphones, so you can see what your page will look like while filling it out.

The profile and cover photos are an integral part of your Facebook page and are usually where users land when viewing your profile. Therefore, it's important to use high-quality imagery (best as JPG or PNG file) that is representative of your brand.

Your profile picture should be rather simple as people can see it at a full resolution only if they directly click on it. Usually, all they can see is a circle at 170x170 pixels, which is even smaller if they’re using their smartphone (128x128 pixels). A strong cover photo can showcase your latest release or feature shots from a video shoot or your latest gig. For the header, you also have the option to upload cover slideshows that contain a series of photos to help you stand out from the crowd that will display above your page’s timeline. In the past, it was also possible to use videos for both your profile picture and the header. However, these features were officially removed by Facebook this past year

Last but not least, if the option is available to you, hiring a professional photographer can help take your brand to the next level. However, if not, tools such as Photoshop or Canva can help you edit your current photos and create attractive visuals for your profile.

As part of your 'Intro' and ‘About’ page, Facebook lets you sync your profile to your website and other platforms, such as Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. This not only allows your fans and followers to connect and engage with you and your music on other channels but also makes you transparent and easily approachable. However, don’t feel obligated to sync all the channels available. Rather focus on platforms that you regularly use and actively add valuable content to.

It's always good to be mindful about cross-posting or sharing the same content on different platforms when it comes to managing multiple social media accounts. While it’s definitely fast and convenient, it’s important to bear in mind that each channel is different concerning its features, capabilities, and target audience, and should be treated accordingly. For instance, Instagram is more visually-focused while on Twitter, hashtags play an important role. Cross-posting may also make you seem unintentional, unfocused, and unconcerned about the engagement with your fans.

However, what you can do is schedule and manage posts on Meta’s other platforms, particularly Instagram, directly through Facebook’s scheduling tool, the Creator Studio. Creator Studio is an immensely valuable tool that can help you spare some much-needed time for your music creation. The only thing you need to do is to link your Instagram Business account to your Facebook page.

Lastly, you can connect messaging platforms to your page such as Messenger or WhatsApp, and enable your fans and followers to contact you directly. This can also be beneficial for any music- and business-related inquiries.

Facebook Shop, as the name suggests, enables your fans to shop and purchase products that you display and sell, most likely your music and merchandise. You can set up your Shop in the Commerce Manager, which is a tool used for managing sales and inventory on both Facebook and Instagram. It’s necessary that you’re the admin of your Business Page and thus have the Manage Page permission.

In Commerce Manager, you can create your shop by choosing your checkout method, selecting your catalog, reviewing your shop details, and finally agreeing to Facebook's Seller Agreement. Afterward, you can add individual products you’d like to sell, create product collections, and customize your shop’s visual appearance. The shop can then be published once reviewed and approved by Facebook.

The aim of Facebook profile verification is to receive a so-called verified badge that shows that Facebook considers your page or profile to be a credible and authentic presence of a public figure or brand it represents. In the case of musicians and artists, the Facebook blue checkmark displayed next to your profile’s name draws a sharp distinction between an official musician’s page and a page run by fans or con artists. It therefore adds to your page’s trustworthiness and integrity as it indicates that your Facebook page is legitimate. Additionally, a verified profile or page is prioritized by Facebook in its searches, meaning that it will appear at the top of relevant search results which can eventually improve your reach.

To request the blue verification badge, you need to fill in a special form in which you’ll provide personal details and evidence for meeting Facebook’s verification criteria and requirements. Besides following Facebook’s Terms of Service and Community Standards, your page or profile also needs to be:

• Authentic, meaning it represents a real public person, business, or brand,

• Unique, meaning that it is the only page representing this figure,

• Complete, in terms of its ‘About’ page, profile picture, and recent content activity, including at least one post, and

• Notable, which means that the figure represented by the page or a profile is a well-known and often-searched person, entity, or brand.

Just like in the case of other social media platforms, the Facebook analytics tool provides information about your page’s performances and your audience exposure. Although the original Facebook Analytics was retired last year, various measurement metrics and solutions are now available as part of the Insights page.

You can use Insights to learn more about your followers and viewers - who they are; where they’re from and when they are active on Facebook - and how they engage with your page. Moreover, you can track the performance and success of individual posts and better understand which type of content resonates the most with your target audience. Such data can furthermore help you plan your prospective music campaigns and refine your strategy in case it’s needed.

With the incredible number of monthly active users, advertising on Facebook is definitely worth discovering. You can either post content organically, meaning it picks up views naturally without any financial booster, or pay money to sponsor your content. Additionally, there is also content that you can earn in the form of likes, shares, and comments.

There are in fact many ways you can advertise on Facebook: you can financially promote your content; grow your following by getting people from the music industry to follow your account, or get active in various Facebook music groups. Advertising your contact can ultimately improve your content’s importance and help you achieve your goals and objectives. It’s crucial that you have a clear vision of your social media strategy and know what these goals of yours actually are. Additionally, you can also spend some time exploring different possibilities and trying them out regularly (A/B testing may deliver amazing results).

Naturally, what’s cool, ‘hot’ and trendy on social media changes at an incredible pace. In addition to that, social media companies regularly introduce new features and functions across their platforms. It’s therefore relevant for independent musicians to be aware of those features and current changes. There are a few Facebook trends/functions that every musician should pay attention to in 2022:

Although Facebook Stories are definitely not such a ‘big thing’ in comparison to Instagram Stories, its relevance is constantly on the rise. As of 2019, Facebook stories were used by 300 million users on a daily basis and as for a trend, there is no evidence of slowing down.

Facebook Stories are seen as valuable marketing resources and another creative tool to increase engagement with your audience and promote your music.

Facebook Reels is a relatively new feature that’s just recently been launched globally (February 2022). It’s been estimated that watching videos makes up almost half of the users’ time spent on Facebook and videos are actually the highest-ranked post type on the platform.

Facebook Reels are 60-second-long videos and are considered Meta’s fastest-growing content format so far. Judging by its huge popularity on Instagram, it is seen as a fun and entertaining way for creators, including musicians, to get discovered and increase their audience exposure.

Features like Facebook Live can be especially useful in times like these when live shows, such as concerts and festivals, can’t take place. As the Covid pandemic continues, these features are here to stay and remain relevant.

Facebook Live can help you maintain engagement and keep ‘conversations’ going with your audience by letting you broadcast various types of content. You can do Q&A sessions, watch your newest music video together with your fans, stream a virtual music event or performance, and much more.