Social Media Metrics for Bands

Everyone seems to be so focused on getting more Twitter followers, more “likes,” and more YouTube subscribers, that they are forgetting the most important part of it: engagement. Would you rather have 5,000 “likes” on Facebook from fans who don’t interact, comment, or share your content or 500 die-hard fans who like every post you make and respond to your every request?

Several years ago, when Myspace ruled, promoters/bands/every day people got so swept up in this idea. Even though people knew that a band could literally sit in front of the computer all day adding fans (or bought pre-programmed bot software that would add fans automatically), they still thought the number of fans was some kind of indication of the band’s success. The reality is: not everyone is the next Tila Tequila. When traffic and interest in Myspace died out, what happened to the band’s thousands of followers? Most obviously didn’t “follow” the band to the new trends: Facebook, Twitter.

The most important social media metrics should not revolve around quantity, but quality. If you follow enough people on Twitter, a good number will begin following you back – but that doesn’t mean they’re paying attention to your Tweets. Instead, find more ways to get fans engaged: ask questions, listen, tap into their interests. You have to create your own niche, your own conversation.

And please, bring them back to areas where you have complete control over branding: your website and your mailing list. Social media sites rise and fall but you want to be the enduring brand, the primary object of engagement, the place where fans turn to again and again.