Shout-outs from professional influencers can help propel independent musicians into spotlights those musicians may never have found, entered, or even heard about without the help. While influencer help is not a magic wand, it can bring valuable attention to your brand. Here’s how music artists can successfully work with influencers to promote their music and brand.
How does one even go about recruiting help from online influencers? Who do you ask, what do you ask for, and what do you offer in return? Here are some tips for how music artists can work with influencers.
Top Ways Music Artists Can Work With Influencers
Reaching out to the right influencers can give you (and them) excellent results by boosting brand awareness and gaining new fans and followers from groups who may have never heard of you. Reaching out to the wrong ones is just a waste of time for everyone. There is a formula for choosing the right influencers.
Follow these steps to up your odds of receiving positive feedback.
Choosing Influencers
- Find influencers on your level. For example, if you have 5k followers, find influencers with 5k – 15k followers. If you have 150k followers, reach out to influencers with 150k – 450k. A good rule of thumb is to engage influencers who have at least as many followers as you do but not more than three times as many.
- Stick to your genre. Ask influencers who like your musical genre and are fans of artists with a sound similar to yours. The bigger a fan they are, the more likely they are to endorse your music. Bonus if they’re already a fan of yours or of an artist you have collaborated with.
- Ask influencers you already follow. Reach out to influencers you’ve already been following for a while. Engage on their page before asking for any representation by liking, sharing, and especially commenting. @them or hashtag their keywords on your page and give shout-outs to their content. Influencers who see you actively interacting with their accounts are more likely to agree to work with you than someone they’ve never heard of.
Scripting
Treat your request like you would an album cut of a song. Write your script, edit, re-read it out loud, then edit some more until you have a polished presentation. Your initial contact should not be a freestyle; it should be respectful, well thought out, and specific. Use these tips to polish your request.
- Do your research first. Explore each influencer’s brand to determine their interest, how they interact with followers, and their values. These things should be apparent with just a little digging.
- Find something in common. Mention something you share in common at the beginning of your DM; this will get their attention and build an initial rapport.
- Make an offer. Tell them what you can offer them and how before asking them for anything. It’s more likely to get their attention than asking first and offering later, and it shows respect.
- Ask for a collaboration. Avoid using phrases like, “could you do me a favor?” or “I need [insert ask].” It comes across as needy and also non-reciprocal (even if you’ve already made your offer). Instead, use phrases that contain words like “collaborate,” “shout-out,” “exchange,” “work together,” etc.
- P.S. Avoid the word partnership early on as it implies a commitment, and no one wants to jump into that right away.
Start Today
While these tips aren’t a complete strategy for how music artists can work with influencers, you should have enough information to get started today. Remember to treat social media influencers like real people – talk to them with respect, be friendly, and always offer as much or more than you’re asking for.
Gaining success and recognition as a music artist isn’t a race, and quality is often more important than quantity. And, there’s no quick, one-step method of making it into the spotlight. So, develop a wide-ranging marketing plan that contains various tactics and approaches, be consistent, and ask for help when you need it.
For more information on connecting with influencers to promote your music, please contact Respect My Region via email at info@respectmyregion.com.
