The Secret Technique To Engaging Your Fans Online

Many bands, artists, managers, record labels and anyone trying to reach and increase their fan base with Facebook and Twitter sometimes face a dilemma - great posts that don't receive enough action or engagement. The fact of the matter is that exciting your fans enough to take action from your posts is more a function of the way you post, rather than the fact that you're posting in the first place.

If there's a secret at all when it comes to attracting your fans enough to read something, and then getting them to act on it, it's this information from the Social Media Promotion For Musicians handbook.

Make sure that every post:

• Includes a photo. Posts with photos receive 39 percent more interaction than ones without. That said, posts with videos receive fewer likes and views, mostly because people don’t want to commit the time it takes to watch an entire video. That’s not to say that you should stay completely away from posting videos, just remember that in this case, less is more.

• Includes a link. Always include a link to additional information, pictures, video, mailing list, or your website. If you have someone’s attention enough for them to read your post, it’s likely they’ll take action even further if given the chance.

That’s said, the type of link that you include does make a difference. Using a long URL can get you three times the engagement on Facebook, mostly because people trust it more than one that’s been shortened. What’s the difference? Take a look:

Long URL:http://bobbyowsinski.blogspot.com 

Shortened URL:bit.ly/vjgIUQ or ow.ly/eMLi2

Shortened URLs work great for Twitter when the number of available characters is limited, but always use the longer one for Facebook.

Basically, a photo is what attracts your fans to read the post in the first place, and the link gets them to take further action. It's a known one-two punch that works and works well. Try it and see.

To read additional excerpts from Social Media Promotion For Musicians and my other books, go to the excerpts section of bobbyowsinski.com.

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