One of the questions that I hear about from artists is “How much should I be present on social media?”. It is a fair concern that you might be overdoing it, yet most of the time social media presence is an issue of underdoing. The reality is that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr and Pinterest all stand for different audiences, so it is unlikely that you will need accounts for all of them. So in this post, I will go through some of the misconceptions, myths and questions about choosing the best platform as an artist.  

1) The more platforms you are on, the better: Wrong. While it is great that you are on so many platforms, the key is to never abandon the platform and post there something everyday. Now, if you have 5 platforms and you will post each one of them everyday, it is going to take a lot of time and this might turn into a full-time social media gig, which might distract you from your art. Pick two platforms that you are best at and really work on them everyday.

2) It is OK to post once or twice in a week. Wrong. Every time you abandon the platform, you lose followers and engagement. Every time you stop posting for a few days and start again, you introduce yourself to your followers. Think socially, how many times can you introduce yourself to someone you met before?

3) My target audience is 35+, so I use Facebook more often and stay away from Snapchat. Correct. You always want to hang out where your audience hangs out! If your target audience is age group 35-45, then Facebook is an excellent platform, because Facebook users’ average age is pretty high. On the other hand, the biggest user group of Snapchat is age groups 13-18 and 18-25, unless you would like to expand to a younger group, you will not find many of your fans on Snapchat.

4) Posting early in the morning and late at night is effective. Wrong. Unless you have a nocturnal audience, who likes raves and EDM, early morning and late night hour posts will not be seen by many people.

5) “Story” feature is useless. Wrong. “Story” first invented by Snapchat, then acquired by Instagram and Facebook are great tools to depict what you are doing on a day to day basis. Your ‘Story’ should have more ‘light’ content showing what your typical day is like as an artist, as opposed to your big announcements and important content. Plus, it shows that you are a social person and makes you more personable.

6) Posting videos are excellent ways to drive engagement. Correct. Videos are essential when it comes to increasing your engagement, no matter which platform you are on. For instance, consider when posting on Instagram, videos have significantly higher engagement compared to pictures. This is interesting considering how Instagram started as a platform to post pictures, but over time platforms evolve and so should you.

What are some of the platforms you use as an artist? Do you post regularly every day or more sporadically? Feel free to comment below!

Alper Tuzcu is a Berklee College of Music and Denison University alumni, and a Boston based guitarist, songwriter and producer. His debut eclectic album ‘Between 12 Waters’ featuring 8 different vocalists is available on Spotify, and you can follow him on Instagram or Twitter @alpertuzcu, or visit his website http://www.alpertuzcu.com