Using Instagram & Snapchat Influencers to Build Your Music Career

5 min read

If you’re still unaware, influencer marketing is currently the under priced arbitrage to build brand awareness if done correctly. You use “micro-celebrities” to distribute and display your product or service, in this case your music, to their social media, blog, website following.

It’s not an ad, or any form of disruption to the user’s experience on the platform. In my opinion, it is the most native and friction less way to display your content. As a brand you will never have the ability to truly connect with your consumer in the ways that an influencer can.

“It is the most native and friction less way to display your content”

If you’re still on the fence about investing in this tactic, here are some facts:

“Customers referred by other customers have a 37% higher retention rate.” (Deloitte)
“Offers shared by trusted advocates convert at a 3x-10x higher rate than offers sent by brands.” (Zuberance)
“Brand advocates are 70% more likely to be seen as a good source of information by people around them.” (Marketingcharts)

If you’re an aspiring music producer/entrepreneur, here’s how to find and use Instagram and snapchat influencers on a shoestring budget. (Why Instagram and snapchat? Go google some data on why these platforms are dominating the consumer’s attention)

1. Who Are You Targeting?

Figure out your target audience and be very specific (this is with all marketing strategy). Build a buyer’s personal: The name, gender, demographic, location, daily habits, spending habits, behavior, interest, and of course music genres. This audience will be the ones who you most think will listen to you music and build a community around.

2. Facebook

Now that you have your buyers personas, use facebook to create an ad to find people who have a decent amount of influence that you can afford within your target audience.

For example, if I produce house music, my targeting would be male/female from the ages of 15 – 30, in large cities, who like Sam Feldt, Kygo, Avicci etc. and who have attended counterpoint, tomorrow world within the last year who are into house, edm, techo, etc. who use Instagram and snapchat.

3. Dark Post Ad

Your ad will be an unpublished post (not on your page’s timeline but seen on your target audience’s news-feed) asking people to contact you if they have 1000+ followers on Instagram or snapchat in exchange for payment.

4. Filter

Filter out the people who have contacted you using the following criteria

How much reach can this influencer provide?
What is their audience’s engagement like?
Is their audience close to your niche?

5. Reach and Offer

Reach out to your influencers and offer them a price

Pricing can be negotiated. But usually for Instagram, range from $5 – $10 per CPM or 1000 impressions. If you’re influencer has 1000 followers on Instagram or snapchat, you can pay $5 – $10 per post.

6. Content

Deliver the Content: Whatever your influence will post, make your music integrated in their daily lives so it looks and feels organic

Have them jam out on snapchat to your music layered with creative art and emojis then the next snap saying “screenshot (link) for the music”
Have influencers post countdown snaps till your next song release
Influencers can post to Instagram your album cover, or again, a photo of them jamming out to your tunes then in the post description telling them to go to the link to your music page on their Instagram profile bio.

The content creative is endless.

Now, one post probably won’t give you the best conversion. Influencer marketing takes time just like any real relationship so invest and test to see what sticks and what doesn’t until you have found our best targeted influencers with the best target followers.