| I hope you’re doing well this Saturday morning. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts on TikTok – a platform I haven’t spoken about yet, embarrassingly enough. I get asked consistently what social media platform is best for promoting musicians. When social media was at its height of growth in the latter 2000s, the answer was, “Get on everything!”. Now, I find that people are focused on working with certain platforms that tailor to their niche and desired audience. So, this could mean for you a focus on Youtube and Facebook, or a focus on Twitter and Instagram, or an overload on TikTok. I’ll admit, I’m a TikTok viewer, but not a user (I blame my age). I also understand that it’s not going anywhere and it can be the best platform for some musicians if their niche lives there. With almost a billion active users, TikTok is now an integral part of the music marketing landscape. TikTok allows users to upload short videos usually around 15 seconds, which is recommended (but can go up to 60 seconds) to a scrollable feed. Below I put together what I feel are the best ways to get started with TikTok. I’m by no means an expert, but maybe this will encourage you to get started with TikTok if you weren’t sure before. – Download the app and get to know it, follow other musicians, see where they are succeeding in and engage with content that you genuinely like. – Add your own music to TikTok. To distribute your music on there, you need to work with your digital music distributor and make sure your music is being sent to TikTok. Hot tip: Cover songs make up a large portion of TikTok’s most shared content amongst fans and users. The reason why cover songs are a great way to grow your audience is that they draw listeners in through the familiarity of a well-known song. – Take fans ‘behind the scenes’ in your posts. People love ‘raw, uncut’ snippets of everyday life and to be part of the journey. – Hashtag everything! Your song titles, your artist name, as well as more general music-based hashtags. – It is important to note that unlike Facebook and Instagram the focus isn’t on making yourself look perfect. It’s about being real, being authentic, having fun and inspiring others to create because of it. – Follow trends and take part in challenges. If you see that you are interested in a trend and have an idea for a cool video, feel free to create it and share it, nothing is off-limits. – Keep in mind, that if you post at least two or three times a week and stay active, TikTok will be more likely to promote your content. – I hope these tips will encourage you to dip your toes into TikTok if you’ve been thinking about connecting with your fans there! Happy TikToking,  |