Remember when you were a kid, and you would want to know everything about whichever famous person you were a fan of? What I mean is for example, I was (and always am) a fan of A Tribe Called Quest, so when I was a kid and would see their videos on TV, I wanted to know everything about them. Anytime they would pop up in a magazine, tv-commercials, or some sort of other media outlet my attention would be fixed absorbing as much information as I could about them. Keep in mind this was before the internet in the early 90s. Today of course we have the internet, so I can read and watch videos about them all day long at will.
So how do you expect to have any real fans if they know nothing about you? Who wants to be a fan of a hollow shell? People are fascinated by good stories, controversy, and drama on all levels (not just fighting). Producers and DJs can get by with the, "behind the scenes" techniques, however as a Recording Artist your Biography, your Struggle is supposed to reflect in your artform. Art is an expression of something you are, not something you do. Something you do is work, like as in a 9-5, thus no one will find that exciting nor appealing. If you have no story, no struggle, then use that in a creative way such as making fun of yourself.
Whatever you do, do not leave your Bio pages blank or stale. If it's been a while since you've last updated it, then start drafting up a new one, and take your time on it. Get someone un-bias to proofread it for you as well, such as someone outside your area who won't be tied down by local bs and simplicity. Dig into your memory banks and talk about interesting moments in your life. Hurry up before the Alzheimer's sets in! But seriously tell your story, and use your Instagram to illustrate what you're saying instead of random or repetitive moments (which are boring, as we've all seen it, we've all been there).
Use your Social Media Accounts as a Blog
If you're thinking about creating your own Blog keep in mind that a lot of technical and tedious work will have to go into it. SEO techniques are just the tip of the iceberg of what you will need to learn, and will take many months before you really see any results. Furthermore, there were 7 million blogs ten years ago, and now in 2016 it's estimated to be around 140-170 million blogs. High competition is a serious understatement there, but do you know where you can start your own Blog without having to learn about SEO, and where you can get instant traffic? Your social media account, which originally was created for that exact reason. Remember Myspace? It was intended to be personal blog pages, where users could post anything they found relevant and share it instantly with both their real life and online friends/family. Sound familiar? Well that's because Tom figured this out back in 2003. So stop spamming, and start blogging on your social media accounts if you want people to share your posts.
Once you gain a strong following through solid content/material, then you can begin spamming your audience in-between relevant posts.
Practice Discipline in your Social Media Posts
If you're going to use social media as an avenue to ultimately sell your music, then you need to treat it like other avenues. A good practice to use is pretend the people you are talking to are right there in the room with you. Would you talk to them the same? Would you spam them relentlessly or act superior to them in any way? Do you know what the definition of politics is? Remember, as a recording Artist you are essentially running for MC (Master of the Ceremony). While the times may change, the essentials will always remain the same. But don't take my word for it, just look at E-40 or Too Short, since the 80s they've held office.
Using Hashtags and Engaging your Audience
So you've been using hashtags everywhere, and even managed to manipulate brand or name recognition to generate traffic like you were Jeff Johnson (on The Distinguished Gentleman). However, most of your traffic is useless non-targeted, or just simply not interested in what you have to offer. This is because you're competing with millions of other people doing the same thing, which ultimately means you're spamming.
That is why you need to Engage your Audience. Whatever your hashtag leads to, it needs to grab the visitor's attention. What better way to grab a person's attention than to get them involved. Everyone loves to see their name or be glorified in some manner, as believe me I've used that basic psychology to sell many beats in the past, and it was always successful. Furthermore, don't remove negative comments or opinions you don't agree with. Instead, ENGAGE them in good conversation, you know like how we used to do before the internet. Like I said before, times may change but essentials remain the same, people are always gonna be people so treat them as such.
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