You did it! You created your first social media account as a professional singer, filled with your website, your most amazing headshot, and plenty of information about you! You’re ready to get going and start sharing all of the wonderful stuff you’ve done, except for one problem: you have no followers.
Easy enough. You just hop on to your friend list and start inviting people to like your page, and in return, you like theirs. Soon enough, you’ve got a nice little following going for you.
Except then you find that you start following people and they’re not following you in return. “What gives?”, you wonder.
What you’re trying to do is called “like for likes”. Here’s the issue with like for likes, and why you may want to reevaluate what kinds of followers you seek out.
What you want in a follower
In order to understand the logic of not pursuing like for likes (or where you follow someone on social media just to have them follow you back, and vice versa), we must first look at what you really want in a follower.
Think of your personal social media: who do you follow? Who do you engage with? Who engages with you?
The concept of engagement is vital when it comes to social media from a professional standpoint. This is because people who engage with your business online are much more likely to engage with your product later on.
If, as a singer, your product is your performance, and your performance sells through productions, concerts, recordings, and so on, your ideal social media follower is someone who engages with you in a way that will make them come to your performances.
Why your desired followers might not be your friends
This could also be named, “Why your desired social media followers might be your friends”.
If you’re looking for people to engage with your professional profiles in a way that will encourage them to buy your product/performances, then who is likely to buy your product? Your closest friends and professional colleagues might. Your acquaintance from that one class you took 5 years ago that you’ve never really spoken to before and now lives in a different country? Maybe not.
Don’t get me wrong – this kind of person might also be a desired follower. However, if they decline your follow request or ignore it, then they’re definitely not a desired follower. Why? Because they’re already demonstrating that they are not interested in your product.
How to get the followers you really want
So if you don’t want to pursue that random acquaintance as a follower, and your friends may or may not also be future purchasers of your product, who do you want?
This depends on the kind of work you do, but ultimately it comes down to the same basic question of who will purchase your product.
The best way to get your desired followers is by engaging with the people and companies you’ve worked with before. That way, people who have seen you before can easily see you again. For example, if you have a #tbt (Throwback Thursday) picture of a past performance, tag whoever else is in the picture and the theater or company. Then, it will build camaraderie amongst those colleagues and is visible to their audiences.
Furthermore, make sure your social media handles and mailing lists are easily available to anyone who is interested in you. Have your handles on your website. Encourage people to follow you on other platforms (i.e. Say to your Facebook followers, “You can also find me on Twitter! My handle is @Operaversity!”). Set out a mailing list at your performances (if allowed) that also include your social media handles. In other words, make yourself available.
If you get nothing else out of this post, I hope you understand that I’m not against like for likes. If you and another person want to mutually support each other by following the other on social media, then go for it. However, if someone declines your follow request or simply doesn’t follow you back despite any engagement you’ve had with them, just move on. Chances are, there are much better followers out there for you who are much more likely to support your career in the long run.
For more advice on social media for singers, you can also check out this free video I shared from Periscope on the subject.
How do you feel about like for likes? Do you currently follow people just because they followed you or because you want them to follow you back? Where do you go to find new followers?