How to Gain Music Fans on Social Media: Start With a Tuneup

The Cyber PR Music Podcast Season 3 Episode 5 – Social Media Tuneup + Website Tuneup

I’m Ariel Hyatt, and this is the Cyber PR Music Podcast — Dispatches for the New Music Business. This show is all about helping independent artists stop chasing buzz and start building bonds: real fan relationships that lead to income and long-term, fulfilling careers.

Welcome to the Cyber PR Music Podcast. This season, we are unpacking Buzz to Bond — my book. And for the last several months, I’ve been experiencing what it looks like to actually unpack this book in the real world, through a mastermind. Twelve incredible musicians came with me on a cohort. We went week by week, step by step, for seven weeks — and they completely transformed the way they communicate with their fans, gather fans, and grow their fanbases.

If you’re interested in that, click the link in the show notes, take the free webinar, and come join me on a small group session. I’ll walk you through what the journey looks like, what the work of the mastermind actually is, and we’ll see if you’re the perfect next artist to join.

This week, we’re talking about Step 2 in the Bond Marketing Funnel: Social Media Tuneup and Website Tuneup.

These are things my agency has been doing consistently for years, and they are essential when you start thinking through: How are fans going to find me — and what are the next steps I want them to take?

Because you’re not just funneling people into a system where you want to capture and own more of your fan communication. It’s also key that your fan journey is clear.

So many artists have fan journeys that are completely muddied. And a hundred percent of the time when we audit artists at Cyber PR, we find broken links and fan journeys that are wildly confusing.

Let me walk you through what a fan journey looks like — simply.

Imagine someone finds your music. They hear you on Spotify, they become interested, they click on your profile — and there’s no link to Instagram. No link to anything.

Fan journey: dead.

Or let’s say they catch a lyric. Lyrics are everything. They Google a snippet of it, they actually find you — and then they come to your website, but you haven’t updated it in months. The new song those lyrics belong to isn’t even there.

Again: dead fan journey.

Fans get confused easily. They don’t know what to do next. And it is your job as an artist to lead them there.

So Step 2 — the Social Media Tuneup and the Website Tuneup — is about fixing this, step by step.

The fan journey is simple: discovery → interest → action → fan.

And this has to do with your social media, but it also has to do with your website. Your website is the one shingle you hang out on the internet that you actually own. It’s not owned by Zuck. It’s not owned by Ek. It is yours — fully in your control.

So when you go through a tuneup, here’s what you want to think through:

Is my website aligned with my social media — and vice versa?

Are your profile photos consistent? When someone’s looking for you, is it clear that you are the same person across platforms? Fans are not as smart as we give them credit for. If your YouTube banner looks different from your Facebook profile, which looks different from your Instagram photo, which looks different from the hero image on your website — you’re immediately confusing your potential fan. And if it doesn’t match Spotify either? They’re gone.

Consistency across all those impressions is the cornerstone of a good tuneup.

Next: Is your one precious link clear?

Your Link in Bio on Instagram — or the primary CTA on your website — needs to be clean and current. If you use a Linktree or any short link tool, make sure every link is up to date and that you don’t have too many. When people see too many links, they get confused. I recommend no more than five. And really think through: if you were sending fans on a journey to discover you, what would you want them to find? Delete everything else.

Next: Is your email list front and center?

Your email list is a major capture bucket — and again, a place where you are completely in control of the narrative. If someone lands on your website, there should be a big, fat, juicy offer inviting them directly onto your list.

And don’t say “please sign up for my email list.” That’s basically telling people they’re about to get more junk in their inbox, and that’s not what anyone wants. Make it feel like a warm invitation. Join my community and come behind the scenes with me in the studio. Follow me across the country as I go on tour. Whatever you’re up to — that’s your offer.

Your website exists to do two things:

One: fully execute your brand and your fan journey.

Two: build your audience — which, if done right, will make you money.

So when you tune it up, make sure it’s clear, consistent, and absolutely reflects your current brand — the brand pillars we discussed in Step 1. And make sure it’s built for your ideal fan personas, which we also covered in Step 1.

Ask yourself: Is this clear? Is my brand coming through in the copy, the photos, the videos, the music, the story? And then: Is this website taking my fans on a journey I actually want them on?

Also — go click through every tab. When you click on News, is there something from 2021 that needs to go? When you click on EPK, is it actually easy for media to use? When you click on About, does it represent who you are right now? Are all the links live and populated correctly?

You don’t want to leave someone cold on a website visit. You want them to feel like there’s something in it for them — because people are always thinking, What’s in it for me? Make sure they leave having taken an action: joining your email list, following you on social, listening to your music — whatever you’re focused on for this phase of your marketing.

Now, on to social media.

It is so overwhelming to maintain all of your social media profiles. So when we do total tuneups for our artists, we start at Google. We Google the artist and look at what’s actually coming up. You might be amazed — there could be an old Bands in Town account you forgot about, photos you don’t love, dead profiles you didn’t even know were appearing in search.

A fresh Google of yourself is essential for any social media tuneup. Make sure each profile matches, that the bio reflects who you are now and what your brand pillars are, and that everything speaks to your ideal fan personas.

And then — ask five or six friends to Google you and take the journey. Ask them: What do you want to do when you land on my website? What do you see when you go to my Instagram? What happens when you find my YouTube?

This feedback matters. What you think you’re doing and what they’re actually experiencing can be two completely different things.

You’re building your house on concrete, not on sand. The next pieces of the funnel are going to get more technical and more layered — so the foundation needs to be solid.

Clean up your digital house. Make everything match. Make everything clear. Make everything flow.

Ask yourself: If I found me today, would I know what to do next?

Buzz gets them in the door. This tuneup gets them to stick around — and go a little deeper into your world. That’s what you’re going for.

In my next episode, I’m going deep on branding with some wonderful guests — so stay tuned.

And if any of this feels interesting and you want to go deeper in a small cohort with like-minded artists, check out the show notes and come join me for a small session where I’ll walk you through my seven-week mastermind program. A new one is launching soon.

This is not about more followers or more streams. It’s about real fans who actually support you.

Check out the free Buzz to Bond webinar in the show notes — or visit Cyber PR Music for over 300 articles and strategies for today’s music business.

Less buzz. More bond.