Online marketing strategies for DJs
I have been an online entrepreneur for since 2001. I have been a member of several groups with expert online marketers.
Social media
Lots of social media companies exist. You can choose to be everywhere or just do a few.
Engagement is important
When you post on social media it can be beneficial if your post gets likes and comments. This can increase the number of views your item receives. If your item gets comments then most platforms will show it to more people.
Many platforms will show your post/video to a percentage of your followers/subscribers but getting engagement will help counter this. As an example I have a page with 3,500 likes but most posts that I make go out to only 500 people.
Positive and inspirational posts tend to get the most likes.
Hashtags
A hashtag is the "#" symbol and are utilized to link posts/videos to topics. For example putting #trance in a post on Twitter will link it to the trance topic.
Putting hashtags on Twitter and Instagram may help your post be discovered by others. You can put hashtags in Facebook posts but most people don't do this.
You can enter hashtags on YouTube videos; some videos have three.
Social media companies
Facebook has several avenues to build a following: A personal profile, a page or a group. Most DJs would go with a page.
Generally groups get promoted more by Facebook I find. Three possible groups you could create are an official fan group, a meme group or a regional genre group.
In a meme group you would post funny memes about DJing or partying.
Another type of group you could have is a little supporter group. This would be a made up of a small group of fans and you would ask them to comment on posts/videos. Alternatively you could ask people in your general fan group to do the same.
Events on facebook can be created to make your fans better aware of your upcoming events. Please be aware that not everyone who RSVPs will show up. To excite people you can clips/memes on the event page.
You'd probably want to join a few groups that focus on your genre or region. Many group owners would let you promote your tracks and events their groups. I would recommend that you check the group's rules to see if you can do this.
In most cases you would promote events on your Facebook page/profile too.
You can also live stream on this platform if you want to do that.
YouTube
You can post mixes on YouTube but in some cases you videos can be taken down for copyright infringement.
You can also live stream on this platform.
Many mixes are posted with only a still image as the video. I would try to integrate the words "like, comment, subscribe" to remind people to do those things.
Remixes can be put on this platform too.
Another option would be doing blogs, this might be good if you travel.
Take note of common phrases that people may search for to find a video like your's. These phrases are called keywords.
Find a way to put keywords in the description of the video. This will help the video show up when people search for the phrases, there's no guarantee that they will show up though.
TikTok
Short videos are posted on here. You see ten second videos with background music. You could try to start a trend with your own tracks in the background.
You would post pictures/videos of you DJing on your Instagram page or event posters. Putting hashtags in your post may help it get discovered by others.
Some DJs have Twitter but many don't. Putting hashtags in tweets might increase visibility of them.
To grow an account I just kept replying to popular people's tweets. Reply to people relevant to your genre. If you're doing this tactic then you need to do so in a genuine thoughtful or funny way otherwise it you'll come across as annoying.
This website is mostly used by business people to share blogs and links. From my understanding only a minority of DJs use it.
Paid advertising
Most social media companies such as Facebook have paid advertising options. Most have a daily spend limit. For example you could spend $10 a a day for 14 days.
With Facebook you could target people in a city who like an artist in your genre.
Mixcloud
Many DJs release mixes on mixcloud. Your fans can follow you on this platform.
Soundcloud
If you produce remixes or tracks you can put them on Soundcloud.
Twitch
Many DJs stream their sets on twitch.tv and this is popular during the pandemic. A DJ told me that this website is good for streaming sets because its copyright algorithm tend to be more forgiving than other websites such as Facebook.
Should you buy followers?
Probably not; I think fake accounts following you are pretty much worthless. You may trick some people into thinking that you're popular. However when I see accounts with 10,000 followers with 2 likes per post I see red flags.
Some companies won't care but some will. If people don't view you as genuine they may not give you opportunities.
Podcasting
Lots of people start a podcast nowadays. You could do a podcast on your life as a DJ and/or interview people.
Website
Some DJs have a website but many don't. A website can cost around $5 per month if you find the right deals.
Some website host like hostgator.com will charge $3/month if you order a 3 year package. Be careful as after the 3 years some hosts will raise the price and bill you hundreds of dollars for another three years.
Ensure that you pick a hosting package with that comes with a free SSL certificate installed. You do don't have to know what this means; just follow this advice because it'll save you time.
You may need to pay for web design but you may not. WordPress is a popular platform and I imagine that there's numerous free template that you could use for your website.
An original web design could cost you $100-$200.
To ensure that your website is found in search engines such as Google you might want to pay for search engine optimization. You shouldn't need to worry about this because most DJs don't have a site. Unless you're in an ultra competitive area like New York you shouldn't need to bother with SEO.
However if you're a drum and bass DJ in Austin and your website isn't showing up when people search for drum and bass DJs Austin then you might need S.E.O.
You can do some basic things or just pay a professional S.E.O.
If you stick to the same genre and have an events page then ensure people can access it by going to www.yoursite.com/drum-and-bass-events and put "drum and Bass Events" as the title. In this example I used drum and bass as the genre.
Getting other sites to link to your's could help your website appear in the search engines. Be careful as getting links from the wrong website can make your site disappear from the search engines.
If you just ask someone that you know to link to your website then this should be fine.
New websites can take six months to a year to appear high in Google. If you need immediate results you can pay Google to place your website in their advertisement section of the search results. This would be cheaper for people in smaller cities.
An above and beyond tactic would be to build a genre based website under another brand and promote your events, as well as others. I have done this multiple times.
Event listing websites
Many websites are dedicated to listing events; you might want to get your events listed on such sites for additional exposure.
Cold calling
If you're struggling for gigs then you could search for websites and call/email them.
From experience Emails are easily ignored so I would suggest that you call them if you can.
Direct messaging bars on Facebook or Instagram is another way that you can make contact. Be aware that some companies don't check their messages.
Do DJs need Email and push notifications lists?
Most DJs wouldn't bother with push notifications or Email lists. It may be worthwhile to experiment with this.
The problem with relying on social media is that the companies can prevent your posts from going out. With an Email list you can have direct contact with your fans.
Push notifications are short messages that display in your browser.
A push notification list can be valuable in a similar way but moving between push notification companies isn't possible. If you wanted to move your list will be erased.
You can post your YouTube and SoundCloud links to Reddit.com
Reddit is broken up into topics; they're called subreddits. You can find subreddits DJ mixes and post your sets in them.
How often should you post?
I recommend posting once or twice a week on each platform that you have. Try not to just promote tracks or events. Many people will stop following you if you sell to them constantly.
Try to make 20% of your posts salesy, the rest other things.
If you don't want to share your private life you can just post inspirational quotes or funny stuff.
Dealing with comments
Some comments will be positive, but some may be negative. You can choose to block negative people.
I believe that there's value in constructive criticism. Trolling is not constructive criticism.
Generally I don't block trolls unless they're repeat offenders and don't appear attached to reality.
If you don't want to put up with trolls then just block them. Alternatively you can choose to not read comments or let a social media manager manage your social media for you.
Many people reply to comments for a while after something is posted. For example a YouTuber may answer comments in the first hour that a video is live. You can choose to answer all comments, or none at all.
Why get a social media or website manager?
Most local DJs don't have a social media or website manager. If you're on 4+ platforms and/or don't like social media then getting a social media manager could be worthwhile. If you don't know how to update your website then someone could manage this for you.
This could be a someone you know or an agency.
Thanks for reading
This article was about promoting your DJ brand but you can also learn about promoting events as a DJ or check out this DJ branding guide.