In my previous blogs, I outlined the strengths, weaknesses of vlogging in a short how-to guide for labels, bands or any other music business (can be found here). Vlogging has become a huge part of the creative content for many industries, including the likes of fashion and beauty market. Eytan (2016) describes how followers can be turned into buyers through the personal connection felt by the viewers. Fashion like music is a creative industry that strives for the new and exciting. The purpose of this short guide is not to show you how to make a vlog (like my previous post) but outline what platforms can be used and how to use them effectively. Promotion is key to the success of a vlog if the content is there and people enjoy it, it is simply tackling the problem of getting people to watch your vlog.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, if you are unsure that vlogging is the best plan for your business I’d urge you to look at this infographic about the power of video content in social media. An extract is shown below:

What online platform do I use?

However basic it sounds choosing the right platforms to post and promote your vlogs will maximize its reach and engagement. It must be a platform that you are comfortable with. Youtube the largest and most influential current music service and would be the natural place to start. Its general ease of use and familiar controls make it popular for all vloggers, as well as the interconnected youtube community in the vlogging sphere.

Youtube is hugely compatible with the likes of Facebook and Twitter, which is massively important in for promoting a vlog. It also holds a live feature, which is hugely popular attracting almost 100% more engagement than pre-recorded video (Telescope). Vlogging is not done in the music industry and thus it is not a normal search for youtube users. By creating a social media campaign to work in tandem with a vlog acts a major promoting tool.

Social Media Campaign 

A social media campaign will differ depending on the goals of the company trying to implement it. However, broadly speaking, to get more people to view a vlog requires these distinct steps suggested by Quicksprout:

Beginning with identifying your target audience and then using the platform that’d they’d be likely to use. i.e. if your desire is to promote to those with an informal visual experience, the likes of Facebook and Instagram offer this service and would likely increase engagement. However, for a more formal target audience may be using the likes of LinkedIn and Google+ may work better.

Plan sharing content, vlogs are generally more successful if they are at memorable intervals. Tools can be used to make this easier, such as the ever popular Hootsuit. This will also help with time management and give the impression that you are making more of an effort to be serious.

Have a catchy title and thumbnail. Now we know that ‘clickbait’ can be infuriating as a consumer. However, it exists because of a reason. Now, we strongly advise you don’t overuse this tactic making your hard work seem quick and cheap. Having a balance between your integrity and enticing an audience will greatly improve its reach.

No matter how obvious it may seem, linking sharing buttons in your video will certainly help create a community around your content. Furthermore, using hashtags (#) will put your vlog on a global stage and allow new views to follow you on their favourite platform. Also joining groups that share common interests will be a great place to promote.

Also get your friends and family to promote things for you. In this day and age, much of the older generations are on social media, over 50% in the 45-55 bracket have a social media account (RHC). This means they can act as a free promotion tool in the early stage of getting your vlog off the ground.

Finally and most importantly, creating a ‘buzz’ will get more and more people viewing your blog. The easiest way to achieve this is to create suspense and mystery about your product. This can take the form of snippets from the vlog or something more lighthearted and fun. Jay Baer created this user guide about how to make a buzz for social media (link).

I hope you found this blog informative, doing the research to create this piece was eye-opening into how little this tool is being used in the music industry and its great potential. The hyperlinks provided are where I found all of my resources that went into creating this blog.