For more engagement and fan drive, all up-and-coming musicians need the most important aspect of an online presence for music promotion – a website. A website is not just a place to sell your music, it can be much, much more. A website will allure potential fans, and be a place where current fans, and super fans can get updates. A website is a place for publishing music, a tool to represent your brand, a portfolio for all your creations, and merchandise. It’s the face of your band, the first thing that people will see, and so, a professionally-constructed site will show that your music and band has reached a specific standard and already produces content that’s worth listening to. It will act as the main source to find and help others connect to your social media sites. Your website will make all your content accessible.
To use your website as a funnel of fan engagement make sure to hit the big three; address the three different types of fans.
1) Potential fans – For them you want to make a solid first impression. What they want to see is a visually-pleasing, easily navigated website. This includes your choice of colors, fonts, pictures, and orderliness. These people aren’t invested in your site, and so just want to quickly find their wanted info and leave; but these people also might become new fans, so include a music player with full versions of your best songs (free is the best way to independently promote music at first) and have all this right on the first page!
2) Current fans – These people are the vast majority of your fan base. For them create a well-crafted bio which gets personal and down-to-earth. You can also try blogging and having behind-the-scenes content or pictures. Keep current and have easy-to-navigate-to merchandise, albums, tickets, and tour info should also exist on the site for them to boost your music promotion. Different price points and different designs will also always be a plus.
3) Super fans – You may not have a lot of them yet, but they are the majority of your buyers and site visitors according to the well-known 80/20 rule. So keep them happy, constantly updated, and interested. Tell them the stories behind your songs, behind your lyrics, do some music PR on your side of things. Have a login system and membership option to give them the option of exclusivity. Offer meet-and-greets and special previews.