So, you're in a band and all your members embrace social media as a promotional platform for your music. Official Harry Styles Merch With an online presence already established on social media websites such as Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Purevolme, you continue to post, tweet, update, and comment.

But unfortunately, you're not getting the results you expected. Nobody is checking out your MySpace, Facebook, etc., nobody is sharing your music with others, and nobody is buying your merch. On top of all that, it's always the same group of friends and handful of fans that attend your shows. So what's the problem? Well, your band probably doesn't have something unique to offer, does not use an effective method of marketing, or both.

Social media becomes a powerful marketing tool only when you know how to use it. Sending countless spam messages and friend requests is not an effective way to market your band. As a fellow musician and friend to numerous independent bands, the following are a few tips that I've come to learn, which can help your band effectively and efficiently use social media to market your band.

Build relationships. Social media is all about connecting and communicating with others. Use Twitter and Facebook to engage with your fans on a deeper level. Don't simply put out content. You must create interaction, participation, and involvement. Get to know who your fans are and let them learn more about you. But always remember to maintain a personal feel and not to use social networking purely as a promotional tool.

Increase awareness. Clearly, your band's goal for using social media is to spread your music to as many ears as possible. However, this does not suggest that you set up accounts to as many social media websites you may find. Instead, focus your time and effort on a few. You want to be able to increase your impact and awareness to those communities. In addition, when creating content, update it regularly with timely information.

Start networking. Social media sites such as MySpace and Purevolume allow you to find other bands that share things in common with your band. By networking with a group of artists or an indie music scene that fits your band's identity, genre, or style, it will certainly benefit your band. The bands in your scene can share fans, promote each other, and belong to something bigger, a community with shared common tastes and interests.

Generate traffic. Creating content is essential in getting your band out there. The more content you generate, the more likely people are to discover your music. By linking all your sites and advertising your band, shows, and music on each channel, your band can benefit from generating traffic.

Measure success. Tracking your social media success rate with Band Metrics is the best way to know if you are doing a good job in promoting and advertising your band online. Built just for musicians, Band Metrics can measure the way your fans interact with your band and content. As a result, your band receives valuable information of what your fans respond to.

Overall, there isn't one specific formula that works for everyone. Social media is used for numerous reasons and the how it is used may vary from others. However, by following the tips proposed, as well as maintaining a commitment to your strategy and goals, you can effectively use social media to market your band.