Don’t Put All Your Eggs in Facebook’s Basket

I’m amazed at how often I hear people who had a poor turnout for an event say, “I don’t understand – I put it on Facebook.”

I’m the first to admit that I am sorely lacking in news consumption, be it local or national, not to mention world news.  But, gone are the days of newspaper, television, and radio being the only sources to find out what’s going on out there.  The Web sure changed all that, but even apps such as Flipboard make it pretty tough for me to miss something I really ought to know about.  Surprisingly, many people rely on social media these days to get their news – even to the point of hearing about something on Instagram, which is a photo-driven platform.

Sure, Facebook deserves to be in the conversation too, as does Twitter, but the point is that there are places other than Facebook where you can hear about something.

I’ve talked before about my disappointment in seeing Facebook events being marketed to people who are nowhere (nowhere!) near where it will be taking place.  For example, you’re a musician in New York having a CD release party and I’m getting a notification that I’ve been invited to it.  I live in Florida, which, last time I checked, is well over a thousand miles away.

I believe that I’ve also made it public before too that my own brother, who is quite the musicologist, is not nor has he ever been on Facebook.

You know the cry of “what did we do before there were cellphones”?  Well what would you do if there was no Facebook, when it comes to promoting?

While it’s true that just last month I wrote a blog on one of the advantages of Facebook, it’s important to note that I was describing paying to advertise or boost a post on there, not simply posting and hoping people see it.

Now more than ever when Facebook is changing its algorithms, causing business pages to be seen by less and less followers, it’s important to have a marketing plan that involves other outlets.

For musicians especially, there are so many places to get your information out.  Yes, Facebook, but why not Twitter, and obviously YouTube, and ReverbNation, and SoundCloud, plus, of course, having your music for sale in iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby, and more.

More importantly, though, is an email newsletter.  This is such a valuable tool because no one is setting down parameters that you must fall within.

And believe it or not, largely overlooked is Google.  Do a search on your name, yes, but also on what you want people to be able to find you under and see how you’re doing in the search results.  [In other words, if you want to be hired for weddings in your local area, do a search on ‘wedding band (your city name)’ and see what comes up.]

To say that you’re on Facebook and/or that “(you) put it on Facebook” just isn’t enough.