Tips for Using Social Media to Create Awareness for Your Music Program

Social media is a tool to be reckoned with.

Just think: what other platform could bring so many of us together by challenging us to dump buckets of ice on our heads, but also divide us in masses over the color combination of a dress?

Whether you’re on social sites personally, professionally, or both, there’s no denying its power when used as a tool to spread awareness, spark conversation, and connect with people you may not have otherwise ever encountered.

In marketing, advice is often given to meet the customer “where they are.” As a school music teacher, ensemble director, or private teacher, your customers are your students and ensemble members, and more than likely, those students are on social media in one way, shape, or form. Why not try to meet them where they are?

Here are ideas for utilizing the power of social media to help create awareness for your music program and provide opportunities for recruitment.

1. Have a Presence

First things first—have an online presence! If you don’t already have a profile of any kind that represents your choir, band, orchestra, piano studio, etc., now would be a great time to start one. If you’ve already done this, skip to tip number 2.

If you’re new to this idea, your first question might be, “Which social media site(s) should I be using?” Great question.

Consider casually asking your students what’s “popular” among them and their peers, and let that be your guide. Specific age groups might utilize a certain platform more than others. Here are some considerations to take when selecting where to establish your program’s presence:

• Facebook is a great platform that allows opportunity for website traffic (in case you have a dedicated website or web page) and engagement—the best of both worlds! The downside is that Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm puts more emphasis on personal connections these days, so your “official” music program page may have a difficult time competing for visibility with your audience.
• Instagram is very useful for engagement and visibility (use relevant hashtags when posting!), and having a dedicated online “portfolio,” if you will, for your program. Video posts are limited to 60 seconds unless broken up into an “album" and it’s not as great for directing website traffic (unless you advertise) since you can’t directly link anywhere from your posts.
• Twitter , similar to Facebook, allows for both engagement and linking, but the lifespan of a post is much shorter here, so it’s much better for live, in-the-moment updates. There are also more limitations in terms of messaging (you can only have 240 characters in a post) and videos are limited in length as well (240 seconds).

Try not to get hung up on the nitty gritty—admittedly, these details can get overwhelming. Start with one platform, and see how it goes. Invite your students and ensemble members to be the first followers, and encourage them to share the page with their personal networks.

Also note, this is not about becoming an overnight music education influencer—keep it simple and fun. Understanding that time to dedicate to social media management is quite limited among hundreds of other priorities, maybe consider nominating a group of students to manage the profile as a side project. It will certainly provide some applicable marketing experience, and it may give them an extra sense of pride, getting show off a program they’re so involved with.

2. Post Quality Visual Content Consistently

Taking into consideration this social profile may be someone’s first impression of your program, you’ll want to make sure it showcases all the great things your program has to offer.

Visuals

As a rule of thumb, always have something visual to share—visual content is the most engaging. This means lots of photos and videos. The good news? All of those photos and videos captured at festivals, retreats, rehearsals, recitals, concerts, group activities, etc., are great ways to show off the fun and exciting perks of being a member of your musical community. Not to mention, it’s also a great way to track progress and document achievements! Students and parents may be motivated to share these accomplishments with their friends on their personal pages too, providing organic amplification and referrals to your program (encourage them to tag your page so others can easily find you). For those who aren’t able to attend a certain concert, consider live streaming. It can be as simple as “set it and forget it,” and live videos perform very well on social sites.

Quality Control

Additionally, use your best judgement regarding the visual quality of your posts. Is the photo blurry? Are there strange shadows? Is the video shaky? Is there too much background noise? Remember, any particular post could be someone’s first impression to your program, so weigh the level of quality against the importance of having content at all before making anything public.

Consistency is Key

Again, knowing your time dedicated to marketing is limited, take into account the importance of posting consistently. Each platform works a little differently in terms of what’s standard regarding frequency, but at the end of the day, you can only do so much. Aim for a few posts a week, to start! Again, consider having a student or group of students help out with this—it’s safe to assume they’re pretty social savvy.

Also worth noting: it’s probably best to seek permission from students and parents before including them on posts for an “official” social media page. Social safety, first!

3. Seek Amplification

Once you’ve got your social page set up and some quality visual content to round it out, consider these options for getting more eyes on your posts.

Tag Influencers

Do you plan to share performances from your end-of-year concert or recitals on your page? Why not try tagging the song composer, arranger, artist, publisher, etc.? You never know who might re-share something with their audience, increasing your visibility and credibility. This in turn could certainly attract more students, and create awareness for your program.

Include Hashtags

Also, particularly on Twitter and Instagram, research some popular, relevant hashtags and include a variety of them in your post. This will tie your content in with specific topics and themes across the platform, so as users search for #pianorecitals or #holidayconcert, your posts will be part of those results and may attract additional engagement and awareness from outsiders. Also consider creating your own, unique hashtag for your music program and use it in all of your posts. This will help with branding your program, and others might start to use it, too.

Inversely, you can search these terms and engage with others’ posts who have used those hashtags, too. This will help you establish yourself as a supportive member of a musical community, and even allow you to connect with other, similar music programs around the world. How cool is that?

Tie-In with Holidays

Did you know there’s a national day to celebrate the tuba? Or a whole month dedicated to celebrating jazz? Use these “holidays” as opportunities to tie-in what you and your students do every day to celebrate music. These occasions are often trending on social platforms, so consider adding to the “buzz.” Also consider weekly student spotlights, recognizing the individual members of your ensemble, the instrument(s) they play, their favorite bands, etc.

Advertise

Let’s start by acknowledging the fact that “music program” and “social media advertising budget” are two terms that don’t really belong in the same sentence as many music programs struggle to have a budget at all.

With that said, with only a few dollars to spare—and when done correctly—social media advertising can make a big impact! Facebook advertising provides options to target users based on age, interests, location, connections to your page, and many other criteria. Capital City Men’s Chorus used Facebook advertising and targeting to nearly double in size.

Quizzes, Polls, Giveaways

These are all fun options for getting users involved with your page(s). Consider creating a music theory quiz, or polling your followers for repertoire suggestions for your students, or giving away a free lesson to spark interest from new students. People often enjoy giving personal input, and love opportunities to win things.

4. Engage and Have Fun

When people interact with your content, do your best to engage back. Knowing that there may not be much time to dedicate to maintaining a social media presence, it is important to spark and participate in conversations, or at least acknowledge the interactions you are receiving.

At the end of the day, the whole purpose of social media is to create and share content, and to participate in building and maintaining networks. You should be proud of the work you and your students put into your music program each year, and sharing the results can be part of the fun. The positive feedback you’ll receive can be another rewarding aspect to your long list of achievements.