As a new music artist like CiscoKid (the owner of Planet Marketing), your goal is to get your music heard, build an engaged fan base, and ultimately drive traffic to your Shopify store to sell apparel. This guide will help you understand the steps needed to achieve these goals, using CiscoKid as an example.
If you are a new musician and need help setting this up, contact us here. We do this all the time.
1. Set Up Shopify and GoHighLevel to Capture Leads
Before promoting your music, make sure that your Shopify store and GoHighLevel are fully set up and ready to go. CiscoKid, for example, ensured that both platforms were ready before releasing any music. This setup allows you to capture your audience’s information and stay in touch via SMS, email, newsletters, phone calls, and live chat. Building these connections early is essential for nurturing leads and converting them into loyal fans and customers. Imagine your song makes a hit and you have nothing set up! CiscoKid set up his Shopify store at CiscoKidRocks.com
2. Leverage GoHighLevel for Lead Management
To acquire, nurture, and close leads effectively, use GoHighLevel, just like CiscoKid did. This powerful CRM allows you to manage your audience, create follow-up campaigns, and automate lead nurturing, ensuring that you convert interest from social media into loyal fans and customers.
3. Focus on the Right Platforms for Discoverability
To maximize your reach as a new artist, like CiscoKid, you need to prioritize platforms that help you connect with new listeners and drive traffic to your website:
- YouTube Shorts and TikTok: These platforms are ideal for creating viral, discoverable content. YouTube Shorts are shown to a broader audience beyond your subscribers, while TikTok’s algorithm promotes new creators. Make short, entertaining videos that feature your music, behind-the-scenes clips, or challenges related to your songs. This will help attract new followers and boost engagement.
- Instagram and Facebook Reels: Reels are highly discoverable and pushed by algorithms to non-followers. Creating short, catchy clips using your music, adding effects, or hopping on trends (while staying authentic to your brand) can get your content seen by people who haven’t heard of CiscoKid yet.
- Instagram and Facebook Stories (Later): While these formats are great for engagement, they are primarily seen by followers. Once you start gaining a following, use Stories to interact more personally with your audience, like sharing behind-the-scenes moments or polls. For now, prioritize growth over engagement. If you focus on Stories while you have little to no fans, you’ll be wasting your time. Focus on Shorts and Reels.
4. Use a Content Strategy Tailored to Each Platform
To grow from zero followers, it’s important to produce content tailored to each social media platform:
- YouTube Shorts: Create engaging snippets that are up to 60 seconds. You could post performance highlights, talk about your creative process, or show behind-the-scenes moments.
- TikTok: This platform allows you to experiment with trending sounds, challenges, and even remixes. Use TikTok to show a more personal side—practice sessions, quirky band moments, and anything that creates a connection with your audience.
- Instagram/Facebook Reels: Develop short clips that are entertaining and align with trending content. Use effects, captions, and your own music to keep content fresh. Add hashtags to reach more people.
5. Drive Traffic to Your Shopify Store
Once CiscoKid started gaining traction on social media platforms, the next step was to bring people to the Shopify store for merchandise sales. You should follow a similar approach:
- Link in Bio: Always include a link in your social media bios directing followers to your Shopify store (ciscokidrocks.com). Make sure the link is easy to find, and consider using a link aggregator tool to showcase multiple links if needed.
- Exclusive Merch Drops: Use social media to announce exclusive merch drops and limited-time offers. Create a sense of urgency by highlighting the short availability of certain items.
- Use Social Ads to Retarget: Once you start building an audience, leverage Instagram and Facebook ads to retarget people who have engaged with your posts or visited your store. Retargeting ads tend to have higher conversion rates because they’re shown to people already familiar with your brand.
6. Should You Use Spotify Ads?
Since CiscoKid’s goal is to grow followers on Spotify, Facebook, and other platforms, investing in Spotify Ads is a good idea—but it’s more effective once some initial traction has been built. This approach applies to any new artist. Spotify Ads work well to drive streams, but you need to have content that’s likely to get added to playlists. Focus on building organic engagement first through platforms like TikTok, Reels, and Shorts. Once your songs are getting organic streams, consider Spotify Ads to grow faster.
7. Create a Social Media Funnel
- Top of Funnel (Awareness): TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels. The goal is to create engaging content that will make people aware of CiscoKid.
- Middle of Funnel (Interest): Instagram Feed, Facebook Posts. Share in-depth content like your story, song lyrics, inspirations, or even video clips of new song production.
- Bottom of Funnel (Engagement/Conversion): Instagram/Facebook Stories and Shopify Store. Once people are aware of CiscoKid and interested, use these platforms to get them to buy merch or follow you for deeper engagement.
8. Monetization Strategies
- Royalties: Your music should be available across all major platforms—Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. Using DistroKid will simplify distribution, and make sure you register for royalty collection through platforms like SoundExchange and BMI/ASCAP.
- Apparel Sales: Promote your merchandise consistently across social media. Encourage people to buy apparel to show support. When you release a new single, create limited-edition merch related to that release to drive sales.
9. Collaborate with Micro-Influencers and Cross-Promote
Look for micro-influencers in the music and lifestyle niche that resonate with your brand. Collaborate with them for shoutouts or include your song in their content. In return, offer free merch or even a small fee. This helps get CiscoKid’s music to a wider audience.
You can also cross-promote with similar indie artists. If they have a similar following, a shout-out from each other’s page can help you reach more people.
Conclusion: Focus on Growth, Then Engagement
Since CiscoKid, like many new artists, is starting from zero followers, the immediate focus should be on platforms that offer the most potential for organic reach and growth—YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Reels on Instagram/Facebook. Once you have a core following, use Stories and feed posts to engage with them on a deeper level. Ultimately, the goal is to drive fans to CiscoKidRocks.com, where they can buy your apparel and support your journey.
