💡✍️ADN #051: The Social Signal System

Nov 12, 2023

Hey Friends -

Welcome to the Artist Development Newsletter.

Every Sunday, I send an email providing actionable tips for artists and industry on one area of the music business to help you turn your Art Into Income.

Last week, we talked about how to “Fail Forward.”

You can re-read last week’s newsletter here if you want to refresh.

Today, I want to walk you through a simple process for managing your social media: The Social Signal System.

Let’s go — ->

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Short-form video content is everywhere.

There are TikToks, Reels, Clips, Shorts, and more.

Every platform wants your content, and every platform is built to reward you when you post consistently.

As an artist, spreading your content across every platform can be overwhelming.

It also can be beneficial.

Why?

Promotion is paramount to progress.

The stronger the Social Signal you send out, the more feedback you’ll get in return.

Feedback leads to word of mouth, word of mouth leads to fans, and fans lead to money in your pocket.

Here is the simple approach that I’ve been experimenting with that aims for better organization, consistency, and, in turn, growth for your audience.

The Social Signal System

Step 1:

Pick the primary platform you want to focus on.

For the sake of this example, let’s say it is Instagram Reels.

If something is good enough to share on an Instagram Reel, it is automatically approved as content that can be repurposed on any other short-form video platform.

Step 2:

Take the video, upload it to Google Drive, and drop it in a folder labeled “Approved Posts.”

Step 3:

Create a Google Doc, type a posting date, label the post, drop in the Google Drive link, and copy/paste or write an approved caption.

Step 4:

Finally, make note of which platforms your content is approved for.

Your Google Doc can read as simply as this:

If you are an artist without a team around you, you can use this to stay organized and get ahead on your social media scheduling.

Set aside 30 minutes to an hour weekly to upload and pull content into your Google Docs.

Soon, you will have weeks of content planned for posting across multiple platforms.

You can auto-schedule across most social platforms using a platform like Buffer.

Here is a newsletter I wrote about how to schedule with Buffer.

If you are an artist with a management team, social media person, or a record label, suggest The Social Signal System to them to streamline your approval process and, in turn, save everyone time.

Ask them to cut up clips from your filmed content and upload them to a shared Google Drive.

Ask them to add suggestions to a Google Doc in the above format; all you have to do is tweak and approve them!

The Social Signal System makes social media simpler.

  • Streamline Your Systems
  • Share Your Content
  • Signal Your Consistency

Give it a try, and let me know your results!

See you next Sunday,

Neil Mason

Artist Development

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