After a lot of hours, sweat and maybe some tears, you finally finished the album. Congrats! But…now what?

Before you officially release your album, stop and think. It’s time for a strategy. Remember that you need to keep your fans engaged over the next six to nine months. Consider the need for content beyond your album – music and videos that you can use on your website, Facebook page and Twitter feed. Consistently providing your fans with new and interesting content will keep them coming back for more.

Here are five ideas for content:

1. Music videos: Be creative. A music video doesn’t have to be expensive. But it does have to be innovative in order to get people talking. Consider asking your fans to be part of your music video. Or ask them to choose the location of your video, via your Facebook or Twitter pages. Interesting music videos can capture your fans’ attention and make them want to share it with friends.
2. In-studio music video: Creating an in-studio music video is often a cost effective and relatively quick way to create a music video. An in-studio video is often great to use as a promo video prior to the release of the album.
3. Behind the scenes photos and videos: Remember those photos and videos you took while you were banging on pots and pans in the studio? Now’s the time to consider using them to “tell the story” of the recording process. Post them to your social media pages and blogs to give your fans a behind the scenes look at your work.
4. Live Videos: We’re not talking about crappy camera phone YouTube vids here, people. Consider getting a videographer to shoot your next live show and have the footage professionally edited to produce a high quality live video (or several videos).
5. Live Tracks: High quality live tracks or bonus tracks are another great way to engage fans and keep them interested.

As an indie artist, remember that strategy is very important when releasing a new album. Use content to your advantage and release audio, photos and videos slowly over time to keep your fans interested.

Tell us what you think! Have you created music videos or used photos to help promote or extend the life of your release? What was your strategy?

Up next: The first part in a series of interviews with industry professionals!

The SongCast Crew