We probably don’t need to tell you that blogging is one of the best online marketing strategies for young bands today who want to reach out to fans. Social media is great for getting the word out, but there’s only so much of yourself that you can put into a Tweet or Status Update. Blogs are the materials for the fans who want to dig deeper and find out more about you and your music.

The tricky thing about working blogging into your online marketing strategies is that you really have to keep on top of it. Most businesses are advised to blog once a day or more, and while that’s probably not necessary for most musicians, you should be doing at least 2-3 a week. It keeps your fans in the loop, as well as keeping you in their minds!

Continually coming up with new ideas for your blog is a challenge, and it’s not one that goes away. So, we’ve put together some ideas for keeping your blogs fresh, and some suggestions for how to change things up!

Indie Music Online Marketing Strategies: Keeping Your Blogs Fresh

• Dig Deeper. If there’s one key to keeping more blogs coming, it’s to keep digging a little deeper when writing them. Look for more to analyze. Seek out new perspectives on your music. Talk about why you made some of the choices you did with your lyrics. An artists’ blog can be more about self-exploration than most others, so have fun with it!
• Swap guest blogs. You probably know other bands on the circuit that you’re on good terms with. Do guest blogs for each other! It’s a nearly guaranteed win-win situation: you both get to pick up new fans, as well as boosting the online rankings of both your blogs a bit if it gains you new traffic.
• Review albums. Being able to write a fair and credible review goes a long way towards establishing you as someone who knows music. If you’re going to criticize, try to always be constructive and suggest ways to improve. Don’t pick on anyone you might go head-to-head with, though. Besides avoiding drama, reviews can also boost your ranking among people searching the albums you write about.
• Be multimedia. You don’t just have to stick to text in your blogs! Additional graphics are great as well. Mix ‘n match – tie a blog to a YouTube video, or create an instrument demo where you explain the theory, then use Vines or Touts to briefly show yourself in action. Varying up the content keeps people interested, and makes your blog more dynamic.
• Discuss current events. Indie bands today are politically clued-in. Buck the assumption that musicians are brain dead; write interesting things about politics or society or what’s going on in the world. Rational arguments backed up with citations are always welcome in online discussions.
• Change your point of view. Try changing up the “voice” of the blog every now and then. Here’s one to ponder, for those who aren’t solo: If your band or group, itself, had a voice, what would it say? There’s something to think about when you’re looking for something new to say about your music or performances!

Your band’s blogs are vital to your online marketing strategies, so you need to keep them current, energetic, and fun. Because that’s really the most important tip of all for keeping your blog fresh: have fun writing it. If you’re having a good time, you’ll produce better stuff.

Just like with your music!