RGG January 2017 - p.9
updating their page (such as Reverbnation gig
updates) or type any old bollocks without using
a hashtag If you don't know what a hashtag is
it's the symbol; without it pretty much most
of everything you've ever hammered on a
keyboard for Twitter has never been read by a
human being
By including the symbol in a tweet you are
increasing your chance of being noticed online
A hashtag categorises the topic of your tweet;
it makes it easier for people to search for other
tweets about those topics For example if you
type Birmingham into the Search box at the
top of a Twitter page and slam the Enter button
you’ll receive a list of tweets most of which will
be related to Birmingham so if you are playing
a show in Birmingham then tweets about your
Birmingham gig would be helpful to you If
you've spent years tweeting large amounts of
bullshit without using a hashtag symbol to
summarise your topic then chances are you've
completely wasted your time; however if you'd
have typed bullshit then people who love
hearing about or searching for tweets on
bullshit would have perhaps warmed to you
immediately
If you are following a band twitter account then
you expect to see tweets about them but a
mistake many bands make is trying to become
some kind of daytime showbiz personality
posting tweets like “Hey does anyone out there
like cornflakes?” or “Who thinks Michelle
Obama looks like a man?” First of all using a
symbol for Cornflakes or MichelleObama
would get you more traffic (especially if it was
a popular trend) but why are you talking about
shit? If your band wrote a song about Michelle
Obama looking like a man then that would be
solid grounds for anyone being musically
interested in your post and your Twitter page
Looking at popular trends is a good idea but
don't turn your twitter page feed into a list of
rambling thoughts; it primarily needs to inform
people about your music Retweeting is often
encouraged on Twitter; you are basically
sharing a post with your own followers What
many bands don't do is search Twitter for
NICK
J
TOWNSEND
anyone else tweeting about them Say if your
band gets a review on an online music website
then they may have sent out a tweet on their
own Twitter account with a link to your
review By you sharing their tweet it alerts the
user or organisation who sent it which may
encourage them to follow you back on Twitter
and also it looks good for your band
Retweeting the latest Patrick Stewart twitter
post is arguably not going to help your band
whatsoever This column is more beneficial if
you have more people following you on
Twitter If someone follows your account then
follow them back; this may seem obvious but
it's one way of attracting trust Perhaps follow
people who you meet in real life that care
about what you do
When to tweet? If you're tweeting a link to
your bands new music video then you could
argue that doing so at am in the morning is a
waste of time but you'd be wrong In fact you
may get more attention as am in the UK is
evening in the USA so there are often more
people using Twitter during the early hours
Some of you may have no free time to use
Twitter so perhaps consider a routine? Every
time you sit on a toilet send out a band tweet;
whist you wait for a kettle to boil upload a link
to your musicvideo or if you have an
upcoming gig in Stourbridge alert people of
the date and venue you're playing at; check if
the venue is promoting you on their twitter
Making good posts which promote your music
videos show that your band has a YouTube
account; if they like the video it may encourage
them to explore your other posts You may
want to include a link to a review of your band
Details about your latest release behind the
scenes photos from something your band is
planning pictures of your fans and supporters
live photos of your band; there's a lot which
you might not be doing now that could
increase your popularity on Twitter
GoodLuck now GetLost
r
gg
21
YEARS
1995-2016
