WHAT IS VALUE?
So those of you who have been following me will have heard me using the word value, a lot. Everything has a value of some sort and it can mean many different things. In marketing, Value may also be expressed as a straightforward relationship between the perceived benefits and perceived costs: Value = Benefits / Costs.
So if we’re looking at it from a Social Media perspective the follower/audience needs to see the benefits (will it educate, entertain or inspire them?) of following your account. The costs to the follower getting involved with your channel would be: their time, effort, emotional responses, etc. So on arrival to your profile or channel, a visitor will weigh up the benefits of following you and how much time/effort/care (costs) they need to put into consuming your content. This works for anything – clothing, property, friendships, work, etc.
Music Value
So the aim of providing value for a musician begins with music. That’s the product, right? A piece of music needs to be good quality, entertaining and create an emotional response in the listener. This is a valuable piece of music. A listener will continue to spend their time and effort on this piece of valuable music because the benefits outweigh the costs.
Social Media Value
You have your music which is giving value – the next step is to create a new kind of value to pull in new fans to listen to your music value. For example, a new supermarket opens and is providing value with its products – but so are many other supermarkets that already exist. The new supermarket needs to shout to the world about what it provides (benefits) and the costs of those products. Shoppers need to weigh up whether the new supermarket is more beneficial to visit because of the costs. So it’s the new supermarket’s responsibility to present their benefits and their costs to the public to attract customers.
You’ve made music which holds its own value. Now you need to tell the public about it and show what benefits there are to paying attention to you and your music. Creating content on social media is how this happens. But creating valuable content is how you grow exponentially.
Social media content needs to communicate your identity and personality – give visitors enough reason to feel that your posts will benefit them. What value does it provide – will it educate, entertain, inspire or move them? Is it worth their time and effort? Through giving enough value on your content, you’ll give visitors a reason to click through to your other sites to buy/consume your products.
HOW MUSICIANS CAN GIVE VALUE
Below are some examples of content you can be creating and why it’s valuable. Just remember the 80/20 rule of marketing where 80% of content should be shared with the goal of engaging your audience to build a rapport and trust. You’re not trying to achieve anything but engagement here. Whereas the other 20% of content is where you promote products and share announcements, etc.
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Performance & Process Videos
Create videos of your creative process. Whether that’s fine tuning a kick drum or getting in some practice on the decks. Think of this as behind the scenes content. A backstage pass. This is something you should be doing weekly anyway so hit the record button and share the process.
The Value:
You’re showing visitors what you love to do and why you’re an artist. Your expertise and passion will strike a chord with some visitors; giving them content that entertains, educates or inspires them… That’s how you create a connection with potential fans. It’s how you keep your current fanbase too.
2. Repurposing Existing Content
It’s not always necessary to create your own original content. ‘Remixing’ content is commonplace online today. Most memes you see have been recycled 10s, if not 100s of times with different jokes and contexts.
The Value:
Showing your sense of humour and your interest areas in the form of whatever it is you’re repurposing assists new visitors in deciding whether they are interested in you and your tastes… Are the benefits of a visitor looking at your content outweighing the costs to them?
3. Personal Pictures
Though most of your content should be in video format for best results, time constraints happen and pictures are still very valuable content. Pictures of people are still more interesting to most than pictures of items.
The Value:
We’re curious creatures and naturally we’re drawn to the human body. Some more intense than others. Fans and visitors will want to put a face to the name to really feel trust and build a connection. This is the value here.
4.. Text & Emoji
From the Instagram bio, post descriptions and comments sections, there’s lots of opportunity to give value. Telling a story with text is the traditional method of giving value. Of course with the addition of emojis we’re able to communicate the emotion of words faster and clearer.
The Value:
The value potential with text & emojis, wherever they’re used, is potentially huge. You get to give all the information, ideas and inspiration in as many words as you can or want to write. Make sure your bio is communicating to visitors properly as it’s the first thing visitors to your profile will see. And of course carry it over into all of your content.
Communicating your personality, persona and passions is the necessary step to attract fans in to your world. Provide an easy experience for fans to connect with you by giving valuable benefits. Stick to your real self and consistently provide value and your fans will follow and grow.
