Organizing an effective, creative, and eye-catching social plan is just one of the many things you will need to juggle when planning an album, single or video release. It’s understandable that you may not see the value in taking the time to craft individual strategies for every different social platform when each new content release can sometimes feel as involved as launching a mini-business.

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The bad news first: promoting a release on social media isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it situation. If you don’t take the time to cater your strategy to the best practices, algorithm, and general voice of a network - your engagement will suffer and that time you spent building your social media plan will be time wasted. 

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Want the good news? It’s easier than you think. And we’re here to help. 

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Below are our tips for the best ways to optimize your social schedule around a release on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

TikTok

TikTok is the fastest growing social network and has created a huge platform for developing artists and songwriters of all genres, even for people without any actual recorded music. People have been getting creative with finding new ways to show off their talent, and the consumers of the TikTok community are liking it. A lot.

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Even if you haven’t gotten your start on the app, it’s not too late to start posting a couple weeks before your release! We’ve written a lot about where to start - and fortunately, release week is a great time to begin your TikTok journey. 

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Ideal Schedule

• Aim to post 5-10 videos per week, 2 weeks leading up to your release and 2-3 weeks after release
• Check your followers’ activity chart in analytics to find the best times to post each day

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Content Ideas

• One trend that is currently taking over the music-fan community is for artists to share a new song that they have recently written or worked on. You’ll want to be sure to either share the backstory of the lyrics, the inspiration behind the song, or tell people what kind of mood or setting that listeners should be in to enjoy it. 
• Examples:
• Clinton Kane - Chicken Tendies
• Meg Moroney - Wonder
• Valley - Like 1999
• Create your own “trend” around your song. Brainstorm a few creative ideas that you think will work, then post a video of you explaining the trend. Encourage people to try it out!
• Example:
• Driver’s License Medley Trend Idea
• Ask for ideas around the song. For example, “What do you think the title should be?” “Comment some lines that would work for the second verse!”
• Example:
• Peach Martine - “Comment Title and Second Verse Ideas”
• Show a “Then vs Now” from your early career phase to your newest release.
• Example:
• Lindsey Stirling - “This to This”

Don’t Forget

• Be sure to include a catchy hook within the first second of each video 
• Keep your videos around 30 seconds in length
• Connect your socials to your profile
• Always engage with comments, followers, and DMs

Instagram

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With the launch of their Reels feature, Instagram recently released some insight on how users can grow their engagement by following this posting schedule: 3 reels per week, 3 feed posts per week, 2-10 stories per day.

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Although this may seem excessive, Instagram is rewarding small creators and artists by following this simple formula with hopes of growing their new Reels feature. So if you’re planning on using Instagram as a part of your social media promotion strategy, it is worth taking advantage of this rare inside scoop into the algorithm and giving Instagram’s recommended schedule a try - before, during, and after your music release. 

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Ideal Schedule

• Announce your release 1-2 weeks in advance
• Feed posts: 1 week before, 5 days before, 1 day before, day-of release, 1 day following release (great time to share any achievements), and 1-2 related posts the following week
• Stories: At least 1 per day, 5 days leading up to release and 1 week after release
• Reels: 1-2 leading up to release and 1-2 following release

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Since that’s a lot of content, you will probably need to dig a little deeper to also figure out the best times to post. For feed posts & stories, you’ll want to post on days and times that your followers are most active on the app. To find this, dig into your analytics and find the three top days that your followers are most active, then find the specific times that they are most engaged.

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Since Reels has the ability to reach people beyond your current following, it can be a bit trickier. Luckily, Influencer Marketing Hub recently published an article with their suggestions for the best times to post on Reels to ensure that your posts are reaching as many users as possible. Use this guide with the best times to post to plan ahead:

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Monday: 6am, 10am, 10pm
Tuesday: 2am, 4am, 9am*
Wednesday: 7am, 8am, 11pm
Thursday: 9am, 12am*, 7pm
Friday: 5am*, 1pm, 3pm
Saturday: 11am, 7pm, 8pm
Sunday: 7am, 8am, 4pm

* According to Influencer Marketing Hub, times marked with * had the highest level of engagement rates during their study.

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Content Ideas

• Unlike normal feed posts, Reels have the ability to be pushed to lots of people who don’t know you yet. So take advantage! The content that works here is similar to what works on TikTok - so you can get creative and use this opportunity to post about music, interests, or daily moments through short-form video content. 
• Ashley Cooke - Sunday Morning Kinda Saturday Night
• Don’t just rely on pre-made graphics or music video clips to coast on during your release week. Be sure to add in personalized content to let everyone know how excited you are to release your music, for example: selfie videos talking about the new music, BTS footage from the studio, story polls, etc.

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Don’t Forget

• Even though Reels and TikTok can share repurposed content - remember this post is to encourage care & individual attention to each network. So - make sure that if you’re repurposing content, you are uploading the original video when possible. Especially since Instagram just released that they do not want watermarked videos (aka reposts from TikTok) posted to Reels.
• Interest your audience to engage with you on other socials and support you and your new release!
• Instagram prioritizes engagement in order of saves, shares, comments and likes. So - create content that will encourage those actions and use captions and graphics that prioritize sharing & commenting.
• Spend ~15 minutes engaging with others on the app before and after posting.

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Twitter

Twitter is a great platform to communicate with your audience without the burden of feeling that you’re posting too much. Content moves quickly on Twitter (the average Tweet has a lifespan of about 24 minutes), so most users don’t mind if you tweet 20+ times during a big release, especially if you’re answering questions or just engaging with those who follow you. 

Ideal Schedule

• Plan to post a lot, especially for 2-3 days on either side of the release. It’s hard to overdo it here, so as long as you can think of new things to say, or new ways to say the same thing - use a scheduling tool (we list a few recommendations in the mid-way point of this blog) and get to planning a little tweet storm.

Content Ideas

• Start a countdown: Once you’ve announced your upcoming content release, start a countdown leading up to release day. This will create hype and ensure that any current or new followers will be consistently reminded of when your release is coming.
• Create a Hashtag: Use a tag to mark every post that is related to your release, starting from your announcement to post-release promotion. Don’t get too caught up in thinking of a super crafty tag - just using the song title will do the trick!

Don’t Forget

• Make sure your bio is updated and simply describes the latest update of your project. 
• Engage with all relevant posts! Retweet, quote tweet, reply, like, and converse with anyone and everyone talking about your upcoming release. Utilize the direct messaging feature to answer questions and thank those who show support. 
• Ask your friends to get involved. Don’t be shy about asking your friends for a quick retweet or shoutout. There’s a reason “retweet” has become a universal term - it started on this platform and is the king of engagement here.

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Facebook

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Whether or not your main audience lives on Facebook, you should always be sure to update your Facebook page with all relevant announcements and upcoming projects. Facebook is an easy way for people to quickly search and discover who you are as an artist, even if you typically tend to dig a little deeper and engage more on other social media platforms. If you’re planning to drop a big release, here’s some best practices to keep in mind:

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Ideal Schedule

• Plan to post once per day during your release week.
• Check your followers’ activity in analytics to find the best times to post for each day.

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Content Ideas 

• Use Visuals: Visuals are a great way to break through the noise in your audience’s feed. Instead of just posting a status, try creating a simple visual piece with a service like Canva to draw more attention to your post.
• Tell the story behind your release: Everyone loves a good story on Facebook. Share the full inspiration behind your release to create a personal connection with your audience.
• Announce a giveaway: Facebook is an easy platform to execute a giveaway. Before your release, create a post announcing a content that you’re giving away a prize for those who pre-save, like, comment, tag friends, and share. This will not only help with the success of your release, but also increase your engagement for the Facebook algorithm!

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Don’t Forget

• Engage with comments and community posts - comment back, say thanks for shares, like or love comments, even ask questions. Any way you normally would interact as a human with other humans is fair game!
• Keep an updated announcement as a Pinned Post at the top of your page
• If you’re releasing a full music video to YouTube, additionally upload the video to Facebook instead of posting a YouTube link
• Update your profile pic & cover photo, bio and all other relevant info on your page.

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Of course, these are just guidelines. If you can’t do all of the above, just plan to do what you can. And more importantly - do what works best for you, your brand and your audience. You know those things best. Just remember that the more time and individual attention you put into each platform, the more time and attention you will get out of it!