You’ve seen other musicians do it, and they’re not even that good, so it should be pretty easy for you to copy that formula and pave your path of success.

It might <em>seem </em>easy, but there are still ways to ruin the easiest of recipes, so we’ve compiled a short list of things to bear in mind when you start your reign on social media.

<strong>Automated Posts</strong>

They sound like a great idea, but you have got to get them right. Think about what you’re posting to each of your social media channels and consider what you really want to communicate. What time are you setting these posts for and how often? Did you know that Facebook gets a lot of traffic on a Wednesday afternoon at 3? That Twitter is at its busiest Monday – Thursday from 1pm to 3pm? That’s the kind of <a href="http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/10-reasons-musicians-fail-on-social-media.html">thing</a> you need to know. If you are looking to capture an international audience, too, then you need to factor in time differences.

Using a program that will pull all of your social media activity to one dashboard for you to use will make your life far simpler than signing in and out of each one of your accounts.

<strong>#Connect</strong>

A lot of people will tell you that hashtags are passé, but how will you connect with your audience, if you don’t use hashtags?

Tag other people in your posts, too- you’ll reach a wider audience that way.

<strong>It’s Not All About You</strong>

Sure, your social media channels are <em>yours</em> and sure, they’re for the purposes of boosting your fan base and increasing your chances of succeeding in the music industry. Sorry, no one wants to read about just <em>that</em>, offer interesting stories and insights into your personal life. You’ll find it far easier to connect with people if you put yourself out there a bit. Fans <em>love </em>when artists follow back, or reply to messages. Take time out of your day to read your feedback and respond.

<strong>Quality not Quantity</strong>

There is no point posting a lot if you’re posting absolute nonsense. People want to see you positing regularly, but they want to see interesting posts that grab your attention!

Posting photos will get you far more interest on both Facebook and Twitter than just a regular old status update.

Tumblr only wakes up after 4pm (7pm on Fridays are the peak time) and Pinterest is the social media channel that keeps ticking over the weekend. LinkedIn sees people check out from Friday afternoon and through the weekend.

If you aren’t available to engage during the peak times of each social media channel, then that is when you should be aiming to use automated posts, and throwing in a picture is ideal.

If it sounds like it’s a lot of work that’s because it is. Seeing your music career take off isn’t going to just happen overnight, and it’s definitely not going to happen without effort.

If you think <em>this</em> is hard work, just wait till you’re on the road regularly and churning out the hits.