February, 2010
ARIEL'S TOP 7 FACEBOOK APPS FOR MUSICIANS
Do you have a fanpage but still not sure how to make it pop?
Here are seven apps that will set you on the right path, help you to stand out from the pack and keep your fans engaged and interested in you on a consistent basis.
The people at Involver are masters of fan page branding. They offer two applications from their gallery free of charge (they have some wonderfully tiered packages, but those will cost you). I would recommend installing the Twitter and YouTube applications on your page, but there are other great ones as well. Your fans will then be able to see your last 5 tweets and last 6 YouTube videos right fromyour Facebook fan page. Check out the free app gallery here: http://involver.com/gallery.html
One of the premiere music applications for fan pages. One great feature that iLike exclusively provides is the ability to load a large, MySpaceesqe banner. It is somewhat difficult to currently brand yourself visually on facebook (without spending a lot of $), but this is a good start. This app plays music, shows your Twitter
feed, has links to purchase songs, etc. In order to create on one these you need an iLike account: http://ilike.com
There is a lot of overlap between My Band and iLike. The main functions that separate My Band are the merchandise options (fans can buy merch right from this tab), and the newsletter/street team sign up box. If you do not have a newsletter management service or widgets that you currently using throughout your web presence, I would start to get accli Ariel Hyatt will be a featured panelist at this year's ASCAP "I Create Music" EXPO mated with ReverbNation, and use My Band on your FB Fan page. If you are already using a newslettermanagement service and have your widget situation covered, iLike is the way to go because of the beautiful branding opportunity with the large horizontal image.
Poll Daddy Polls feature both private polls that only your friends can see, and public ones that you can share with all of your fans. This is a great way to poll your fan base and see what they really want!
Update your Facebook Status from Twitter but only for the tweets you choose. This is a great tool for musicians who want to save time but still want to be selective. Just end each tweet with #fb when you also want to update your Facebook Fan Page status. It doesn't work if your tweets are protected.
You can set up and deploy the Nimbit MyStore app free of charge and Nimbit will take a small percentage of each sale that you make through your profile page or on your fanpage. You can sell anything you want through this tab (CDs,MP3's, Merch, DVDs, or tickets) The big bonus is: Your fans don't leave Facebook to
browse and interact.
For personal pages, not fan pages. Many people ask me about this, so I wanted to include it. This links your tweets with the status updates on your personal profiles, not your fan pages.
Ariel Hyatt is the founder of Ariel Publicity, a digital PR firm who's Cyber PR Campaigns place musicians on blogs and podcasts and facilitates authentic relationships with Social Media makers. Her book, Music Success in Nine Weeks, has helped hundreds of musicians navigate the confusing world of Social Media and Online Marketing.
