MSO Social Media | Mitch Schneider Organization

MSO SOCIAL MEDIA

Since the 1980’s, we’ve built our stature as a creative powerhouse (first at Levine/Schneider PR before we became MSO in 1995) and currently are celebrating our 20^th anniversary in 2015.

MSO (Mitch Schneider Organization)-the music, culture and lifestyle publicity company that has offices in Los Angeles and Nashville-has now launched a Social Media Division, with services being provided by San Francisco-based social media expert Michael Brandvold. In addition to MSO‘s current and future publicity clients who may elect to hire the Social Media Division as an additional service, the company welcomes artists and projects specifically for social media who are not publicity clients of the firm.

The social media services provided will include, but aren’t limited to: creating a digital strategy that encompasses social media networks; coordinating with and supporting PR, radio, merchandise/ecommerce, record label and tour promotion efforts; the creation of content strategies and management of social networks; and developing a plan to engage with existing fans and acquiring new fans.”

We’re consistently providing fresh and exciting ideas to clients, whether it’s coming up with names for tours, conceiving a web series, or creating a unique Twitter social media campaign.

WHAT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA AND CONTENT STRATEGY?

It’s Not Just Having Someone Who Makes Posts to Your Social Media Accounts.

by Michael Brandvold

When discussing a social media and content strategy I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have heard a band manager, a band, a solo artist say… “we have a plan, we have someone posting stuff for us.” That is like saying your tour is all planned out because you have a bus driver. Let me just lay it right out there for you now, having someone post for you does not mean you have a social media and content strategy. It means you have someone who can execute, but that doesn’t mean they have a strategy.

A social media and content strategy is a coordinated plan across all online networks and with all your partners; record label, booking agent, promoters, publicist, radio promoters, merchandising company, etc. It ensures consistent branding and messaging across everything.

A social media and content strategy answers the following questions before someone ever makes a post.

What – What do you have available to post?
When – When are you going to post?
Why – Why are you making this post?
Where – Where are you going to make the post.

Here is what happens when you don’t have a strategy, when you just have someone who posts what you give them. These are just a few REAL examples that I have encountered over the years.

Your new album comes out in three days and the last post you made on your socials promoting the album with a preorder link was two weeks ago, you need help with your online strategy.
Your label announced your album on Monday, you didn’t post the details on your Facebook until Tuesday and on your website until Wednesday. It’s Friday and your Twitter and Youtube still have no announcement, you need help with your online strategy.
Your Facebook page has new imagery to promote the new album; profile image and cover image. Your website is still visually promoting your last album. Twitter is using some live photos. Your YouTube is promoting yet another album, you need help with your online strategy.
If you have a new album coming out and a week after the preorder went live you still haven’t shared the links to iTunes and Amazon you need help with your online strategy.
If you have a new album coming out and the About/Profile/Bio copy on your social network pages still promote your last album you need help with your online strategy.
You have someone post a video clip from the opening night of the tour, but they fail to include a link to tour dates and tickets. They fail to upload the video to YouTube. They failed to shared the video on Instagram or Twitter, you need help with your online strategy.
If you don’t know what you are posting everyday unless someone sends you something, you need help with your online strategy.

Every post you make needs to be created so it is designed to give you a reason to talk about items such as… a album, live stream, live show, merchandise, appearances, etc. Don’t just post for the sake of a post. If you do you are wasting a opportunity to talk to your fans about something important.

A Successful Social Media and Content Strategy

In 2014 one of my clients ACCEPT released BLIND RAGE, their latest studio album. I put together a content/posting strategy that turned what was an inactive Facebook Page into a Page with daily activity and engagement. Coordinating with their record label, Nuclear Blast, a marketing campaign was launched to promote the new album and supporting world tour. The efforts online contributed to the band having their first #1 album in Germany and their highest Billboard Top 200 debut in their career. The supporting world tour saw sold out shows around the world.

Your goal with every post is to engage and make the fans active online. This means conversations, sharing, likes, clicking a link, watching a video, etc. No engagement indicates a dead artist and regardless of how large your fanbase is if there is no engagement happening, nothing will be achieved. No plays, no songs downloaded, no tickets or t-shirts sold. You need to tell a story. Educate, entertain & recognize. The #1 thing fans want is to be recognized by their favorite artist.

Over the years I have created a lengthy document of content that can make up a social media content strategy. It consists of the basic content types: video, photo, audio and text. Just a few of the many items include:

Behind the scenes footage
Trivia questions
Did you know facts
Photo of and with fans
Your gear
Video reviews

Are you thinking about all of this with every single post? Or are you just posting?

CAMPAIGN EXAMPLES

Here are some examples of how we’ve amped up exposure for our clients, connecting the dots between PR + social media.

For Black Sabbath, we named their final tour that’s set for 2016, The End, came up with the idea of an “end credits” trailer for the tour reveal. It received huge exposure:
http://www.msopr.com/press-releases/black-sabbath-the-end/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYCvRV5ME3w&feature=youtu.bev
For Dream Theater, while recording their 2013 self-titled release they wanted to stay in touch with the fans but still maintain their solitude while recording. Brandvold then set up a Tweet Q&A campaign. Over the course of two weeks, fans submitted thousands of questions on Twitter. We selected a range of questions that would afford each band member the opportunity to respond and give the band the chance to prehype the album release and supporting tour. The band recorded a series of 12 videos answering a number of questions in each clip. The video clips generated over 400,000 views: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLToa5JuFMsXSL87z8pgQnhw6QnlpMzKW8
For The Black Crowes, we came up with the month-long web interview series “20 Years of Tall Tales,” pegged to their 2010 disc ‘Croweology’ and 20th anniversary tour. These controversial webisodes received praise from the trade outlet Ad Age in a story headlined “Black Crowes Interview Series Shows How to Market Music.” The outlet pointed out: “What’s surprising is that so few performers have attempted to sidle up to their fans in a similar manner” (8/5/2010).”
http://www.msopr.com/press-releases/black-crowes-roll-out-%E2%80%9C20-years-of-tall-tales%E2%80%9D-web-series/
In 2014 Accept released the album Blind Rage. Prior to the release, Brandvold was brought in to manage and build their presence on Facebook, something that had never been a priority in the past. Their total Facebook Likes page under his direction grew by 50% in one year prior to the album release. A content/posting strategy was implemented that turned what was an inactive Page into a Page with daily activity. Coordinating with their record label, Nuclear Blast, a marketing campaign was launched to promote the new album and supporting world tour. The efforts online contributed to the band having their first #1 album in Germany and their highest Billboard Top 200 debut in their career. The supporting world tour saw sold out shows around the world.
https://www.facebook.com/accepttheband
For Ozzy Osbourne, we conceived a Twitter social media campaign to increase exposure for his 2011 book Trust Me, I’m Dr. Ozzy: Advice From Rock’s Ultimate Survivor. Called Dr. Ozzy’s Seven-Day Guide To Better Living,” it was a fun weeklong series of free advice and helpful hints that received media attention and helped increase the rock legend’s Twitter followers. One classic Ozzy Tweet was: “Always get a 2^ndopinion-even if it means calling the doctor’s cell from 6ft underground to ask if he’s 100% sure you’re dead.”
http://www.msopr.com/press-releases/trust-me-im-dr-ozzy-advice-from-rocks-ultimate-survivor-by-ozzy-osbourne-with-chris-ayres-set-for-october-11-release/
In 2001 KISS released the Box Set. Managing the band’s official website at the time Brandvold worked with Universal Music to create a direct email strategy to promote the release directly to the band’s fan base. A focused email plan promoting preorder and then post-release sales generated so much sales that the sales partner in the plan, Amazon, created a case study of the success for their other affiliates on how to build a direct email strategy. http://www.kissonline.com
In 2011, we created a spin-off website Raise The Question, exclusively for fresh Q&As that we’ve done with our clients (past and present): www.raisethequestion.com. The site features MSO-conducted interviews with an array of artists including David Bowie, Ozzy Osbourne, Perry Farrell, Billy Corgan, Slash, Dream Theater and Timothy B Schmit. The site gives more exposure to these artists, and we’ve also planted these Q&A’s with various websites.

For information about the MSO Social Media Division, please contact Mitch Schneider at mschneider@msopr.com and Michael Brandvold at mbrandvold@msopr.com.

www.msopr.com
www.msopr.com/nashville
www.raisethequestion.com

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