SOCIAL MEDIA IDEAS

Instagram:

Instagram is where the bulk of the band’s support lies so therefore it should be the priority in terms of social media. Some ideas include:

-As the main appeal of Instagram is it’s visual nature that is something that going forward the band need to explore more. Releasing a photo diary of the recording process and behind the scenes of the album allows fans to get an insight into how the music that they know and love is made.

-Utilising the story function on Instagram is a must for keeping engagement levels high. Whether it be a daily update or a written Q&A, Instagram stories come with tools that allow the band to connect with their fanbase easily.

-Posting more varied content. As a band, Soup! are not very active on social media and rarely create a buzz around their upcoming releases. In order to change this the band need to create a post schedule and upload an array of different content, fully utilising Instagram. By using Reels, Stories, Instagram Lives and regular posts the band will be more visible online

-Launch the ‘Treasure Hunt’ on Instagram. For further details refer to the media relations plan.

Facebook:

Facebook is still one of the most used social platforms with 2.963 billion logging in everyday as of January 2023.(The latest Facebook statistics: Everything you need to know - datareportal – global digital insights)

-Creating a private fan group for the band allows the band to speak to fans directly as well as creating a space for fans to talk amongst each other. This is seen to have worked with bands like Sports Team who have Camel Crew group which is also linked to a private Whatsapp chat.

-Focusing less on organic reach through Facebook and instead using a portion of the budget to have paid promotions. These targeted ads will reach fans of similar bands, drawing them toward Soup! Or at least raising awareness.

-Using scheduled posts. Instead of posting content at random intervals use the insight tools on Facebook to see when fans of the band are most likely to be online. For example if the most active time is 12pm on a Saturday that’s when the post is scheduled for.

Twitter:

News breaks fastest on Twitter. It is the platform most commonly used by journalists and people involved with the music industry.

-Every tweet needs to be branded. We are able to do this by adding a hashtag to the tweet. Examples could be #Soup! #Soup!speaks or #whatitsaysonthetin. This also allows for content related to the band to be found more easily on the site.

-Encourage people to tweet directly at the band. By once again using hashtags it’s easy to run Q&A sessions on Twitter because directly tweeting between two accounts creates a thread which will put all content in one place.

-Host listening parties. On the night before album release day, host a listening party on Twitter. One example of this type of content being Tim’s listening party which has gained lots of recognition for all the bands and artists involved.

YouTube:

Youtube is a video sharing site with over 2.6 billion active users. YouTube provides a platform for more long-form video content.

-Film and share music videos. Music Videos are a great marketing tool as they are an event in themselves. You first release the song and then are able to follow that up at a later date with a music video release, bringing attention back to a song that was previously released.

-Use YouTube as an archive for high-quality recordings of live performances.

TikTok:

TikTok is the fastest growing social media platform currently, with over 1 billion active users.

-TikTok allows for shorter content. It’s the perfect platform to tease an upcoming release by using a 15 second video to create a buzz. The new repost feature also allows for videos to be shared easily.

-Post a monthly top songs video where each member picks one song they’re currently enjoying. This helps fans to understand the band on more of a personal level.

Media Relations Plan/ Campaign Strategy

This section will outline the precise aims, objectives and tactics of the campaign strategy for the album release.

Aims:

-Generate a larger following for the band Soup!

- Secure coverage in a local/regional magazine/blog

-Have the albums single played on the radio

-Sell-out home town gigs for upcoming dates

-Increase streams on latest single Supplies

Objectives:

-Reach 5000 followers on the bands Instagram page

-Reach 2000 monthly listeners on Spotify

-Gain at least 10,000 streams on newest single across music streaming platforms

-Reach 500 followers on twitter

-Review on local/regional blog e.g. Silent Radio

PR Campaign Strategy

To promote the debut album and get people talking about the album, the band will host and headline a charity gig at the Manchester venue Soup on the same day as the album release, April 22nd 2023. Leading up to the charity event, a social media led treasure hunt will take place around Manchester wherein USB drives with clips of songs off the debut album will be hidden around the city in comically large tins of soup. This kitschy and perhaps overplayed play on the band’s name being Soup! will be used heavily throughout this campaign. The final goal of this campaign is a successful charity event on the same day as the album launch. By partnering up with homeless charities in Greater Manchester such as Barnabus and Coffee4Craig, the gig will be raising awareness of a current social issue as well as the profile of the band. At the gig there will also be an opportunity for fans to bring tinned goods and dried foods such as tins of soup or pasta which will also be donated to food banks around Manchester. This gig will also be the launch of the band’s new branding and therefore the band’s new line of merchandise will also be available for purchase at the event. The campaign budget of £20,000 will cover the cost of the venue hire, promotional props and content, paid advertisements on social media channels and the new line of Merchandise.

Mock-up versions of the merchandise that will be available at the charity event and then available permanently on the band’s website. merchandise includes: LP’s, Soup! CANdles, badges, stickers and T-shirts.

Tactics

The tactics behind this campaign combine elements from both social media and interactive experiential campaigning in Manchester’s city centre. As the band have an established fan base on social media but not a strong presence the first steps of the campaign will take place there, pushing teasers of clips from the album. A new hashtag will also accompany these posts, #onthetin will help fans to identify content relating to the band and their upcoming release. Once the band have begun to post regularly, the second phase of the campaign can commence, using social media to promote the real-world treasure hunt taking place in the fortnight before the album release. Using Instagram stories the band will film themselves hiding the USBs in Soup tins around the city in iconic locations, e.g. outside Afflecks Palace. Then urging fans to find the USBs or in this sense ‘treasure’ and post it to their social media accounts, all while tagging the band. In doing this the fans will be doing some of the work for the band in that they will also be promoting the debut album inadvertently. However, to gain attention on social platforms posts regarding the treasure hunt will be boosted on instagram costing $5/day running for 14 days which will come out of the campaign’s £20,000 budget. By using boosted posts the content is likely to reach a minimum of 1000 more social media users. Additionally, the insight tools on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram will be kept in mind when scheduling posts so that the largest possible audience is captured. Once the campaign has run its course and the album has been released, preparations will be made for drip-marketing of music videos affiliated with the album.

Timeline Of Events

PHOTOGRAPHS OF SOUP! (Free to use at your own leisure)