Sleeping Village Tips & Tricks: On Fabricating Social Media Content Without a Budget

Given the current, erm, situation, there has quite possibly never been a better time to bolster your content and step up your social media game.

But...what if you don’t have the budget to produce music videos, professional photo shoots, etc.? In short, what should a band without lots of assets in the content department post in order to keep a consistent schedule of posts each week? The following are my top recommendations for bands in this situation. As a general strategy for implementation, you can literally have a preset schedule: Monday is this kind of post, Tuesday is that kind, and so on. I highly recommend posting on a daily basis. Without further ado:

Content Ideas:

1. Post about bands/albums that are particular inspirations, and caption with a little insight into why you consider them influences. Alternate between well-known bands and more obscure gems. People appreciate and will connect with both. 
2. Shoutout bands that you are buddies with (or want to be buddies with!) What better way to solidify a reputation in your respective scene than by spreading the love? The more you shout people out, the more you’ll receive in return. Everyone loves a lil’ attention. 
3. At band practice? Snap a pic and caption with a little note about what yer working on. Even if you’re stuck sitting alone at home working on a riff, that is valuable content.
4. Got lyrics? Post those, and give a little behind-the-scenes info about ‘em.
5. Record short videos talking about individual tracks, songwriting process, etc. Or do short interviews with each band member. This is a low-effort, low-cost way to provide a little extra info about something you have already created.
6. Post pics of your gear. People fuckin’ love gear.
7. Repost the cover artwork of your latest release. A simple reminder post with a quick comment about how you can’t believe it has already been 6 months since release (or whatever) could very well encourage someone to check you out.
8. Similarly, re-post artwork from your first demo. Or an old show flyer. Or an old piece of merch.
9. If someone said something about you on the internet, bleed those words dry, no matter how brief or mundane. Comment on your Youtube upload? Post it. Receive a nice message? Post it. If you snag a review somewhere, you can easily split that up into 4-5 posts. Take a quote, throw it on a cool background. Voila.
10. Have merch? Post a picture of yourself wearing that tshirt/hat/button. Or film yourself putting a sticker in a weird location. Make sure to link to your bandcamp, or another place people can buy your merch.
    
11. Have a sale. Set your album to name your own price for a limited time. This is yet another excuse to direct people towards a place that they can listen to--and hopefully purchase--your music.
12. Take screenshots of your twitter/instagram/facebook/bandcamp/etc., and post that to respective platforms.
13. Run a bandcamp code giveaway. It costs you nothing, and your audience is generally very willing to share a post if it means getting their hands on free shit.
14. Have a pet? Post a picture of them near a physical copy of your music. Don’t have physical copies of your music? Take a picture of said pet next to some speakers, or a tangled set of earbuds. Don’t have a pet? Find an inanimate object and stick some earbuds to it. It sounds goofy, but sometimes goofy sells. 
    

Bonus: Have any shows in the future? Staple a flyer to a telephone pole, take a picture of said flyer in its natural environment, and post that with details. Or post a picture of a past show. Tag the participating bands. Revel in nostalgia.

There’s an easy two weeks of no-cost content. Bottom line: you have options when it comes to fabricating content. Utilize everything at your disposal.