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So, you’re interested in promoting your song through TikTok and Instagram?

You’ve probably heard about songs going viral. The first thing you should know is that it’s really difficult to do that.

You start to go viral when random people share your song without you asking them to. The more they do it, the more viral you’ve gone!

Only a handful of songs go viral day-to-day. The odds of your song actually blowing up are against you, but you gotta start somewhere, right?

The Basic Strategy:

1. Create a simple concept / challenge for influencers to follow while playing your song ("The Concept")
2. Select the right people to share your song ("The Content Creators")
3. Use the content to grow ("Using The Results")

This strategy can be executed on both a small and large scale, depending on your budget. The more content you create, the more likely your song is to go viral. But you probably shouldn't go into this with the goal of going viral. In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, it's very unlikely.

A note on who should use Influencer submissions:

• TikTok and Instagram have a younger user base.
• Popular genres include modern pop and rap.
• Not-so-popular genres include classical, jazz, folk, classic rock, metal, EDM, and lo-fi/downtempo. You can find a niche, but it is not as easy.

1. The Concept

Treat each share as an opportunity for a "mini music video".

We recommend coming up with a simple unifying concept for influencers to execute. Your song will be playing while they do that.

Some examples to get you thinking:

• Suggest they wear a specific color or dress up. For example:
• "Wear a purple hat or use a purple color palette / lighting"
• "Wear a curly-haired wig because my song is about curls"
• Get them to act. For example:
• "Pretend you’re doing super intense exercise to this song"
• "Film yourself writing a love letter while this song plays"
• "Pretend you walked into a solid object like a wall or light post"
• Request that they lip-sync to a specific verse of lyrics
• Ask them to do a specific dance
• Be careful here: choreography is a lot harder to consistently execute, and a lot of influencers don’t dance!

The hope here is that the content shared alongside your song inspires regular users to create their own TikToks and Reels. If the concept is repeatable, you’re more likely to 1) attract organic content re-shares and 2) get your existing fanbase to participate.

2. The Content Creators

What kind of content to request:

TikTok videos and Instagram Reels are the way to go. The choice between the two, or if both, depends on your presence on the platform(s). Generally, it's advisable not to invest in a platform where you don't have an (active) account there.

These formats stay up for a long time, get neatly grouped within each app, and are generally the preferred way for folks to consume social media these days.

We discontinued Instagram Stories shares in August 2023. The 24-hour duration and the low engagement made it challenging to use them for storytelling, and their value for money wasn't really there.

Who to choose:

• Start small with influencers who seem to match your vibe
• Expand to regions you’d like to play live / tour
• If your budget allows, go broad
• Prefer Really Good Influencers (more about that here) if quality content is important for you

How much to spend:

Small budget (20 to 500 credits)

If you’re just getting started, target mid-range influencers.

• Anticipate prices between 15 and 60 credits per influencer
• You want influencers who have a history of sharing the type of content you’re looking for
• We help identify them for you based on a few filters you’ll choose
• All you need are 2-3 good shares to start “using the results” (part 3, below)

Bigger budget (500 - 5,000 credits)

As your budget increases, we recommend mixing it up two ways:

a) Target bigger influencers

• Prices between 50 and 500 credits each
• They have a larger audience, which means better odds of going viral
• But their content won’t necessarily be any better than a mid-tier influencer

b) Target smaller influencers

• Prices between 2 and 20 credits per share
• Usually from a broader reach of the world with less engagement
• If you want to generate *lots* of content on the fly to help make your content look a bit viral, this is a good strategy

Submission types

To simplify the process, we offer two options:

• Minimum guaranteed views: A “choose for me” option. You specify markets, views / price, and other requirements, and we'll connect your song with suitable influencers with a guarantee of minimum combined views.
• Let me choose: More involvement and a more time-consuming process. You browse through the influencer list, gaining control over your outreach as well as the end price. 
• Note we don't guarantee an exact view count with this option.

3. Using The Results

You’ve got people creating content. Now what? Here are a few routes we recommend taking:

Establish your identity

Some of the most successful acts are known just as much for their personality as for their music. Examples include Prince, Elton John, KISS, and, more recently, Diplo. You can use these videos as a way to bring out and showcase the personality of your act.

Leverage your existing audience

• Use your social media to re-share the content that influencers have been creating
• When your existing fanbase sees this content, they’ll:
• 1) congratulate you;
• 2) feel "validated" in their decision to follow you;
• 3) get a reminder of what you’re all about

Engage with each influencer

• If you’re happy with their content, let them know. They’ll want to work with you again in the future
• Leave original / engaging comments on their video
• Use your official account so that people know where to find you
• Try to do more than a simple "Thanks for the share!" Crack a joke, ask a question, drop some trivia - you want to get people responding, so make your comment stand out
• Create a reaction video to their video to magnify the effect

Build it into your EPK / press kit

"My last release had 250+ TikTok videos and 50 million views" can be very useful info for your EPK, especially when trying to get booked for a show, work with a label, and more.

Wait for it to go viral

Not much you can do here besides throw more fuel on the fire :)