We’ve done plenty of articles on how to craft the perfect pitch, DIY your PR campaign, and land a feature. But what about when you finally do land that interview—how do you give answers that are going to spark new interest in your band, and engage readers so that they actually want to check out your music?
Show your personality
Just like with social media, you want to use an interview as an opportunity to really showcase who you are. The more vulnerable, real, and honest you are with your audience about who you are, the more they’ll connect with you. The more they connect, the more likely they are to seek you out past the interview to follow you, support you, and become your fans. Keep this idea of connection in mind throughout the article—you’ll see it pop up a lot.
Quick take away: don’t be boring. It can be easy to get rigid with interviews and act like a robot when you’re answering questions, but this is a perfect opportunity to open up a bit and your answers should reflect that in length, style, and voice. Plus, the better you get at weaving interviews with your personality, the less it will matter how good, bad, creative, or lackluster the interview questions themselves are—you’ll be able to give fantastic answers and work your magic anywhere.
Get candid
This means getting real with the interviewer/the audience about the experiences, moments, and anecdotes that have shaped you/the record you’re promoting/the tour you’re on/etc.
Sharing stories and letting people into your world so that they too know the seemingly insignificant details of what went into making things the way they are, helps them to feel like they know you better.
Think of the stories that may seem silly or meaningless to you, and then try to examine them from an outside perspective. Is it something your friends or family would find interesting? If the answer is yes, odds are your fans will get a kick out of it as well.
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Offer a glimpse into your future
Within every interview you should be giving fans a peek into what’s to come. If you have any new singles, videos, albums, merch, tour dates, whatever it is, you should be mentioning it at some point in the interview, so that fans new and old have an idea of what to expect (and know you aren’t a one-hit-wonder.) It not only gives them something to look forward to, but it shows that you’re an active band that takes their career seriously, and always has something up their sleeves. Impressive for fans and industry alike.
Say thank you
I know this should go without saying but…it has to be said. Usually there’s a spot at the end of the interview to share “anything else you’d like to add” and that’s your opportunity to thank the blog publically for taking the time to interview you. This isn’t really optional in my book, because it’s common courtesy, and from a PR angle, it looks good to all involved for you to be grateful.
Share, share, share
When the interview (or any feature) goes live, remember to always share—often. Post about it, Tweet it, Instagram it, share that baby everywhere you can to show your gratitude, and remember to tag the outlet in every post.
Don’t be afraid to mix it up with your copy when you post. It’s ok to deviate from the standard “hey, check out this interview we did” and instead post the article with a caption that’s an interesting quote from the interview, or that thanks the outlet, or anything else that reverts back to #1 and shows your personality.
Angela Mastrogiacomo is the founder and CEO of Muddy Paw PR and Infectious Magazine, as well as a PR coach. She loves baked goods, a good book, and hanging with her dog Sawyer.
