How to use Facebook and Instagram advertisements to market your music
Music advertising has been popping up all over your social media feeds and posts, raising the question, “Do social media ads truly work?”
Yes, without a doubt! Promote your music, build an email list of admirers, sell concert tickets, and more as a musician using social advertising.
In this introductory tutorial, you will learn all you need to know about Facebook advertisements for musicians in order to create an efficient ad campaign for your music. What you’ll study in this training is about how to choose a campaign aim and target audience, as well as several budget possibilities. We’ll also go through an example Facebook ad campaign plan that you can implement for your own campaign.
Time to jump in!
Which social media platform is best for promoting music?
When it comes to paid social advertising, Facebook and Instagram are the two most popular platforms. Which one you choose is mainly dependent on where you already have a following and who your target audience is.
Users on each platform respond to a somewhat different kind of material.
To give your audience the narrative behind your music, you might employ lengthier videos or advertisements with extensive subtitles on Facebook.
When it comes to short-form material, Instagram is a terrific option.
In an ideal world, you’d try both and discover which one works best for you and your intended audience. You may discover that one platform is more suited to your needs than the other. Or, you may use a combination of the two.
It doesn’t matter which social media platform you choose to create sponsored advertising; the steps are the same for both. Facebook Ads Manager is used for this. In terms of paid advertising, your approach will be the same across both channels. We’ll go into more detail about Facebook Ads Manager and how to develop a solid ad strategy later on in this guide. Make use of the information provided on any of the many social media platforms.
Beyond the simple “Boost” or “Promote” buttons
As a musician, you’ve probably seen the opportunity to pay to increase the visibility of your postings on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Your article might’ve gotten a few more views or likes if you’ve tried it out yourself.
Starting off in social media advertising by boosting posts is an excellent strategy. You may use your ad money in a variety of ways. The “boost” button’s principal function is to increase the number of people who view your content. In the end, less than 10% of your followers really view your material.
A more thorough advertising plan is needed if you want to attract new, long-term followers. “Boosting” alone won’t help you attain this aim..
Ahead to launching an Instagram or Facebook marketing campaign
The first step in creating a successful paid advertising campaign is deciding whether or not you’re ready to spend in it. You’ll want to make sure you’ve got all you need to get started with effective sponsored ad campaigns before you get started.
You won’t get tens of thousands of new followers overnight by running paid advertisements. Your efforts in social media, marketing, and music will be bolstered by these services.
Start with these things before you begin promoting your music.
Have a strong social media presence, especially on the platform where you’ll be placing your advertisements.
2. If you want to build a fan base, you need to have a well-developed organic following, understand your target demographic, and know what value you can provide to your audience before asking them to follow you.
I know where I’m going. Anyone seeking directions should be able to find it. Even if you’re willing to spend money on advertising in order to get more followers, it doesn’t always mean you’ll gain more admirers. In addition, the social media site decides whether or not you have access to these individuals. Consider collecting their email or cell number instead, so you may continue the conversation outside of the site by sending emails or SMS messages. It’s also possible that you’ll want to approach customers for Spotify subscriptions or item purchases. Before launching any advertising campaigns, ensure sure your website, landing pages, and email nurturing tracks are all in place.
Awe-inspiring compositions have been created. In order to transform strangers into fans, you need to have a great music marketing plan and an ad budget full of thousands of dollars. If you’re just starting out, don’t put your faith on paid advertising to propel your career as a musician. Make an effort instead to establish an organic following and a strong basis. Then, you may employ paid advertising to increase your music’s visibility.
Organizing your music promotion to meet certain objectives and deadlines
You’ll also want to think about when to run your sponsored advertising as you get started. Despite the fact that now is a fantastic time to advertise on Instagram and Facebook, it isn’t the only time you should be doing so.
You’re not thinking large enough if your only aim is to increase the number of streams for your latest song. Your ultimate objective as an artist should be to build a following of die-hard fans who will listen to all of your music religiously and buy everything you have to offer. In other words, you should gradually build up your following over time.
Run adverts using previous music or other material, regardless of whether or not you have an imminent release. As a result, you’ll be able to fine-tune your approach, learn from your failures, and discover what works best for you and your target audience.
It’s easier when you’re ready to launch an ad campaign for your future release since these same individuals are already acquainted with you and eager to listen to your new song when you run the ad campaign. And you’ll have the know-how to ensure that your new release campaign is a success and delivers the highest return on your investment.
Setting up an ad campaign on Facebook
When creating Facebook or Instagram advertising campaigns, you must use the Facebook Business Suite to do it. The Ad Center and the Facebook Ads Manager are the two areas where you may achieve this. For our purposes, we’ll be looking at the latter, which is more thorough and allows you to adjust a greater number of factors.
To access the Ads Manager in Facebook Business Suite, click on More Tools on the left side panel and then Ads Manager.
Create your ad campaigns here. Your ad performance will also be shown here. We’ll go through a few of the actions you’ll need to do to create an ad in this section. Your ad alternatives and how to choose the ideal one for your music objectives will also be discussed.
Objectives of a Facebook campaign
Facebook relies on this information to determine how best to spend your advertising dollars. You’ll spend a lot of money for a single Spotify stream if you choose the incorrect target at the wrong time in your campaign.
Consciousness, consideration, and conversions are the three main goals of a Facebook campaign. Detailed descriptions of each aim may be found on this page.
Awareness
Your ad will be shown as many times as possible to the individuals in your target market in an effort to spread word about your music and get new fans.
Consideration
People who are likely to interact with your ad, view your video, click on a link, or even provide you their email address will be shown your ad on Facebook via Facebook’s algorithm.
Conversion
Those who are more inclined to take a more committed action, such as purchasing products from your website, will be shown your ad on Facebook.
Merchandise sales seem like a no-brainer, so why not utilize the Conversion target all the time? Ultimately, however, you want people who will purchase every t-shirt you ever release for the remainder of your musical career, not just the first one. It takes effort and careful planning to track down the right individuals.
As you narrow down your target demographic to those who are most likely to become fans, your overall approach should contain advertising that address each of the three campaign goals listed above. Not to worry, the strategy part of this post will walk you through the steps.
Targeting of Facebook’s users
Using Facebook Ads Manager, you may target your ad to a particular audience. In order to avoid wasting your ad money by presenting it to those who aren’t interested, this is critical. There are a few alternatives to choose from when establishing your audience:
While crafting your ad, find a new audience.
A basic alternative, this is ideal for the early stage of your advertising campaign, when you’re trying to entice those who haven’t heard of you before into your fold. As a result of this, you’ll be able to target certain groups of individuals depending on their demographics and interests.
Choosing “Tove Lo” as an interest when creating an ad is a good example of how you can target Tove Lo’s followers if your music has a similar vibe.
Customize the audience you see on Facebook
As your campaign progresses, you should consider focusing on a more specific audience. In this approach, you may retarget those who have previously shown an interest in your brand. Your postings, videos, or even your website may have attracted their attention. You can spend money with confidence knowing that your audience knows, likes, and responds positively to your ad since they already know you.
Facebook employs a piece of code called a pixel to keep track of visitors to your site. Install the pixel on your website and allow it to gather data on 20-30 occurrences before starting retargeting advertising (actions completed on your website). This will provide Facebook with information on the kind of individuals that visit your website and do certain activities. Therefore, Facebook might increase its reach by focusing on users who have shown an interest in your content.
Audiences that are similar to Facebook’s user base
Lookalike audiences may be created by Facebook when you identify a bespoke audience of individuals who have previously engaged with you in some fashion. In this new audience, you’ll find a whole new group of individuals who are likely to love your brand and music because they have similar demographics, hobbies, or past behaviors.
For those who have never heard of your music, you may advertise your music to a “cold” audience by generating a “lookalike audience.”
Avoid leaving out the audience.
Your ad’s audience has to be carefully considered, but that’s not enough; you also need to consider who should not see it.
Let’s say you’re creating an ad to solicit pre-orders for a new song you’re releasing soon. The last thing you need is for Facebook to display it to someone who has already saved it. That person’s experience will be ruined, and your ad money will be wasted, if you urge them to perform something that they’ve previously done.
The best way to prevent this is to set up a bespoke audience that only includes the individuals you don’t want to see your ad in.
Advertising budget and timeline are the third considerations.
How much does it cost to advertise on Facebook? That’s the burning question on your mind. In a nutshell, it will cost whatever you decide to spend. Long answer: it depends on a variety of variables including your selection of ad settings.
Given that this is an introduction to Facebook advertising, let’s assume the following before we go too far into it.
An auction is your preferred method of purchasing rather than Reach and Frequency. Find out more about the differences here.
When bidding in the auction, you’ll be utilizing automated bidding instead of manual. Once you’ve mastered the art of putting up sponsored adverts, you may experiment with various bidding tactics.
Ads from different advertisers will compete for the attention of the same audience if these two default options are left unchecked. People will see the commercial that wins since it will be shown in front of them.
It’s not only how much you bid that determines how likely it is that your ad will win, as it is in a traditional auction. Facebook also considers:
your ad’s performance
whether or if the ad is targeted at the right demographic
your audience’s responsiveness and the likelihood that they’ll take action
For this reason, optimizing your ad to the fullest extent feasible will ensure that your ad is displayed to as many people as possible at the lowest possible cost (more on this in the next section).
Whatever the situation may be, Facebook will never go above the spending limit you specify. There are two types of budgets available in Facebook Ads Manager: a Daily Budget and a Lifetime Budget (how much to spend over the course of the ad set). A daily budget is convenient for many individuals, but it means Facebook will spend precisely what you’ve designated, even if it would have been better for your business to spend more or less. If you choose a lifetime budget, Facebook will automatically alter the amount of money spent each day to maximize your ad’s effectiveness.
You may discover that you must spend a certain amount of money each day or for the rest of your life. Your campaign’s goal, optimization parameters, currency, and timeline will all influence this amount. Increase or decrease your projected daily results by fiddling with this value to see what effect it has on you.
The duration of your ad’s run should also be taken into account. Ads may be stopped at any time with a daily budget since specifying an end date is optional. An end date must be established for every lifetime budget.
A lot will rely on your campaign’s goals, target audience, and overall strategy on how long your ad should run. Your ad should run long enough at the beginning of your campaign, for example to warm up a huge, frigid audience for the second stage. Ads must be seen by enough individuals so that you can subsequently retarget them by sending them another ad.
However, if you’re at a later stage of your campaign, when your audience is much smaller and more focused, you definitely don’t need to run the ad for too long. The problem is that if you set the timetable for too long, Facebook will start displaying your ad to the same individuals over and over again. Keep an eye on the frequency measure while your ad is running. Even if someone sees your ad twice or three times, it will have a negative influence on your ad’s performance if they have to watch it more than four times.
Lastly, Facebook provides a feature called Campaign Budget Optimization. Ads that are part of the same campaign may have a budget specified for the campaign as a whole, and Facebook will determine how to split that money among them. Real-time analysis and allocation of funding may be used for a variety of purposes, such as testing the same ad with two distinct audiences and seeing which one performs better.
It’s important to ensure that your ad content and placement are optimized.
When your ad’s content is optimized, you not only get better results but also spend less money. What should be taken into account first and foremost is:
Types of Locations
In addition to the usual suspects like Facebook newsfeeds, Instagram feeds and Instagram stories, there are a plethora of other sites where your advertising might be viewed by your target audience. You may even use the Audience Network to insert advertising inside certain of Facebook’s app partners’ applications.
In order to get your ad in front of your target audience, you may choose for Automatic Placements, where Facebook will select the optimal locations for your ad to be shown.
Instead, you may pick Manual Placements and specify exactly where you want your ad to be shown in various locations. Using this method, you can only promote on Facebook or Instagram. If you already know where to find your target audience, you may also use this option.