Music ads on social media are becoming more and more common. In the last week you’ve probably stumbled across a single release, a music video presentation or a clip from a performance. You may even have discovered an artist you didn’t know about and now follow, visited a website or bought merchandise. But have you ever considered that you and your music could be the protagonists of these advertisements? Whether the answer is yes or no, you need to read on to find out why you should and how you can do it.
Why music ads on social media are a good option.
We’re going to tell you a fact that you may not be aware of. It is estimated that the percentage of your followers who see your content posted on social media is around 10%. Or in other words, more than 90% of the people who like what you do are not aware of what you are doing. This explains the mismatch between the number of followers of a profile and the number of interactions on posts. A rather Kafkaesque situation, and yet terribly common.
To find out why this happens we would have to delve deeper into how the algorithms of each of the social networks work. Something that is beyond the scope of this blog. What we can do is explain how you can solve it. And the solution to the lack of visibility within social networks is provided by the social networks themselves: music ads.
Promoting your music, in the format and form that you choose, allows you to increase the percentage of followers who follow you and see your content. Not only that, but it also gives you the opportunity to access a whole new audience with the potential of becoming fans.
How you can use music ads on social networks.
1º You must have a presence on social networks.
We don’t just mean that you must have a profile on the social network where you want to advertise, but it is essential that you have an appropriate number of organic followers. A quality profile, both in terms of followers and content, is vital for ad creation. On the one hand, it gives you a solid base from which to grow, and on the other hand, it allows you to know where your audience is, what content they like and what you can offer them.
2º You must set a specific objective for the campaign.
The more specific and detailed it is, the better. We are talking about setting specific numbers and deadlines. And most importantly, make it a realistic goal. Music ads on social media are an excellent resource but they are not the goose that lays the golden egg. Caution will save you a lot of heartache, especially when it comes to budget.
Don’t know what goal to set? Ask yourself what you want to achieve and prioritise. The ad tools themselves give you three options:
–Awareness: your goal is to reach as many people as possible within your target audience.
–Interest: your goal is to get as many people as possible to interact with your ad.
–Conversion: your goal is to get as many people as possible to engage with your music: buying tickets, merchandising, subscriptions…
3º You must segment the audience according to your objective.
When we talk about segmenting, we mean selecting those profiles you want to target with your ad.
-Known audience: people who already know you and like what you do. How do you know who they are? Select those who have interacted with you in the past.
-New audience: people who have never heard of you. Use filters such as location, demographics, behaviour and interests to select profiles that could potentially like your music.
Important: just as you can choose who sees your ad, you can choose who does not. This step should not be overlooked because it will prevent you from repeatedly targeting an already engaged audience. If someone regularly interacts with your music, they don’t need ads. In fact, if they don’t stop watching your ad, they may end up getting bored.
4º You must create a suitable ad.
Once the target and the audience have been set, it is time to create the ad. It must be quality content that is attractive to the audience. At the same time, it must be adaptable to the social network and the format you have selected. On Facebook, for example, videos tend to be longer than on Instagram. And on Instagram, the format of stories is not the same as that of posts. This is where you can select the specific places where you want your ad to appear: dashboard, news feed, stories, within apps… and if your ad includes a call to action that directs you to another landing page, make sure it’s set up correctly. Don’t worry about this information overload, because tools like Facebook Ads Manager and Instagram Ads Manager guide you through the whole process.
Typically, especially the first few times, you will have to play around with various options and see which one works best. In fact, Facebook has incorporated A/B Testing for this purpose. Through this tool you create two versions of the same ad that only differ in one aspect and analyse the performance. Based on the results you can modify these variables.
5º You must establish a budget.
The first thing to choose is whether to opt for a daily budget or a total budget. In the latter option, the daily budget may vary but it will never exceed the total amount. The cost is per thousand impressions (CPM) or per click (CPC).
You should keep in mind that Facebook and Instagram ads work by auction and not reach or frequency. It is an automatic bidding system with other ads that want to target the same audience. The winner is based on price but also on the quality of the ad, the relevance of the ad to the selected audience and the likelihood that the audience will respond and interact.
Important: If you have created multiple ads that are part of the same campaign, you can create a common budget. Facebook will decide how to allocate the funds between the different ads based on the performance of each ad.
6º You must analyse the results of music ads on social networks.
You should bear in mind that the first few days after the publication of the advert are a learning period. The algorithm of each social network takes some time to reach the optimisation of the ads. Therefore, do not do the analysis too soon, leave a margin of time.
After this period, analyse the metrics in detail, track performance and make any adjustments you think are appropriate. In short, apply trial and error and see what works best for you.
Pic ©mikemacmarketing
