How to promote Spotify with Facebook Ads
Learn how to use Facebook (Meta) ads to drive Spotify streams with a proven funnel that includes smart link landing pages, pixel tracking, and testing multiple audiences and creatives for better conversion rates.
By Andrew Southworth
Hey musicfam!
Today we’re going to talk about how to promote Spotify with Facebook ads (aka Meta ads).
Somehow i’ve never done a newsletter post on this, despite the fact I have likely over 100 videos related to this topic. I’ve generated over 10 million Spotify streams across my own catalog with this method and over 150 million Spotify streams on clients music.
This newsletter is also available as a podcast, listen on your favorite podcast platform here.
Today’s newsletter is very visual, so instead the podcast version focuses on additional targeting strategies and ad creative techniques. If you usually only read or only listen to the podcast, this week you’ll want to check out both!
Overview Of Process
The way this works is we run ads through the Meta ad platform, which includes Instagram and/or Facebook placements. We set up our ad in the following way:
Optimized for conversions
We use a smart link landing page with a pixel installed
Testing multiple audiences
Testing multiple ads
Don’t worry i’m going to get into more details later.
When we run the ad the following funnel happens:
People see the ad
X people click on the ad
X people land on our landing page
X people ‘convert’ through our landing page
X people listen to our song
X people save the song or add it to playlists
X people follow our artist profile
At each stage of the funnel we have loss, and that is okay. In a nutshell the more effective your ad is at maintaining a high percentage of people through each of these stages, the better it will perform.
Smart Link
Some people try to be clever by skipping the landing page, but most of the time this results in failure. You want that extra step in there to filter out bots, click farms and listeners of low intent.
Here’s what the smart link can look like:
Often for beginners i’ll tell them to just put Spotify and Apple Music, or just Spotify. Make sure your pixel is installed on the page as well, and you have the custom conversion event configured properly.
If you’re looking for smart link services, my two favorite platforms are Hypeddit and FeatureFM. Hypeddit is much more affordable though.
Campaign Setup
The first thing you have to do in Facebook ads (Meta ads) is create your campaign, where you choose your campaign objective. Here we want Engagement.
Next you’ll want to turn on campaign budget and specify a budget.
Flipping into the ad set level the first thing you’re met with is the conversion location. Here we want Website. Then you can choose your Facebook Pixel and conversion event.
Now we get into the fun bit, choosing your audiences. Choose the countries you want to target, your age range and detailed targeting metrics.
If you want to know exactly what countries and placements I use, along with how I figure out my audiences, optimize these campaigns and a whole lot more, check out my course Spotify Growth Machine.
Now for Placements choose manual placements, and if you’re new to this I would just choose these:
Instagram Feed
Instagram Explore
Instagram Stories
Instagram Reels
For your ads I recommend using at least 3 different videos. Here is an example of one for an instrumental artist. He uses clips from nature that match the tone of his song.
For this person’s campaign we actually have 5 ad creatives.
This other person has 6 ads.
Here is an example of a campaign that had 6 ad sets. In the image below you can see the varying cost per conversion for each of the audiences I tried. Some as high as $0.49 and others as low as $0.26.
Both the ads and the audiences can make a massive difference, so be sure to try multiples of both!
New Content
In this video I show a crazy case study where my ad agency Forbid Media generated over 12 million streams on Spotify in 6 months.
In this video I show 2 new changes to Facebook ads manager that can ruin your campaigns if used improperly.
Did you know you can listen to my music industry interviews on podcast platforms? Click here to listen to the Modern Music Marketing podcast.
News
Here are some music industry news highlights from the past week.
Amazon is shutting down its radio app Amp, less than 20 months after it launched
Songtradr promises fair and equitable outcome for Bandcamp employees (it acquired Bandcamp recently)
Taylor Swift concert film hits $100M in global ticket presales
Live Nation-backed Veeps launched a video streaming subscription service for live concerts (the Netflix of live music?)
Quote of the Week
Every artist was first an amateur.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
My courses. Spotify Growth Machine teaches you how to use Facebook ads to promote your music on Spotify. YouTube Growth Machine teaches you how to grow a YouTube channel organically and how to use YouTube ads. Fan Growth Machine teaches you how to build a website, online store and grow your email list.
My ad agency. Forbid Media specializes in running Facebook conversion ads to promote your music on Spotify.
Website / Store / Funnels. MusicFunnels is the best all-in-one platform for music artists to make a website, online store, sales funnels and build their mailing list.
1-on-1 consulting. You can book 1-hour calls with myself or Alex Bochel here.
My Links:
🌍 MusicFunnels - Best website / store / funnels for music artists (get your 14-day FREE trial!)
🧑💻 Consultations
🎬 Get 15% off Melodist music distribution with code ANDREW15 here
Discount / Affiliate Links:
►► FeatureFM - use code ASOUTH30 for 30% off for any annual plan!
►► Get 5% off Moonstrive Media campaigns with coupon code "ANDREWSOUTHWORTH" here
If you’d rather just purchase the e-book, or physical book or audiobook you can do so here.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of Music Marketing Monday! Please give your feedback using the poll below.
In case you’re curious what platform i’m using to run this newsletter, it’s called beehiiv.
Turn Meta ads into real streaming growth
Learn the campaign structure Andrew uses to promote songs without guessing at every step.