Being a professional music artist means investing your money into your own brand. You may have already dumped hundreds or thousands of dollars into instruments, speakers, mics, DAW programs, PA systems, and any other equipment making your music requires. But, assuming you’re not making it solely for personal enjoyment, once you make your music, you want people to hear it. Making music is the fun part. Getting heard is harder. Paid ads for music artists can put your music in front of the right people and attract new fans.
While there is no magic wand to command the attention you want, some practical tools can help you build the audience you deserve. For example, creating and publishing paid ads can be an efficient and inexpensive part of an effective music marketing strategy—even on a limited budget. Read on to learn how to use paid ads for music artists to promote your brand and gain recognition.
Facebook Ads
Facebook is pretty old school, and most younger musicians could care less about posting on FB. But don’t overlook Facebook’s utility as a music marketing tool. Facebook’s Ads creator is handy for finding or creating your target audience. Narrow your audience to find the listeners who really want to hear your music and weed out those who don’t. Use sliders to adjust demographics like age, interests, location, income, profession, genre, similar artists, and more.
Plus, since Facebook now owns Instagram, artists can use Facebook’s Ads creator to design and publish paid ads on Facebook + Instagram or just Insta. And Instagram remains one of social media’s top platforms for musicians and artists to date. If you want to learn more ways Instagram can help you get noticed, click here.
How To Use Paid Ads For Music Artists
You could end up blowing a lot of cash for no results on Facebook and Instagram if you do it the wrong way. Fortunately, $5 or $10 could positively impact your audience reach when used properly. Use the demographic tools to narrow your audience as much as possible at first. Going super-niche means you’ll only be spending money to reach people who actually care about your music. Then, focus on one of the following strategies:
- Promote your artist website, YouTube channel, or SoundCloud page
- Promote a single song or an album
- Link to a post or video on your TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, or other social media channel
- Promote a playlist
- Link to a press release or music blog describing upcoming projects or performances
Spending $10 per day for five days could quickly get your music in front of up to 5,000 people for around $50.
Google AdWords
Google AdWords can be a great addition to social media campaigns or can be effective as a standalone promotional tool. Since Google now owns YouTube, Google AdWords is handy for pairing with video promotions or behind-the-scenes audience engagement vlogs. For example, paid ads for music artists on YouTube let you choose where your video ads appear, or you can let YouTube decide when, where, and to whom the ads will appear. In addition, you can use YouTube video ads to direct people to a particular video, your YouTube channel, or your artist’s website.
You’ll have to create an account if you don’t have one already. But then Google makes it easy to create and post your paid ads with a helpful creation wizard that helps artists customize ads for target audiences. Google and YouTube Ads run on a pay-per-click (PPC) format, which means you’ll only pay when people click on your ad. You can adjust your daily budget to get your desired results. So if an ad is really working well, it makes sense to put more money into it. But, if you do not see any momentum, replace the ad or adjust its target. You should be able to get around 1,000 impressions per day while spending less than $100 in ten days or $50 in five.
Conclusion
Before you run any ads, always make sure your music and graphic content are up to par. There will be more eyes on your work and your brand when you actively engage people and direct them to your content. So, double-check brand consistency across all platforms, and ensure your music is polished and professional and your content is up-to-date. Quality matters more than quantity, so don’t be afraid to take down anything outdated or less than pro.
You’re the star of your own show. So make sure you’re prepared when the spotlight shines on you. Visit our Marketing Page to explore options for promoting your music with paid ads.
