You’re not alone, alot of people have this question, and there are many different opinions on whether or not Facebook ads work or not. With the plethora of marketing options available today, it’s crucial to pinpoint the avenues that will give you the most bang for your buck.
Do Facebook/Instagram Ads Work?
Yes, Facebook ads do work for musicians. The platform offers an unparalleled ability to reach a massive audience of potentially millions.
Facebook has billions of users. Your ability to tap into even a fraction of that user base gives you an opportunity to scale your music career like never before. You’re not just shouting into the void; you’re able to target and re-target people who are most likely to engage with your music. This is power, my friends.
Why You’re Looking At Ads Wrong
Here’s a paradigm shift for you: stop obsessing over streams. I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but when it comes to Facebook ads, you shouldn’t be too concerned about the number of streams you’re buying. What you DO care about is finding fans. True fans will do more than just stream your music once and move on. They’ll stream it multiple times, share it with their friends, buy your merchandise, and attend your concerts. One devoted fan could be worth hundreds, if not thousands, of streams. So your should be aiming for fans, and super fans, not streams.
Leveraging Audiences and the Magic of Facebook Targeting
Facebook’s ad targeting is a goldmine. You can narrow down your audience by demographics, interests, and behaviors. Imagine having an audience of one million people who genuinely appreciate your music. It’s like holding a sold-out live show every single time you release a new track. This is where you go from being just another musician to a recognized brand.
You can target by age, by country, you can target your local music scene, and you can target people who like similar artists to yourself. And you SHOULD be doing that.
Lookalike Audiences
Facebook’s Lookalike Audience feature takes this to the next level by allowing you to find more people similar to your existing fanbase. Already have a handful of committed fans? Great! Now let Facebook help you find more people who share the same characteristics as your current fans. It’s like having a digital talent scout working 24/7 on your behalf. Imagine finding 1 fan who bought 2 of your t-shirts and your limited edition vinyl releases, and you cloned them 1000 times. Facbook’s lookalike audiences do exactly that. They allow you to take fans of different engagement levels, like people who bought merch, or people who commented on your posts, and find more people similar to them.
“The Facebook Ads Don’t Work” Myth
Some people claim Facebook ads don’t work, but more often than not, the problem isn’t the platform—it’s the approach. Almost everytime I’ve seen this comment I’ve clicked through to listen to the person saying its music, and the truth is ….. the music was just bad, or it wasn’t mixed/mastered and didn’t sound competitive. That sounds brutal, but in this industry I’ve often found the loudest complainers are legitimately …. not good.
If your music doesn’t sound professionally produced, mixed, and mastered, or if your ad creatives are lackluster, if your songwriter just isn’t relevant and good, you won’t capture anyone’s attention. If this isn’t the case and you still don’t think ads work for you, maybe you’re targeting the wrong people or using the wrong part of the song or the wrong video to lure them in. The point is, make sure your music sounds competitive, your creatives are eye-catching, and you’re constantly testing to see what resonates with your audience.
Can You Make Money With Facebook Ads?
Now, let’s talk about ROI (Return on Investment). While you can’t directly earn money through Facebook ads—given the low streaming royalties—there’s a cascade effect. If your music starts gaining traction, it’s more likely to be included in algorithmic playlists like Spotify’s Discover Weekly.
Remember, the primary objective is not to gain streams, but to acquire fans. Over time, these fans may buy merchandise, concert tickets, and even limited edition items. And don’t discount the slow build. Even with spending $1 a day at a seemingly unimpressive rate of gaining two fans per dollar spent (A $0.50 per conversion rate), you could acquire a fanbase of over 700 people in a year. Multiply that by five years, and you’re looking at 3,600 fans. All you need is about 1,000 loyal fans willing to spend $100 annually on merch, or live shows to make a full-time living in music. It’s a no-brainer.
Now $0.50 per conversion is a little more on the high side of what you’d want your results to be, you really want to get your conversions under 20 cents for effective results, and that takes a lot of testing, a lot of optimizing, great targeting, and a great song/creative.
Leveraging the Algorithm
Last but not least, let’s talk about Spotify’s algorithm. Gaining enough traction on Spotify can land you on algorithmic playlists, meaning more streams and, by extension, more fans. Want to know a secret? Target countries more receptive to new music, like South America, Japan, and other parts of Asia. You can get your cost-per-stream down to mere cents. “But what about my local fans?” you might ask. Don’t worry! Even if your ad budget targets cheaper countries, your music on Discover Weekly will still reach a global audience, including your local fanbase.
So, do Facebook ads work for musicians? Absolutely. When leveraged correctly, they offer an effective and scalable way to not just gain streams, but more importantly, to acquire devoted fans. In the digital age, where everyone is vying for attention, Facebook ads provide a targeted approach to reach the right people with the right message. And in the world of music, that can make all the difference.
