When it comes to social network sites, Facebook is still the King. With 2.23 billion active monthly users around the globe, there is no bigger audience when it comes to social media. For this reason alone, artists need to have a strong presence on the platform.
Like any social media platform, you will have an organic presence and that's a great place to start. That said, utilizing sponsored posts will help you reach a much greater audience in a far quicker fashion.
You may be familiar with the series that we are currently running. So far, we have discussed how to create successful sponsored posts on Instagram and Twitter. Today, we are focusing on Facebook and we will give you the tools to create and start a successful sponsored ads program.
Let's start at the beginning and set you up for success.
Why Facebook Sponsored Posts Matter for Independent Artists
As we mentioned earlier, Facebook's audience alone, gives you more potential than any other platform. As an artist, the number one thing you are looking for in the beginning is exposure, and Facebook is a wealth of opportunity in that regard.
As we look at sponsored posts, or goal is to build a program that is efficient (spending your ad dollars wisely) and that yields results. For marketer beginners, the term for this is Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).
So, what specifically makes Facebook Ads a worthy investment?
We mentioned the massive monthly audience before, but try this one on for size. According to a May 2020 Facebook Stats report from Sprout Social, Facebook has 1.62 billion users visit each day. That's a lot of eye balls and ears to get your music in front of.
The exposure is great, but the numbers pain an even more enticing picture. In that same report, they found that impressions increased on Facebook by 37% in 2019 while boasting a low $1.72 average cost per click across all industries. Turning back to ROAS, this sets you up for an opportunity to make a more than worth while return.
Tying this all together, the daily and monthly audience on Facebook is worth the price of admission. While more and more artists flock to compete on Facebook ads, the impression growth and low cost per click (CPC) tell a story of a strong chance to see a big return on your ad spend.
The opportunity is there, but recognizing an opportunity and seizing one are not the same thing. Now that we understand why you should be advertising on Facebook, let's turn our attention to how to build a successful program that will boost your Career.
Getting Started with Facebook Ads
Getting exposure is not the only concern while planning out your Facebook Ads strategy. Getting your music in front of the right audience may very well determine the success of your Facebook ad strategy.
Luckily, Facebook give you plenty of targeting options to set up your strategy.
Facebook Targeting Options
The first way that Facebook allows you to set up targeting is through their audience options. There are three types of audiences.
- Core Audiences - You can build an audience based on dimensions such as age, interests, and geography.
- Custom Audiences - This is the type of audience where you can target people who have interacted with your business.
- Lookalike Audiences - This will help reach new potential fans by targeting people who share interests with those of your current listeners.
With these audiences you have the ability to target people in so many different ways you can truly position your brand and music in front of the people you most want to hear it. These dimensions include:
- Location
- Demographics
- Interests
- Behavior
- Connections
- Contact Lists
- Site Visitors
- App Users
- And then similar audiences to people who share these characteristics
As you can imagine, there is a lot that can go into each of these, but for a more thorough breakdown of that, you can visit this Facebook Ads resource page.
Facebook Ad Types
Like all platforms, there are many different types of ads that will help you achieve your goals. Facebook provides you with 8 different ad types which we have broken down briefly, below.
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Photo Ads - As they sound, these are picture ads. The ad is featured image with short to the point copy.
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Video Ads - These ads allow you to tell your story in the most visual way possible, with video.
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Stories Ads - These ads allow you the opportunity to take up a full screen by placing your ads within the stories section of Facebook.
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Messenger Ads - Messenger ads are located on Facebook messenger and let you interact directly with your customers.
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Carousel Ads - If one picture or video isn't enough, this ad type lets you display up to ten each.
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Slideshow Ads - These ads combine motion, sound, and text, and they bring life to your ads.
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Collection Ads - These ads are perfect for products as they let you browse and look around at products.
- Playable Ads - These ads are to demo apps to potential new users.
Okay, so not all of these ad types will make sense for musicians, but by understanding the different types you can decide which make the most sense. As a musician, anything with audio, video, and images will help you attract new listeners. Combine that with your targeting, and you will reach the correct new audience that you have been searching for.
Ready to Launch
Creating ads is a process and one that takes time. As an artist, you should be constantly be thinking of who your audience is, what will draw new listeners in, and what is your strategy to achieve this.
With Facebook ads, you won't just be sending out ads to random users and hoping they turn into fans. You will strategically aim your ads at the right people and thus grow your audience.
Navigating this process can be tricky, so reach out to us and see how our Free DNA Tool Kit can help you.
