Harness The Power Of Targeted Facebook Ads, Grow Your Fanbase

In this piece we break down the details of how to implement targeted Facebook ads, starting with what they are, how they work, and finally how they can built and launched in order to reach potential future fans.

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Guest post by Gavin Whitner from Indie on the Move

Gavin Whitner ius an F1-loving guitarist of an alt-rock band. He’s also a songwriter and composer. In his free time, Gavin blogs about musical instruments and music in general at Music Oomph.

"As a musician, whether you’re a solo artist or in a band, building your fanbase is one of the toughest jobs there is. Of course, you can tell your friends and your family, share your tracks on platforms like YouTube, Soundcloud and Spotify, but, as you’ll know, this is a slow process.

In today’s world, if you’re looking to build your fanbase to huge numbers, you're going to have to be proactive in your marketing. While performing and selling merch at your gigs is one way of getting your name out there, there is an all-powerful tool that is renowned for being the best way to introduce yourself to new fans − social media.

The chances are that you’ll already have social media accounts set up for your music page, but once again, this is a slow process when you’re trying to build your audience. However, many of these social media platforms have a selection of tools you can use to boost your pages even further into the public eye.

Today, we’re going to zero in on Facebook and its targeted ads feature. This is a very powerful feature that, when used in the right way, can get your music and social pages, including your website, in front of the people that are most likely to listen to you.

But how can you do this successfully? After all, you want to make the most of the limited budget that you have. Below, we’re going to explore everything you need to know.

What is a Targeted Facebook Ad?

When you’re using Facebook, you’ve more than likely seen ads on your News Feed and timeline. What many people don’t realize is that Facebook hosts a selection of powerful tools and data-oriented services that allow you to pinpoint exactly who sees your advertisements.

As with all advertisements, you’re going to need to pay per group of people who your ads are served to. But, using the tools available to you, you’ll be able to control exactly who sees your ads, maximizing the opportunities you have to get yourself or your band in front of the people who are most likely to listen to you.

Ultimately, this will result in a rapidly expanding fanbase where you can grow and grow, perhaps even going viral if you’re capable of producing the right content.

How Does a Targeted Facebook Ad Work?

When you’re starting the process of creating your own Facebook Ad, you’ll have the ability to choose exactly who sees your ad based on a demographic, or group of demographics, that you choose.

For example, if you’re a band who creates classical music, you’ll be able to only show your ad to people who have purposefully added the information (either directly or via other hints or indications) that they like classical music, to their profile. Does your band sound like the Chemical Brothers? Again, you can market to only people who have the Chemical Brothers in their Likes.

There is a full range of demographic data for you to use. Some of the most important ones that you’ll be thinking of include:

• Age
• Gender
• Job/Career
• Geographical Location
• Likes
• Music preferences
• Language
• Personal interests

By learning how to use these demographics collectively, you’ll be able to laser-target your ads with pinpoint precision based on their musical interests (for example, jazz, fingerstyle, rap, EDM and almost everything else). This will allow you to reach the people who are most likely to listen to your music, enabling you to maximize your opportunities to grow your fanbase.

How Can I Set Up a Targeted Facebook Ad?

Luckily, Facebook has made the entire Ad creation process as simple as possible. Below, you’ll find a step by step guide on how to create your own Targeted Facebook Ad.

Step #1

Sign into your Facebook account, or your music profile/page, and scroll down the menu on the left-hand side. At the bottom, you’ll see the ‘Create’ tab, with the ‘Ad’ option listed underneath. Or, you can simply click here.

Step #2

You’ll find yourself on your ‘Ads Manager’ page. On the first page, you’ll be able to select what kind of advertisement you want to create. You might be looking for post engagement, such as sharing a post with your latest album or track release.

You might be trying to lead traffic to your artist’s website or raise the number of views on your music video. Whatever it is you’re trying to achieve, you can select this on the front page of your Ads Manager.

Once you’ve selected an option, you’ll also have the ability to name your campaign, so you can easily identify it and track how well it’s performing.

Step #3

Once you’ve confirmed the name of your campaign, you’ll be taken to the ‘Ad Set’ page. This is where you’ll be able to manage the targeting process of your advertisement. Once you scroll down to the third section, you’ll see the ‘Audience’ tab. It’s here you’ll be able to control who sees your advertisement.

You can select the location where people will see your ad, the ages of your target audience, their gender, and the languages they speak. You can then scroll down to go further into the details of your ad.

Here you can select the interests of your target audience, such as the demographics, the interests and even the behaviors of who you want. This is where you can input the genre of your music, related bands or the subject of your music. Once you’ve saved these settings, you’ll be able to use this audience profile again on any future ads you run.

Step #4

Once you’ve input your audience, you can set your budget and how much you’re willing to spend, as well as estimates of how many people will see your ad. The more you spend, the more people will see your ad. Though, it’s always a good idea to spend a small amount at first to see your ad is doing well, before you decide it’s worth spending more money on the ad.

Once you’re happy with all the settings, hit the ‘Continue’ button to then customize the layout and design of your advertisement from the templates, as well as adding personalized images and media content.

When you’ve added all your media, click the confirm button and Facebook will check your ad to see whether to run it. Once it’s been confirmed (usually in less than 10-15 minutes), your ad will be live for all to see!

Over to You!

Facebook has made it effortless for you as a solo artist or as a band to create a high-quality, targeted Facebook ad in just four easy steps. Once you’ve learned these basics, you’ll be able to customize your settings to receive the maximum amount of feedback.

Over time, and as you master your skills on using this tool, you’ll be able to reach a much larger, much more specific audience, that will become your fanbase, allowing you to take yourself to a new level of musical success."