Music marketing in 2023 is all about data.
The better we understand our data, the better we can improve our efforts and achieve more significant results.
But not all data is equally important.
Whether you’re running ads or testing an alternative marketing strategy, it’s important to pay attention to the metrics that truly matter.
Impressions
I hear many artists talk about impressions, views, and reach, especially when it comes to marketing efforts outside of ads.
Things like, “Oh, this influencer campaign got 50,000 views for my video” or “I reached 25,000 people with my recent ad campaign”.
Reaching more people is great, but getting the word out is not the same as getting people to listen to your music, join your email list, or buy your merch.
Impressions aren’t a bad thing, they’re just not the only thing.
Reaching an audience is just the tip of the iceberg.
So if you’re looking for help marketing your music or building your fanbase and someone promises impressions or views, take note.
They’re either optimizing for the wrong metric or potentially misdirecting your attention to an outcome that doesn’t necessarily move the needle.
Cost per result
Cost per result with ads is the big one. We all focus on it.
I know I do.
But seeing a good (or bad) cost per result on Facebook does not tell the whole story.
How big is the fanbase for your genre? How many impressions did your ad get? What was the reach?
These are all factors that affect our cost per result for our ads.
And, most importantly, did those results translate over to Spotify? Our email list? Merch sales?
Let me give you an example.
If I spend $10 per day on ads and get 10 new followers on Spotify, that’s $1 per new follower.
In top-tier countries, that’s a fantastic result.
If I serve up 10,000 impressions for that campaign and get 100 results, that’s a CPM of $1 and a CPR of $0.10.
Great numbers.
If I run the same campaign and only serve up 1,000 impressions and get 10 results, that’s a CPM of $10 and a CPR of $1.
Not great.
However, in both cases, I got 10 new followers on Spotify at a cost of $1 per new follower, regardless of the CPM or CPR.
The end result is the same despite the vast difference in metrics on Facebook.
In the first case, I might be targeting pop music, which has a larger affinity (over 1B) and allows me to serve up more impressions for my budget.
In the second instance, I might be targeting deep house, which has a much smaller pool of interest (less than 20M) and will likely serve up fewer impressions for the same ad spend.
Context matters.
The end result
The metrics that truly matter are at the end of the pipeline.
If you’re sending traffic to your Spotify profile for a growth campaign, new followers are the most important thing to track.
If you’re trying to grow a playlist, it’s new playlist followers.
And if you’re pushing a new release, streams are what you’re looking for.
No matter the goal, it’s easy to get caught up in the interim numbers that don’t matter nearly as much, and I write this just as much to myself as I do to you.
Don’t get caught up in the middle.
Pay attention to the single biggest KPI in your funnel and let the rest of the numbers take care of themselves.
Music marketing in 2023 is all about data.
The better we understand our data, the better we can improve our efforts and achieve more significant results.
But not all data is equally important.
Whether you’re running ads or testing an alternative marketing strategy, it’s important to pay attention to the metrics that truly matter.
Impressions
I hear many artists talk about impressions, views, and reach, especially when it comes to marketing efforts outside of ads.
Things like, “Oh, this influencer campaign got 50,000 views for my video” or “I reached 25,000 people with my recent ad campaign”.
Reaching more people is great, but getting the word out is not the same as getting people to listen to your music, join your email list, or buy your merch.
Impressions aren’t a bad thing, they’re just not the only thing.
Reaching an audience is just the tip of the iceberg.
So if you’re looking for help marketing your music or building your fanbase and someone promises impressions or views, take note.
They’re either optimizing for the wrong metric or potentially misdirecting your attention to an outcome that doesn’t necessarily move the needle.
Cost per result
Cost per result with ads is the big one. We all focus on it.
I know I do.
But seeing a good (or bad) cost per result on Facebook does not tell the whole story.
How big is the fanbase for your genre? How many impressions did your ad get? What was the reach?
These are all factors that affect our cost per result for our ads.
And, most importantly, did those results translate over to Spotify? Our email list? Merch sales?
Let me give you an example.
If I spend $10 per day on ads and get 10 new followers on Spotify, that’s $1 per new follower.
In top-tier countries, that’s a fantastic result.
If I serve up 10,000 impressions for that campaign and get 100 results, that’s a CPM of $1 and a CPR of $0.10.
Great numbers.
If I run the same campaign and only serve up 1,000 impressions and get 10 results, that’s a CPM of $10 and a CPR of $1.
Not great.
However, in both cases, I got 10 new followers on Spotify at a cost of $1 per new follower, regardless of the CPM or CPR.
The end result is the same despite the vast difference in metrics on Facebook.
In the first case, I might be targeting pop music, which has a larger affinity (over 1B) and allows me to serve up more impressions for my budget.
In the second instance, I might be targeting deep house, which has a much smaller pool of interest (less than 20M) and will likely serve up fewer impressions for the same ad spend.
Context matters.
The end result
The metrics that truly matter are at the end of the pipeline.
If you’re sending traffic to your Spotify profile for a growth campaign, new followers are the most important thing to track.
If you’re trying to grow a playlist, it’s new playlist followers.
And if you’re pushing a new release, streams are what you’re looking for.
No matter the goal, it’s easy to get caught up in the interim numbers that don’t matter nearly as much, and I write this just as much to myself as I do to you.
Don’t get caught up in the middle.
Pay attention to the single biggest KPI in your funnel and let the rest of the numbers take care of themselves.
Music marketing in 2023 is all about data.
The better we understand our data, the better we can improve our efforts and achieve more significant results.
But not all data is equally important.
Whether you’re running ads or testing an alternative marketing strategy, it’s important to pay attention to the metrics that truly matter.
Impressions
I hear many artists talk about impressions, views, and reach, especially when it comes to marketing efforts outside of ads.
Things like, “Oh, this influencer campaign got 50,000 views for my video” or “I reached 25,000 people with my recent ad campaign”.
Reaching more people is great, but getting the word out is not the same as getting people to listen to your music, join your email list, or buy your merch.
Impressions aren’t a bad thing, they’re just not the only thing.
Reaching an audience is just the tip of the iceberg.
So if you’re looking for help marketing your music or building your fanbase and someone promises impressions or views, take note.
They’re either optimizing for the wrong metric or potentially misdirecting your attention to an outcome that doesn’t necessarily move the needle.
Cost per result
Cost per result with ads is the big one. We all focus on it.
I know I do.
But seeing a good (or bad) cost per result on Facebook does not tell the whole story.
How big is the fanbase for your genre? How many impressions did your ad get? What was the reach?
These are all factors that affect our cost per result for our ads.
And, most importantly, did those results translate over to Spotify? Our email list? Merch sales?
Let me give you an example.
If I spend $10 per day on ads and get 10 new followers on Spotify, that’s $1 per new follower.
In top-tier countries, that’s a fantastic result.
If I serve up 10,000 impressions for that campaign and get 100 results, that’s a CPM of $1 and a CPR of $0.10.
Great numbers.
If I run the same campaign and only serve up 1,000 impressions and get 10 results, that’s a CPM of $10 and a CPR of $1.
Not great.
However, in both cases, I got 10 new followers on Spotify at a cost of $1 per new follower, regardless of the CPM or CPR.
The end result is the same despite the vast difference in metrics on Facebook.
In the first case, I might be targeting pop music, which has a larger affinity (over 1B) and allows me to serve up more impressions for my budget.
In the second instance, I might be targeting deep house, which has a much smaller pool of interest (less than 20M) and will likely serve up fewer impressions for the same ad spend.
Context matters.
The end result
The metrics that truly matter are at the end of the pipeline.
If you’re sending traffic to your Spotify profile for a growth campaign, new followers are the most important thing to track.
If you’re trying to grow a playlist, it’s new playlist followers.
And if you’re pushing a new release, streams are what you’re looking for.
No matter the goal, it’s easy to get caught up in the interim numbers that don’t matter nearly as much, and I write this just as much to myself as I do to you.
Don’t get caught up in the middle.
Pay attention to the single biggest KPI in your funnel and let the rest of the numbers take care of themselves.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Whenever you're ready, there are four ways I can help you:
Subscribe to the Newsletter: Join our growing network of artists, creators, and entrepreneurs by receiving The One Thing directly to your inbox every week.
Book a Consultation: Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
The Spotify Traffic Accelerator: Join the hundreds of artists who have successfully learned to automate their growth on Spotify using paid ads on Instagram.
Become a DuPree X Artist: Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.