My favorite KPI (key performance indicator) on Spotify is followers.
In my experience, followers are what make the magic happen.
And more often than not, the success of an evergreen artist on Spotify can be traced downstream from how many people are following them to engage for the long term.
I have consistently focused on building my followers on Spotify for years.
Here are three reasons why.
The results stack
I believe sending traffic to my Spotify artist profile is the single most important move I consistently make to market my music and build my fanbase.
Yes, there are times to send people to the song and there are times to send people to a playlist, but the most fundamental growth system I have found continues to be sending traffic directly to my profile.
When a user lands there, I can capitalize on three options: streams, saves, and follows.
All three are right there when they land.
In no other location on Spotify is that an option.
Sticking to this system, in effect, triples the efficacy of my ad spend because I’m achieving multiple objectives at once.
It’s measurable
Tracking follower growth on Spotify is the simplest KPI to measure.
When I was just starting out as an artist on Spotify, it was much easier to correlate a change in streams or saves directly with my ad spend, but as my profile has grown and as my music has engaged with Spotify’s algorithm more regularly, metrics like streams and saves have become more difficult to attribute.
If I’m sending traffic directly to a song from my ads and that song is also getting streams from Radio, Discover Weekly, and Autoplay, there is a lot of gray area to navigate for me to establish the return on my ad spend.
But with followers, it’s different.
Yes, followers do come as a result of streams garnered elsewhere on Spotify. Still, I have found the percentage of algorithmic listeners to those who actually choose to visit my profile and follow me to be very low.
And I see this every day with the artists we work with through DuPree X as well.
The most predictable and measurable way to build an actual following on Spotify is to send them to my profile with ads.
It’s not even close.
Take this screenshot for example:
I have gained 105 followers over the past 28 days; however, I’ve only been sending traffic to my profile for about a third of that time (the red box on the right).
At the beginning of that period, I was testing sending traffic to the songs on my album (the red box on the left).
Not only did my followers begin to once again grow at a much faster rate when I switched back to the profile, but my songs’ popularity scores also increased as well.
Tough to beat that.
Playing the long game
The best part about followers is that they stick around.
When someone engages with my work inside a playlist—even an algorithmic one—they are not necessarily guaranteed to be with me for the long haul.
If my song isn’t on their Discover Weekly playlist again next week, who’s to say they’ll ever listen again?
But if they become followers, I know I’ll have at least some portion of their attention in the future.
Not only will they be notified about every new song I release via Release Radar, but, if I’ve sent them to my profile with ads, I can retarget them and then truly pull them into my network via email.
And on top of that, I have noticed a strong average-monthly-listener-to-follower ratio for a large percentage of the most successful artists on Spotify, oftentimes reaching 2-1 or even 3-2.
In short, artists with a lot of followers have a lot of listeners too.
I want to be in that category.
My favorite KPI (key performance indicator) on Spotify is followers.
In my experience, followers are what make the magic happen.
And more often than not, the success of an evergreen artist on Spotify can be traced downstream from how many people are following them to engage for the long term.
I have consistently focused on building my followers on Spotify for years.
Here are three reasons why.
The results stack
I believe sending traffic to my Spotify artist profile is the single most important move I consistently make to market my music and build my fanbase.
Yes, there are times to send people to the song and there are times to send people to a playlist, but the most fundamental growth system I have found continues to be sending traffic directly to my profile.
When a user lands there, I can capitalize on three options: streams, saves, and follows.
All three are right there when they land.
In no other location on Spotify is that an option.
Sticking to this system, in effect, triples the efficacy of my ad spend because I’m achieving multiple objectives at once.
It’s measurable
Tracking follower growth on Spotify is the simplest KPI to measure.
When I was just starting out as an artist on Spotify, it was much easier to correlate a change in streams or saves directly with my ad spend, but as my profile has grown and as my music has engaged with Spotify’s algorithm more regularly, metrics like streams and saves have become more difficult to attribute.
If I’m sending traffic directly to a song from my ads and that song is also getting streams from Radio, Discover Weekly, and Autoplay, there is a lot of gray area to navigate for me to establish the return on my ad spend.
But with followers, it’s different.
Yes, followers do come as a result of streams garnered elsewhere on Spotify. Still, I have found the percentage of algorithmic listeners to those who actually choose to visit my profile and follow me to be very low.
And I see this every day with the artists we work with through DuPree X as well.
The most predictable and measurable way to build an actual following on Spotify is to send them to my profile with ads.
It’s not even close.
Take this screenshot for example:
I have gained 105 followers over the past 28 days; however, I’ve only been sending traffic to my profile for about a third of that time (the red box on the right).
At the beginning of that period, I was testing sending traffic to the songs on my album (the red box on the left).
Not only did my followers begin to once again grow at a much faster rate when I switched back to the profile, but my songs’ popularity scores also increased as well.
Tough to beat that.
Playing the long game
The best part about followers is that they stick around.
When someone engages with my work inside a playlist—even an algorithmic one—they are not necessarily guaranteed to be with me for the long haul.
If my song isn’t on their Discover Weekly playlist again next week, who’s to say they’ll ever listen again?
But if they become followers, I know I’ll have at least some portion of their attention in the future.
Not only will they be notified about every new song I release via Release Radar, but, if I’ve sent them to my profile with ads, I can retarget them and then truly pull them into my network via email.
And on top of that, I have noticed a strong average-monthly-listener-to-follower ratio for a large percentage of the most successful artists on Spotify, oftentimes reaching 2-1 or even 3-2.
In short, artists with a lot of followers have a lot of listeners too.
I want to be in that category.
My favorite KPI (key performance indicator) on Spotify is followers.
In my experience, followers are what make the magic happen.
And more often than not, the success of an evergreen artist on Spotify can be traced downstream from how many people are following them to engage for the long term.
I have consistently focused on building my followers on Spotify for years.
Here are three reasons why.
The results stack
I believe sending traffic to my Spotify artist profile is the single most important move I consistently make to market my music and build my fanbase.
Yes, there are times to send people to the song and there are times to send people to a playlist, but the most fundamental growth system I have found continues to be sending traffic directly to my profile.
When a user lands there, I can capitalize on three options: streams, saves, and follows.
All three are right there when they land.
In no other location on Spotify is that an option.
Sticking to this system, in effect, triples the efficacy of my ad spend because I’m achieving multiple objectives at once.
It’s measurable
Tracking follower growth on Spotify is the simplest KPI to measure.
When I was just starting out as an artist on Spotify, it was much easier to correlate a change in streams or saves directly with my ad spend, but as my profile has grown and as my music has engaged with Spotify’s algorithm more regularly, metrics like streams and saves have become more difficult to attribute.
If I’m sending traffic directly to a song from my ads and that song is also getting streams from Radio, Discover Weekly, and Autoplay, there is a lot of gray area to navigate for me to establish the return on my ad spend.
But with followers, it’s different.
Yes, followers do come as a result of streams garnered elsewhere on Spotify. Still, I have found the percentage of algorithmic listeners to those who actually choose to visit my profile and follow me to be very low.
And I see this every day with the artists we work with through DuPree X as well.
The most predictable and measurable way to build an actual following on Spotify is to send them to my profile with ads.
It’s not even close.
Take this screenshot for example:
I have gained 105 followers over the past 28 days; however, I’ve only been sending traffic to my profile for about a third of that time (the red box on the right).
At the beginning of that period, I was testing sending traffic to the songs on my album (the red box on the left).
Not only did my followers begin to once again grow at a much faster rate when I switched back to the profile, but my songs’ popularity scores also increased as well.
Tough to beat that.
Playing the long game
The best part about followers is that they stick around.
When someone engages with my work inside a playlist—even an algorithmic one—they are not necessarily guaranteed to be with me for the long haul.
If my song isn’t on their Discover Weekly playlist again next week, who’s to say they’ll ever listen again?
But if they become followers, I know I’ll have at least some portion of their attention in the future.
Not only will they be notified about every new song I release via Release Radar, but, if I’ve sent them to my profile with ads, I can retarget them and then truly pull them into my network via email.
And on top of that, I have noticed a strong average-monthly-listener-to-follower ratio for a large percentage of the most successful artists on Spotify, oftentimes reaching 2-1 or even 3-2.
In short, artists with a lot of followers have a lot of listeners too.
I want to be in that category.
Read the Newsletter
Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation
Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client
Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Read the Newsletter
Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation
Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client
Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.
Read the Newsletter
Explore previous issues of The One Thing to learn at your own pace and upgrade your marketing knowledge for free.
Book a Consultation
Schedule a one-on-one call with me to improve your marketing across paid advertising, social media, and more.
Become a Client
Hire our team to manage your marketing across streaming platforms and social media so you can focus on what matters most—making music.