Instagram is likely the most popular platform for digital music marketing. Advertising on Meta offers a way to access massive audience pools directly on a key social platform for artists: Instagram.
Here’s how artists and their teams can make the most of Meta’s ad tools by using the Music Tomorrow app. Leveraging artists, genres, and related topics consistent with your cluster priorities for Meta targeting will help you reach high-engagement audiences likely to respond well to the artist’s music.
Step 1: Identify relevant audiences and artist clusters
Before setting up your campaign, use the Music Tomorrow app to identify:
Relevant target audiences with strong algorithmic connections to your artist.
Popular genres, moods, or playlists that align with your cluster targets.
Target audience demographics, such as age, gender, and key locations.
For a complete guide on defining your target audience, check out this article.
Step 2: Set Up Your Meta Ad Campaign
Open Meta Ads Manager
Log in to your Meta account. Under the Campaigns section, click on + Create to start a new campaign.
Choose your Campaign Objective
Select a campaign objective consistent with your marketing strategy and the post-click conversion funnel. Most of the time, you’ll want to choose either Traffic or Engagement campaigns.
Set Campaign Budget
Decide on your budget (daily or lifetime). Leave off Advantage Campaign Budget for more control over the ad sets.
Create Your Ad Sets
Depending on your target audiences and A/B testing plans, divide the campaign into multiple ad sets. For global campaigns, it’s a good idea to separate developed high-cost markets like North America or Western Europe to prevent Meta from funneling the majority of the ad budget toward low-CPM countries.
Step 3: Set Audience Targeting based on relevant artists & keywords
Define Your Conversion Location and Performance Goal
Within the Ad Set, specify your conversion location and performance goal.
Configure Audience Controls
Under Audience Controls, define your target locations based on your campaign goals, as well as the top markets and cities identified for your target clusters.
Use Advantage+ Audience and click on Audience Suggestions (optional), or switch to manual audience options to access audience definition
Use Detailed Targeting to Define Audience Interest
Click on Detialed Targeting and start by typing the names of artists in your target list on Music Tomorrow. If an artist is available as an interest, it will appear in the dropdown menu. Repeat this for all relevant artists, starting with the most popular ones.
Note: Not all artists will be available for targeting. The more popular the artist, the higher the likelihood of them being available. If only a few artists from your cluster are available, add similar, more popular artists as interests using the Suggestions feature.Refine Targeting with Additional Interests
For more precise targeting, use the Define Further option to add a second condition, such as:Genres: Use the top genres for your Music Tomorrow target clusters.
Additional interests: Use non-music, lifestyle interests if it's strongly associated with your target. For example, you can use “Physical Exercise (Fitness)” interest for clusters heavily influenced by Workout & Gym playlists
💡Condier Expanding with Related Topics
Add broader interests related to your music’s mood or themes:
For lo-fi beats, target Study Music or Chillhop.
For pop-punk, consider Youth Culture or Alternative Music.
Available Meta main musical genres interests:
Here’s a quick cheat sheet of main musical genres you can target on Meta:
💡 Additional Tips for Effective Meta Ad Campaigns
Combine Demographics and Interests
Refine your targeting by layering demographics over interests.
Example: If your artist’s fanbase is predominantly aged 18–24 and concentrated in urban areas, apply filters for age range and specific cities or college towns.Create Engaging Ad Content
Tailor your content to Instagram’s visual style. Use short-form videos that are dynamic, eye-catching, and relevant to your audience. Incorporate trending content styles or effects to make your ads feel native to Instagram.
Example: A video snippet of your artist performing, with captions like "Out Now on Spotify" or "Stream It Today!", is far more engaging than a static image.Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)
Encourage users to take action, such as:
"Stream the new single on Spotify today!"
"Add this track to your playlist!"
"Follow [Artist Name] on Instagram for more updates!"
Pair Ads with Organic Strategies
Complement your paid campaigns with organic posts to maximize visibility.
Example: Share behind-the-scenes content, pin posts about your new single to your Instagram profile, or post Stories with links to your track.Monitor and Optimize Campaign Performance
Use Meta Ads Manager to track key metrics like clicks, reach, conversions, and engagement. Run A/B tests to identify which creative or targeting strategies perform best.
Iterate and Refine Targeting
Based on your campaign results, refine your audience targeting:
If engagement is higher for specific genres or demographics, focus on those groups in future campaigns.
Avoid frequent changes, as Meta’s algorithm needs time to optimize.