This entry on Facebook’s targeting feature is a continuation of our introduction to Facebook Ads. We’ll continue to explain the basics of this tool, so you can take full advantage of it in your music marketing journey as an emerging artist. In simple terms, the targeting feature of this social media platform is a means to filter your potential audience and fanbase. It’ll help you to narrow down the group who’ll be interested in listening to your tunes. Before you begin using this feature, you must first create a targeting list.
Creating your targeting list
As we’ve continuously remarked in our entries on music marketing, research is key. So before getting into this helpful tool, you’ll need to make use of your main characteristic: creativity! Using your creativity, you must brainstorm what kind of audience you want to reach. The product you’ll get is an initial targeting list. To make it, here are three pieces of advice:
- Think of 15 to 20 similar artists to you. Also for this list, consider similar genres. From the 20 artists on this list, you should think of five to 10 by yourself. That is, come up with some names and genres that sound like your own tunes.
- Afterwards, assuming you’ve already immersed yourself in some groups of people who listen to you, get them on board. Ask them to come up with other five to 10 artists or genres that remind them of you.
- Finally, don’t lose sight of those people who haven’t listened to you! Strangers you’ve just begun to interact with will have interesting responses—mainly because they can be more objective than those who are already in touch with your production.
Conclusion
Having this brainstorm beforehand is essential to make better use of Facebook’s targeting feature. A variety of sources in your list widens the spectrum of possibilities that you, yourself, would’ve thought of. There is less risk of bias and wishful thinking: this approach is more honest. Thus, once you integrate this information in Facebook, the same platform will be more objective with its results.
Group the artists and genres that you’ve gathered. You’ll put that information in Facebook’s Targeting List as a first step. Check out our Facebook’s Targeting Feature Part II to learn what comes next.
