Spotify Advertising - From A to Z

Spotify holds the spot of the most popular music streaming service in the world. At the beginning of 2024, the service had 574 million monthly active users. The total amount of premium subscribers is close to 230 million, and this number will rise in the near future. Those who've been in this business for a long time know that the rise of the user count leads to higher competitiveness. That's why musicians utilize all their capabilities to make their music stand out. The main method of increasing the popularity of the songs and reaching the target audience is promotion.

Spotify ad-supported revenue in 2022 and 2023. Revenue is mentioned in billion euros.

Still, it's not just about single sharing on social media. It's a long-term process that involves constant sharing of your music with all the available methods, including paid promotion. You need a powerful ad campaign to succeed, and now it's time to learn what exactly this campaign will consist of. Stay with us because we will tell you about Spotify ads and promotion methods and reveal simple tips that will help you advertise on Spotify.

Spotify Advertising - A Build-in Platform

Before talking about promotion services, side tools, and free advertising via social media, it's essential to talk about Spotify Advertising. It's a built-in advertising platform that allows you to manage promotion posts, make your brand grow, and succeed.

The tool is simple to use and has a guideline that helps newcomers create the right setup and fulfill their goals. So, how does Spotify Advertising work?

First, you have to set your goals. Understand what you want to achieve by launching an ad campaign via this program. Understand your audience and how you will measure success during the campaign (e.g., counting the number of new followers or evaluating the dynamic of the overall engagement).

Next, set priorities. Understand what you want to achieve the most. For example, if focused on the reach, you will work on getting your music discovered by a higher number of listeners. If it's about impressions, your music ads will appear in podcasts and other songs' streams. If you focus on users who are likely to watch video ads, focus on reaching a higher number of video views. 

Select Budget for Your Promotion

Spotify Advertising is a paid service, and the cost depends on the ad format, the scale of your promotion campaign, and your goals. You won't pay all money in the world but get ready to spend a solid amount of funds on your Spotify ad campaign. For Spotify Advertising, there are two types of budget: average daily budget and lifetime budget.

Average Daily Budget

When you work with a daily budget, you decide how much you'll spend per day. The minimal deposit is $15, and you can raise it depending on your financial capabilities. 

Lifetime Budget

Once you select a lifetime budget, you set a sum of money that will cover the promotion until the end of the advertising process. In this case, the minimal deposit for the lifetime budget will be $250. When selecting this type of budget, you should indicate the start and ending points of the promotion campaign. You can manage your promotion better by selecting time zones so your Spotify audio ads will launch at the set time. 

When creating a promotion campaign via Spotify Ads, you can select a region, ad category, and subcategory and mention gender targeting options. If you go for a video ad, you can select the format (horizontal or vertical). Also, you can select topics your ads will be placed in. If you think that the specific topic is not relevant, remove it from the list. 

Custom Promotion on Spotify: Unusual Experience

Spotify is known not only for various profile customization features and a giant library of songs and podcasts. One of the advantages of this platform is custom promotion. Brands cooperate with Spotify to launch exclusive advertising campaigns to make their brands visible. There are three major options for custom Spotify promotion:

• Sponsored playlists
• Overlay
• Homepage takeover
• Leaderboards

Sponsored Playlists

Sponsored playlists were designed to boost engagement and draw attention to the brand, placing ads in the most popular and engaged playlists. They're usually 30-second custom audio scripts with detailed information about service, merch, or whatever people promote. If your music appears on the list of the most engaged playlists, people will hear ads when listening to your songs. To learn more about pitching your song to Spotify playlists, read our guide on how to pitch a song to a Spotify playlist.

Overlay

Overlays are banners that usually appear at the bottom of the screen. Such blocks don't distract users, so they won't be disappointed to see such an ad. An overlay usually appears when a user is actively scrolling through Spotify, so there is a high possibility that a person will click on the overlay and visit the promoted page.

Homepage Takeover

Homepage takeover is a complex promotion method in which you literally control Spotify's home page for the next 24 hours. This option is available only on desktop and demonstrates complex ad posting. You can use interactive elements, create clickable ads leading directly to the main page, and implement media files in your Spotify ad.

Leaderboards

This method of custom promotion allows you to promote products and services via large banners. Such banners contain text, video materials, and images. Ads are displayed only when users engage with the program. Banners are clickable, so there is an option to proceed to the web page. For more on utilizing Spotify's algorithm for artist promotion, check out our article on how the Spotify algorithm works for artists.

Why Is Audio Advertising Beneficial?

Compared to other promotional materials, audio ads are less expensive. They appear when users are engaging with the app, listening to music, or enjoying podcasts. The ad lasts for 30 seconds and appears between the tracks, so people don't have to skip the ads on Spotify. Video ads are more expensive but make a bigger impact on listeners. They demonstrate what people can get if purchasing a specific product or a service, describing benefits and pointing out the importance.

Moreover, audio advertising on Spotify has another solid advantage. It can be easily measured. You can track key performance indicators and find out how people engage with your ads and how often they proceed to the main page and purchase something from Spotify. When you have such data, you can change preferences, set different categories of content for promotion, and so on.

Do People Choose My Music for Advertising on Spotify?

Spotify uses the most engaged content for advertising. For example, sponsored playlists are only those with the highest number of streams and likes. The same happens with podcasts that are at the top of the topic. If you want your content engaged in a brand or influencer's advertising campaign, you need to boost it. The best way to do so is to purchase a paid music promotion.

Cooperate with experienced specialists from Artist Push who have valuable experience in pushing music to the top of the chart. Select the Spotify algorithmic plays package that meets your current goals and fits your budget, and make a step toward success. You can combine free and paid promotion methods so your music will turn the streaming platform upside down. Many listeners with the same music tastes can't wait to hear your songs, so don't let them wait any longer. Learn how to get free Spotify streams and boost your reach without extra costs.