What’s a ‘Like’ worth?

Less than a share, if you agree with the latest marketer analysis, but plenty of artists are seeking the thumbs up across social media, with the king of social networks being the most vibrant hub of activity.

Facebook’s place in the realm of music marketing has topped my mind this past week for various reasons. It also seems to be a popular topic for you, with my 25 tips for a friendlier Facebook fan page being the most regularly visited piece here, so I thought I’d focus once more today on the platform everyone that loves to hate.

First Up, A Fail

In my opinion at least, this Facebook music advert that I came across recently fails in a few places. Take a look and consider the case for and against:

Pros:

• Relates to an existing listener passion point with the Dave Matthews link,
• Integrates an easier call to action with the ‘Like Page’ button (although this is all Facebook, not the artist).

Cons:

• No mention of genre, style, location, or some other bridge from Dave Matthews to this unfamiliar name,
• Poor copy writing, with mixed calls to action (conflicting with like button) and awkward flow,
• Immediate command (to an unfamiliar listener, remember) to buy the album… hold my hand before you grab my bottom, won’t you?!

So it’s easy enough to critique an unappealing ad, but what makes for a more effective Facebook advert?

First things first, consider your options…

The Difference Between Facebook Ads & Sponsored Stories

Although Facebook explains its advertising options to a limited extent, both the ad components and the layout of the site itself change on a (frustratingly) regular basis.

Adverts are more explicit statements about your page, often with copy that you write yourself with a specific goal in mind (such as the reader clicking a link or liking your page). They stand out from the usual flow of a user’s Facebook news feed and are labeled as “Sponsored” in the lower post details, both of which can make some people wary of their presence.

The onslaught of ever-evolving ad units since the site’s flotation on the stock market last year has created some resistance to clicking on (and therefore encouraging) obvious adverts, but you can still make some headway with them. For me, they provide the most direct, short and sharp shot into a potential listener’s social feed.

There are also various sub-types of adverts, from the simple “Suggested Page” option that is a basic accelerator for page likes, to promoting specific posts to reach existing fans (and their friends), in addition to the more customized ads discussed above.

Sponsored Stories are more integrated into the fabric of Facebook , showing off activity on existing content from your page rather than the direct copy that you can customize for an advert.

The bonus here is that they “fit” more naturally into the news feed and actions that people are already undertaking, such as commenting on a friend’s activity or liking articles they read, which lessens the resistance that comes from out-and-out adverts. This focus on engagement can be useful for those of you wishing to drive interaction even further on your page, although the content itself is selected by Facebook and you have less customization than you may require.

The other important aspect of sponsored stories is the connection that they make to friends of those you reach, for example “Joe Schmoe likes Band X”. Simply placing a familiar face or name next to an unfamiliar page can bridge the trust gap that paid advertising creates, hence the rising popularity of social media ad campaigns. If you’re trying to reach new listeners, connecting through your existing fans  and on to targeted friends of theirs can be a key advantage of a social ad.

Important Note: Facebook is changing rapidly at the current time and, at any point, distinctions between different types of ad unit may become blurred. Always check the ad preview to understand exactly how your paid promotion is going to appear!

The video below is tailored to deeper business marketing types but still has some valuable snippets for more advanced music advertising, if you’d care to delve even deeper.

Click here if you can’t see the video above.

Key Questions to Ask Before You Advertise Your Music on Facebook

Answer the following questions to understand what you direction you want your Facebook advertising to take:

• What is my main goal from this advert? Examples may be increased page like, engagement, website traffic, music player spins etc.
• Do I want to reach existing fans or new listeners?
• Is the ad a standalone test, or part of a wider campaign?
• What is my daily (or weekly) budget?
• What is the “call to action” of my ad? (i.e. the step you want people to take and
• What metric will prove that the action has been taken and can I measure it? (e.g. a Like, which Facebook will report to you, or a spin of a track, which you will need to monitor more closely yourself)

It can be tempting to just dive in with Facebook’s newer ad offerings, as they have plenty of “press play” options popping up alluringly in your page admin section. This simplicity is helpful but you will still benefit from taking some time to consider what you want from your ad spend, where it fits with your other promotional efforts, and how you will measure success.

Dig Deeper

This is really only the tip of the iceberg with advertising on Facebook. We can take in-depth looks at ad copy writing, split testing, ad optimization, cross-platform campaigns and results analysis, to name just a few of the areas that may be of use to enthusiastic music advertisers.

What I’d love to know is what level of Facebook ads you’ve undertaken as an artist and whether (and which of) these deeper topics are of interest to you?

Do you want to read detailed how to pieces or just “press play” on those easier ad options that Facebook is now inserting into your fan page?

Let me know in the comments below or e-mail me at [email protected] with your specific questions. I’m here to help!

Records have been broken, talent celebrated, winners heralded…. 

So why do I feel that something is amiss?

Disconnect the Dots

We’ve established that there is a desire for fans to use social media to engage with television events.

From the trending topics on Twitter being dominated by TV shows on any given evening, to Facebook beginning to aggregate status updates into “## people talked about (insert event here)” style summaries, we can see that enthusiastic fans are utilizing social media to share their views on what is being broadcast. The conversation is rampant and swirling like a raging storm around the big events.

So why does the broadcast itself reflect none of this?

Why does watching the show on network television feel like the eye of the storm, so eerily quiet and removed from the passion circling around it? 

To my mind, it represents the substantial disconnect between traditional standards of broadcast media and the emerging concept of social media, of involving your audience in as many ways as possible. The tools and platforms now exist. The channels to your audience are ever-widening. Yet the will to travel up and down, making the show a two-way street is still found wanting. 

The Connection Is Made

To give the Oscars due credit, their web presence offer fans plenty to dig their teeth into. From preview blogs to after-show video, Facebook fan questions to live tweeting the winners, the content is undoubtedly present to lure fans in deeper. The integration is what’s under scrutiny here. The curious relegation of fan passion to a side show, as the restricted Big Top basks in its own glory.

The Grammys made some effort towards this integration with separate performance areas for sets by Foo Fighters, David Guetta, Deadmau5 and the like, but it still amounted to a select few. The floodgates weren’t opened to the enthusiastic masses tweeting and sharing around the event in cyberspace. Even the live television broadcast was restricted in certain markets, leaving certain sections of music fans left out and frustrated.

The challenge to broadcasters is now to integrate as many of these media, as seamlessly as possible, for a diverse and two-way fan experience. 

Transmedia Momentum

This may seem like a pedantic moan, based on the fact that both broadcast and social media elements of these events were booming. Though I agree that progress is being made, is it not the remit of leading broadcast events like the Oscars and Grammys to push boundaries, to lead the way in engaging their enormous fan base and show other industries what can be achieved?

Shows like Bravo’s Last Chance Kitchen show what can be achieved when social media are smartly weaved into the fabric of a television program. Fans feel more connected, invested in the developments of the show, and return value is increased as a result of this investment. This trend towards transmedia – telling your story across multiple platforms, involving those who gather along the way – is gathering momentum among more niche programming and holds a lucrative future for those broadcaster that begin to explore and experiment with it in these early stages.

The passion of fans around the entertainment industry – or, at least, the creative talent that it supports – already exists. It is the envy of many other industries who find it much harder to fire up their audiences. Let’s use that to challenge the traditional one-way thinking of artist to fan, instead focusing on a more inclusive model in which fan passion fuels creativity in real time and their involvement breeds an ever-greater connection.

Photo Credit: T. Buchtele

Takeaways:

- Your fans are having a conversation with or without you. Jump in and be a part of it!

- Lasting connections and greater fan loyalty are built when you involve your audience in the creative process.

- Use the strengths of individual platforms to build an integrated experience across all channels. 

What are YOUR feelings on the Oscars and Grammys as an inclusive fan experience? Am I way off the mark here or do they need to involve fans to put on a better show?

How can you improve your web presence for fans through blending in more media?