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2 billion users log into YouTube every single month. 694,000 hours of videos is streamed on YouTube every single minute. And guess the most viewed category on the whole platform? Music! Using YouTube to promote your music is a no-brainer. Not only is it a great platform for perfectly-crafted music videos or behind the scenes edits, but with YouTube Shorts, it's now cornering the market of the shorter attention span. In fact, it's starting to dominate it. YouTube Shorts receive around 50 billion views ever single day. Damn. That's a big old audience awaiting your music.
There's really no reason to be using YouTube to your advantage. And one way to do that? Running YouTube Ads. Running an ad campaign lets you show your music in videos on Youtube. Game changer, right?
So, do YouTube Ads actually help promote your music? Should independent musicians be paying to run campaigns on YouTube? Let's get into it...
You'll Reach A Much Wider Audience
Each day, 122 million people are consuming content on YouTube. As we said before, the majority of those users are letting YouTube algorithms dictate their daily soundtrack, as music is the most consumed content on the platform. So, the potential audience for your Youtube Ads is huge. In fact, it's the biggest reach of all the social media platforms out there. Running a YouTube Ad campaign can put your music on the screens of people that never would have stumbled across your hard work before. The scope of your audience dramatically changes, in the best way possible.
But you have to do it right.
You Can Be Really, Really Specific
When running a YouTube Ad campaign, you can get seriously specific. By streamlining where your YouTube music ad is being directed, the chances of it making an impact sky rockets. When setting up your YouTube Ad campaign for your music, you will need to know exactly what demographic you want to reach. And Google goes into very specific detail. It's intense, but incredibly worth it. In the end, when your music reaches those viewers, it's highly likely you've gained a new fan.
Above is just one of the questions involved to narrow down what screens to target when promoting your music. With this kind of detail, it's no surprise that YouTube Ads are 1.8 times more interacted with than other social media platforms.
It's best to get an agency that can help...
PR agency that can help narrow it down and make it perfect to promote your song.
You Have Full Creative Freedom
When launching a YouTube ad, you have full creative freedom over what you put out there. I mean, within reason. If you're swearing straight off the bat you're not likely to reach many consumers. But, overall you can run any video you like in a music YouTube Ad campaign. Including, a music video.
"Effective ads give viewers a taste of your brand, product, or service — and that leaves a lot of room for creativity."
YouTube suggest an A,B,C,D approach when creating an Ad:
Attract: Draw attention from the beginning.
Brand: Integrate your brand naturally.
Connect: Connect with emotion and storytelling.
Direct: Clearly state a call to action.
And yes, you can make a whole new video introducing yourself to the world. Fuse it together with your recent single and upcoming music video and you're good to go. But, there's no pressure too, either. The best part of this process is that you can throw out the music that you love, knowing that it will stick with your chosen demographic.
It's Easy To Track, Measure and Tweak
Through your Youtube Ads account, it is easy to keep an eye on where your content is landing and who is vibing with it the most. As you monitor where your Youtube ad is making the most impact, it's essential to keep the demographics you're aiming for in line with what's working. You can tweak your target audiences as your campaign runs to maximise the reach as much as you see fit. Or, you can leave it in the hands of the pros! As you well know, time is of the essence as a DIY musician. And if it all seems a bit time consuming, there are plenty of agencies that can take on the admin of running a campaign for you. At Decent, we can help you understand what the statistics are saying and take charge of the tweaks and maximise the most of your ad campaign. Check out our specialist Youtube Ad campaign plans here.