FB Ads Library is probably one of the most underrated advertising tools. The handy tool was released to the public in 2019 already. Facebook (now Meta) attempts to bring more transparency into the advertising game.
Here’s the thing, as most advertising tools, FB Ads Library wasn’t inherently built with musicians in mind. However, there’s nothing from stopping you using it.
There are multiple ways of how you as a musician can use the Ads Library. In this blog post, I’ll show you different scenarios in which you can use the FB Ads Library.
Why You Should Always Run Test Ads As A Musician
Different ways in which you can use the FB Ads Library as a musician
- Use the FB Ads Library for inspiration:
One of the things I hear most often in my consulting practise is that musicians just simply don’t know how to start with advertising. From writing the text to coming up with ideas for pictures or videos to use in ads. The first start is always the hardest. What will look good? What text will grab my fans attention? Here’s the thing: you can totally use the FB Ads Library for inspiration! Simply search for your competitors or people a little bit above you and see how they roll it. Get inspiration for the text, the pictures used as well as what video content runs in the ads. What is more, you can also see for how long the ads run. You can also identify the reason why someone runs an ad. Is there a new album coming out or a tour? Make notes on all the things you find inspiring. If you really want to push the boat out then you can mark it all in a spreadsheet. Want to go even further? Then do a survey over a couple of weeks and see what happens!
There are many tricks you can use as a musician when it comes to running social media ads!
- Use the FB Ads Library as a blueprint:
If you are just starting out with advertising it could be a good idea to use someone else as your case study and emulate what they’re doing. For this you can go to the FB Ads Library, search for your case study musician or band. Now you can go into our own FB Ads Manager and start creating ads alike to what you’ve seen in the FB Ads Library. You can run your ads as long as your example one. Likewise, if your case study uses video content in the ads it could be good idea for you to ride a long. After the advertisement campaign as ended, check into insights section to see the outcome for you. - This one is a crazy hack but could be worthwile if you are already a more seasond advetisier. Go to the FB Ads Library and search for some in direct competiton to you. Now do a long term monitoring of their ads over a couple of week with the help of a spreadsheet. Can you see any ads that look super similiar but still have one little difference for example in the text? That can be a good signal that your competion is running an A/B Split Test! You’ve hit bingo. Why? Because now you just need to wait and see which ad gets shut down and which is let to run. That is your A/B Split Test without going to the troubles of running one yourself!
Get creative with ads, if it doesn’t work you can always shut them down.
- Want to take the FB Ads Library tool even one step further? Research competitive industries outside of the music industry. This might sound crazy but hear me out. If you look at a fans day to day structure and how they spend their time overall. You’ll quickly see that the most direct competition to music isn’t acutally more music but other spare time activities. If someone has only 3 hours after work to spend on spare time, they won’t spend it all on sitting around and listening to music. Perhaps they also cook, or go for a run. Here’s the kicker: depending on the fanbase they might as well play a computer game. What you could do now is to research what computer games your fans play. Next, go into the FB Ads Library and search for ads from this company. Bingo! Here’s to competition analysis deluxe. You’re welcome.
Here you have four tips on how to use the FB Ads Library as a musician. Surely, there are so many more things you can do with it. Why don’t you head over there and give it a go?