Why Advertise on Meta
Meta remains one of the leading platforms for advertising due to its massive user base and sophisticated targeting options. The entertainment and media industry is one of the top spenders in digital marketing with the 4th highest spend and a 7.6% share.
According to Meta, the second-highest proportion of new movie discovery is through Meta’s Apps (46% vs TV at 49%). Additionally, 43% of people said they watched a movie they typically wouldn’t see because everyone was talking about it, showing the power of word of mouth. The number of people interacting with movie groups on Facebook has increased by 53% over the last 12 months.
Meta’s user data and targeting capabilities allow advertisers to reach a vast and specific audience. This is ideal for businesses looking to connect with both large groups and targeted niches.
In our experience managing campaigns for clients across multiple sectors, Meta often drives a more cost-effective CPA than other paid social platforms & ends up getting the lion’s share of the paid media budget. The entertainment industry has the second-highest click-through rate of 2.6% as well as the second-lowest average CPC at $0.43.
Types of Meta Ads
A range of ad types is available to cater to different marketing goals and campaign types:- Video Ads: Effective for capturing attention with music videos and movie trailers, and building remarketing audiences to build a fanbase.
- Static Image Ads: Useful for clear, direct messages and call-to-action ads which help drive sales of tickets to concerts or films in the cinema.
- Carousel Ads: Allow multiple images or videos in a single ad, useful for showing a range of products or telling a story which is ideal for film releases.
- Lead Generation Forms: Collect contact information directly from the user without them leaving the app which will help build retargeting audiences that can be used to inform the fanbase about upcoming events.
- Collection Ads: Showcase products with an accompanying image/video asset, which opens up into a full-screen experience, ideal for e-commerce businesses.
For most businesses, we recommend testing multiple ad types to see which performs best. Examples of these are videos to capture audiences, static images for retargeting viewers, and Lead gen forms to create a mailing list for selling future events or merchandise.
Our case study on Cave Things, a gift store by the artist Nick Cave, is a great example of how we used multiple ad types to achieve different goals. We used video ads to capture a cold audience, lead generation forms with static images to convert fans into subscribers for the mailing list, and carousel ads to retarget a warm audience for merchandise purchases.
The good thing about Meta is that in most cases you can run multiple ad types in a single campaign, and therefore you don’t need an additional budget to test the different types.
Pros and Cons of Meta Advertising
Benefits of Meta marketing
Meta offers several specific advantages for advertisers:- Low Barrier to Entry: Most entertainment brands like music artists already have Facebook & Instagram pages set up and audiences that engage with them, ready for retargeting on day one.
- Advanced Targeting: Targeting is extensive across media and creative brands, letting you reach people with similar genres or cultural interests.
- Warm Audiences: Meta allows you to collect and retarget multiple “warm audiences” e.g. people who have engaged with your Facebook or Instagram accounts in the last year, watched certain videos, or been on your website. Warm audiences are like real active fan bases, letting you reach the people who have already shown an interest in your band, film, or event.
- Native Feel: Ads in Facebook or Instagram feeds and reels often feel organic, enhancing user engagement. This is ideal for entertainment brands because the content, like music videos or movie trailers already has an entertainment aspect, and allows your entertainment content to easily flow into the feed of people you are targeting.
Ad content on Facebook often feels native to its placement, contrasting platforms like YouTube where ads are more intrusive.
The Limitations of Meta ads for Entertainment brands
Meta ads, despite their great performance, come with certain limitations.
One significant challenge is competitiveness, as the high competition in popular markets can lead to increased costs.
Another issue is ad fatigue, where users may become tired of seeing the same ads repeatedly. To combat this, it is crucial to monitor ad frequency—the number of times individuals are exposed to your ads—and to maintain a variety of creative assets to keep the content fresh.
Additionally, technical challenges such as improper pixel setup can impede accurate tracking and return on investment (ROI) calculations.
Using Meta to Grow in the Entertainment Industry
Meta is an essential tool for growing audiences in the entertainment sector. Musicians can collect and target their social audiences on Meta, which can be more extensive than their websites’ traffic.
A key strategy includes utilising Meta’s custom audiences to grow, retain, and engage fans. You can create retargeting audiences from video views and engage them with follow-up ads.
The Power Of Meta For the Entertainment Industry
Meta’s rich audience data allows for precise targeting and retargeting, making it indispensable for entertainment brands. Users can leverage:- Warm Audiences: If someone engages with your brand on Facebook or Instagram they can be retargeted for the next year, enabling consistent fan interaction in the periods between major album or tour campaigns.
- Cross-platform Campaigns: Run ads on both Facebook and Instagram from a single account.
Strategies to maximise reach and targeting
To maximise the effectiveness of Meta ads, it is recommended to be strategic about targeting:- Utilise Warm Audiences: Leveraging these audiences can drive the highest and most cost-effective results.
- Test Different Audiences and Ads: Implement A/B testing to identify the best-performing segments and ad creative.
- Interest Targeting: Use Meta’s detailed interest targeting options to reach niche audiences.
- Exclude Custom Audiences: Use custom audiences and exclude them from your cold targeting to optimise cost and effectiveness.
The cost to advertise on Meta
Several factors influence Meta advertising costs:- Audience Size: Smaller, more niche audiences tend to be more expensive to reach but may end up driving better results. It’s a balancing act between big (cheap) and small (expensive) audiences.
- Geographic Targeting: Costs vary significantly by country and region.
- Ad Placement: Different placements (feeds, stories, reels) come with varying costs.
The impact of Meta Ads on the entertainment industry
Meta ads offer measurable impacts such as increased fan engagement, higher event attendance, and greater music streaming. You can push music out to people, drive them to your profiles, and eventually convert them into long-term fans.
How to create a Meta marketing strategy
Creating a successful strategy involves several important steps. Firstly, it’s to define clear objectives; you need to determine what you hope to achieve, whether it’s increasing awareness, boosting engagement, or driving conversions.
Once your objectives are clear, the next step is to target properly by using Meta’s broad targeting tools to reach your desired audience effectively.
Equally important is creating compelling content; engaging visuals and well-crafted copy can significantly enhance ad performance.
Lastly, a successful strategy requires constant iteration, continually testing different ads and targeting options helps you identify what works best, enabling you to fine-tune your approach for optimal results.
Excluding your custom audiences from your cold outreach and testing different ad creatives to see what resonates best with your audience.
Are Meta ads worth it anymore?
For many brands, Meta ads still provide robust ROI, particularly when the targeting and optimisation are well-executed. “Even small music artists can benefit by driving engagement and collecting fan data for future retargeting,” notes our head of Paid Media, Alex Booth.
Why would Meta ads fail?
Common pitfalls include:- Poor Targeting: Reaching the wrong audience can result in wasted ad spend. You can reduce the waste with our targeting which we ensure is tailored to put your brand in front of the right audience at the right moment.
- Overly Broad Targeting: Meta might serve your ads to less relevant audiences to save costs. This can be solved with precise targeting that delivers ads that resonate with your audience, helping to increase engagement.
- Technical Issues: Improper pixel setup can lead to inaccurate tracking and poor optimisation. These technical issues can be addressed by ensuring your analytics and tracking are set up correctly, which can be done with Google Tag Manager Service.
Summary of Meta Marketing Best Practices for Entertainment Brands
- Leverage Warm Audiences: Engage with those who already show interest.
- Regular Engagement: Maintain consistent communication to retain your audience.
- Test and Learn: Continuous testing and optimisation are crucial for sustained success.
- Make use of your warm audiences and maintain them. This consistent focus can help entertainment brands continuously optimise their campaigns and deliver outstanding results.
By adhering to these strategies and best practices, entertainment brands can effectively leverage Meta’s extensive reach and sophisticated targeting to maximise their advertising impact and ROI.
