Understanding the Learning Phase with Facebook Ads for Spotify

[@tomdupreeiii]

Thanks for watching! Be sure to check out the next video in this series: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZ3CZqx3gcx1l80.

[@asapva9933]

When should I start turning off bad performing ad sets and ads ? I had one cost 3.00$ lmaoo This is day one overall the rest are running well

[@ihcrenrut]

Thank you bro. You’re made sense of a whole bunch of items here that I’ve been trying to wrap my brain around for weeks!

[@tomdupreeiii]

Glad I could help!

[@nicxshaw]

It wasn't nerdy at all man. Great content. I wonder what changed in the last 2 years. It's so cool that you share what you did wrong and how to make it right. Helping hand. Thank you.

[@tomdupreeiii]

Glad you enjoyed it. Always happy to help!

[@pyralidmusic]

Great job on these videos. Very informative, to the point and clear. One question about targeting. Say for example, you have a lookalike audience based on a custom audience of conversions of the past 30 days. Am I correct that if new conversions are coming in every day, they will be included in the custom audience, which in turn will result in a gradual change of the lookalike audience? And if so, does facebook see this as a targeting change like you mention at 9:12?

[@tomdupreeiii]

Thanks dude! I really appreciate you continuing to watch. Yes, you're absolutely right. Those new conversions will slowly inform the custom audience, which will slowly inform the lookalike audience. But none of those gradual adjustments will be seen as a targeting change within your ad set. You would have to make specific adjustments within the ad set for it to be considered a significant edit that causes your ad set to re-enter the learning phase. This is one of the reasons using custom audiences and lookalike audiences is such a good move. It allows you to gradually optimize and improve your targeting over time without actually making changes to your ad set. Thanks for the question dude!

[@pyralidmusic]

@@tomdupreeiii Thanks! 😊

[@LeekyLeek]

So started a campaign at 12am today and conversions haven’t dropped below $1.50 I have it set for $50 daily targeting hip hop some artist and some interest that match for my style I have story placements with engaging video content should I let the campaign continue to eat my budget or should I make a move or is it still to early to call and should I just leave it be for a couple Days

[@tomdupreeiii]

If it’s that high after 24 hours I’d make changes.

[@LeekyLeek]

If I have 2 ad sets and on the first day the one ad set is not performing at all but spendin money can I shut it off the first day without ruining my other ad set that is performing well please get back to me ASAP someone 🙏🏽💯

[@Thedreamlandfire]

Dude, thank you so much for this well of knowledge that you give every few days. I and I'm sure everyone else really appreciates it!

[@tomdupreeiii]

Man, thank you for saying that. I'm glad you're getting some value out of the videos. Thank you for watching!

[@ПолинаКазарина-ы5о]

great and very useful video. thank u very much

[@tomdupreeiii]

So glad it helped. Thanks for watching!

[@thesuncollective1475]

Great Vid Thx..does changing the end date disrupt learning phase? Also can you go into targeting ..is more artists good..what is ideal number..I use three normally

[@tomdupreeiii]

Thanks! No, I don’t think it should affect anything.

[@ScottQuest]

Hey Tom! I have a quick question. What is a good CPC for someone with a 100 dollar budget using a conversion campaign

[@tomdupreeiii]

Anytime you can get your cost per conversion into the teens, I consider that a win!

[@ScottQuest]

@@tomdupreeiii thank you! Another question is for detailed targeting. How many similar artists should I add? As many as I can think of or just 1?

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@ScottQuest add several. Ideally, you want your initial audience size to be at least 7-10 million people.

[@ScottQuest]

@@tomdupreeiii perfect! Thank you so much

[@carlosleshawn]

If you extend the duration of the ad while it’s running, will it go back into the learning phase?

[@tomdupreeiii]

Yeah, I would think so. Any edits to the ad creative with reset things and put your ad set back into the learning phase.

[@carlosleshawn]

@@tomdupreeiii Thanks!

[@EMpacWorldWide]

Tom I have a question, so you’re implying that I can run multiple campaigns in an ad set ? I’m a bit confused because what if I want to promote different songs every month without creating a bunch of new ads that will keep me in the learning phase.

[@kyphosemusic]

What is the max amount of dollars per conversion you allow an ad to reach before you just turn it off all together

[@tomdupreeiii]

Generally if it stays above $0.40 for more than a couple days I’ll toss it.

[@kyphosemusic]

@@tomdupreeiii is that after the learning phase? Or all together. Sometimes in the learning phase I will get prices up to a couple of bucks a conversion. Also, thank you for all your content!

[@RubyWeaponMono]

@@kyphosemusic I think he’s saying in the learning phase he likes to shoot for around 40 cents max. But I’ve been having a few ads that start at like 1.75 per conversion and then are going to .35 cents within a matter of a day.

[@kyphosemusic]

@@RubyWeaponMono makes sense. Thank you for the input!

[@amonmartin-preston357]

What a good CPC while in the learning phase ?

[@tomdupreeiii]

I usually like for my campaigns to start no higher than around $0.35 per conversion when the campaign first gets going and is in the learning phase.

[@amonmartin-preston357]

@@tomdupreeiii okay thank you so much and I Sent you a DM on instgram

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@amonmartin-preston357 you bet dude! Right on. I’ll hit you back!

[@vxd]

Hey, this is your best video so far! Quick question. As it takes the FB algo time to optizmise, I was thinking of starting my campaign 3 days before the song comes out for 10 a day targetting a toneden landing page pointing to my artist page. When the song comes out to keep the landing page link, but change the landing page to point to the new song. That way on the day of the song release the track is already optimized. Do you think it will go into the learning phase as essentially Im not changing anything on the adset?

[@tomdupreeiii]

That sounds like a cool strategy! No, your ad sets won't re-enter the learning phase if all you're doing is changing the link within the button on your landing page. You should be all clear!

[@vxd]

@@tomdupreeiii ill give it a go lol...

[@SK-zh8bi]

@@vxd how did it go bro?

[@vxd]

@@SK-zh8bi I did try it but didn't make much difference to the performance

[@AstonKalmari]

Thank you very much!

[@tomdupreeiii]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@hiderpnw]

I've never seen my ads go into the learning phase. Just goes from In Review to Active.

[@tomdupreeiii]

That's totally normal. The learning phase designation doesn't start to appear until you've run a certain amount of ads. Avoid touching anything until at least 50 optimization events though, even if it says active. You're still in the learning phase even if it doesn't indicate it.

[@Sdexigns]

Very well explained, also try using the dynamic ads

[@tomdupreeiii]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@Sdexigns]

@@tomdupreeiii welcome bro

[@NandanMusic]

Hey Tom! In regards to the budget of a campaign, what if I choose to maintain the same cost per day throughout my campaign? (Ex: $5 a day) with no changes. Would that be okay or do you recommend an increase after the learning phase?

[@tomdupreeiii]

That’s absolutely ok. I generally always have a consistent $10 per day campaign running myself. Highly recommend!

[@jaefiend]

Hey Tom, thanks for the insight. I was wondering if there is a minimum amount I should be spending to exit the learning phase. Apparently, $10 a day isn't enough and I got hit with the "learning limited" notification today. I don't understand why, since I'm more than halfway there to reach 50 conversions and exit the phase. If I leave my budget the same, will I eventually exit the phase when I hit 50 conversions? Or will they just leave me in learning limited until I raise my budget? I don't see why I have to hit a certain amount of conversions in a certain period of time. It kinda just seems like FB being $ hungry as always

[@tomdupreeiii]

Hey thanks for the question! I'd leave your budget where it is at $10 per day. That should be plenty. I've had many ad sets go from "learning limited" to "active" within the first week once 50 conversions are hit. Sometimes Facebook will drop the "learning limited" label on an ad set before the first week is up if it thinks you may not get there. But leave it running for a full week at $10 per day and you should be just fine.

[@jaefiend]

@@tomdupreeiii Ok, thanks so much. That really helps. You're the man

[@MrMorenoMusik]

hi broo .... nice videos thsk for sharing ..... I have few questions, what countries will you recommend me to target, for my first fb ad campaing for spotify, nd get out from the Learning phase, I'm promotin a reggaeton song, nd alse, how much money should I spent per day, nd how many ad sets will you recomende me to make ?

[@DexrayRobinson]

Had to hit the sub button after this for real 👌🏾

[@tomdupreeiii]

Dude, thank you! 🙏🏻

[@WeAreBlahBlahBlah]

Nice info, cheers Tom. Quick question would you say 50 conversions across all ad sets or 50 per ad set, thanks. Best of luck with the music

[@tomdupreeiii]

50 per ad set is what you’re looking for.

[@tihomir.stojiljkovic]

Great infos, thank you! Does results shows immediately in the Spotify for artists when we run the campaign or it take sometime?

[@tomdupreeiii]

You should start seeing an impact the day after your campaign launches. So if you start your campaign on Friday, you should start to see results when Spotify for Artists refreshes on Saturday. How big they are will depend on your ad budget. Thanks for the question!

[@tihomir.stojiljkovic]

@@tomdupreeiii great, thanks! 🙏🎶

[@monalisayrodrigo]

very helpful. thank you

[@tomdupreeiii]

Awesome. Thanks for watching!

[@timeweaver5316]

Fantastic Videos Tom. Much appreciated. One question. From your experience, would you consider turning off an ad within an ad-set a "change of ad creative", and by extension would that action risk the set to re-enter the learning phase? I mean, that would be strange right, since a lot of the optimization-strategies are based on turning off ads that don't perform well?

[@tomdupreeiii]

Hey thanks so much for watching the videos! Turning off an ad won’t affect the learning phase. Only adding a new one to an ad set will do that.

[@naritkanjana-asawa7448]

Hello Tom . I would like to know your opinion on my facebook optimization tactics right now. Usually when i deciding to increase or decrease budget or to turn off underperforming ads . we use a timeframe of 30 days to make that judgment as accurate and efficiency as possible because we believe that some ads is good but just at that time (timeframe under 30days) , our customers may not be ready to buy (Some customer buy stuff first day of month or some customer buy stuff and the end of the month). So I believe that if i make any decisions in a timeframe of less than 30 days , that judgment will not accurate as it should be . I want to know your opinion

[@tomdupreeiii]

I think having a schedule like this is a smart move, but I always use these sorts of things as guidelines and not hard and fast rules. So if it needs to change I can always adjust.

[@naritkanjana-asawa7448]

@@tomdupreeiii Thank you tom

[@IamSpencerBaird]

Love your content and have now successfully run a few different campaigns at ~0.10 CPC or less! Quick question: have you ever encountered a situation where you have 1 ad set with 4 ads, and after a few days 80%+ of the budget (lets say 10$/day) has been pushed towards 1 or 2 of the ads while the other 2-3 ads have not even been tested (maybe less than a dollar towards each)? Any tips on how to make sure the budget is being evenly distributed across the ads to sufficiently test them or if pausing an ad (to push budget to other ads) during the learning phase is a bad idea? I hope the question makes sense. Cheers!

[@tomdupreeiii]

Hey thanks so much for the kind words! I’m glad you’ve gotten some value from the videos. And congrats on your results! What you’re describing is a totally normal part of the optimization process. I wouldn’t worry about trying to make sure more budget is distributed to those ads. Them being almost unused means the algorithm has determined the other options are better. In fact, you may want to go ahead and turn those poorly performing ads off after several days if they’re not getting any traffic.

[@IamSpencerBaird]

@@tomdupreeiii Awesome! Appreciate the reply. And yeah I've recommended to your channel to several people. Sincerely appreciate the fact that your videos are clear, informative, and not pushing a bullshit course that offers nothing more than the video itself. Keep up the great content :)

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@IamSpencerBaird hahaha! Man I love this comment. Thank you for saying that. I’m trying to be super-intentional about the content and only want to offer something for sale, be it a course or whatever, when it makes complete sense. This far, sharing all of my experience for free feels like the best move. Plus, I am getting so much out of it in terms of community and feedback, that it makes it super fun. Thank you for being here!

[@tihomir.stojiljkovic]

I have another question, whatever ad that I'm running with manual placement, after a couple of days FB always suggest to choose automatic placement. If the algorithm knows better, why we go with manual? Thanks in advance 🙏

[@tomdupreeiii]

Great question. Facebook's algorithm is great at optimizing your ads within the confines you set for it, but it's important to give it as much direction as you can, using the knowledge you have about your audience. For example, we know that people are more likely to have their sound on when viewing stories placements than say, Audience Network or feed placements. Giving some direction is a good thing. Set the rules and let the algorithm operate within those rules.

[@tihomir.stojiljkovic]

@@tomdupreeiii ok, the sound could be the answer... Thanks again, much appreciated! 🙂

[@LogansLessons]

Hey Tom! I’m curious. What do you think about the news spotify released and how that applies to fb ads? (They are offering to slash your royalty rates for priority on their radio and algorithmic playlists) And how does that play into the strategy of fb ads?

[@tomdupreeiii]

That's a great question! I honestly don't think it affects strategy too much at this point. At least not for me. It's still early, and I'm very interested to see how it's received and what kind of dividends it pays back. My initial, knee-jerk reaction is that it's probably not going to be beneficial for artists to take Spotify up on that deal, certainly not as beneficial as it will be for Spotify to have them do so. It feels a lot like playing the lottery with money you don't even have yet. Plus, in my experience, that algorithmic traffic isn't always very "sticky", meaning most of the listeners you get from those playlists don't stay around for the long-term, at least not like they do with direct marketing and steady organic growth. So you're sacrificing revenue without any guarantee of return. And, of course, the big unknown is whether or not "standard" traffic will be de-prioritized as a result to make room for traffic from artists who are making that trade. If the new implementation intensifies scarcity of algorithmic opportunity, then Spotify may force adoption, which would be a pretty smart move on their part, one I wouldn't put past them. So no adjustments from me yet. I'm still watching and learning. Again, great question. Thank you for asking!

[@LogansLessons]

@@tomdupreeiii thank you very much for your detailed response Tom! It means a lot :) I sure hope this doesn’t make our ad campaigns work less well because we aren’t “prioritized”... time will tell I guess. I hope you have an amazing week and once again, thank you!! Looking forward to the next video.

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@LogansLessons of course dude! Thank you for the great question. I certainly hope so too. We'll just have to pay attention to see how things shake out!

[@Thedreamlandfire]

Question . Does it have to be 50 conversion events for a whole at set , or for a singular ad ? And if one ad in the ad set isn’t performing well, and I turn it off , would that make me re enter ? Thanks for your time , bud !

[@tomdupreeiii]

It's 50 for the whole ad set, not the individual ad. Turning an ad off won't affect the Learning Phase, though I would recommend waiting until the status switches to "Active" before turning anything off.

[@Thedreamlandfire]

@@tomdupreeiii great man , thanks for the info ! Means a lot. Just one more thing . After the learning phase , what is the average cost per conversion ? I see different answers everywhere, and are you looking to get it down for just the day , or for the whole lifetime of the campaign? Apologize for all the questions. Thank you !

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@Thedreamlandfire no worries at all. Questions are good! For me, I generally like to get my cost per conversion down in the teens, less than $0.20 over the life of the campaign. Obviously, the sooner you can get it down, the better. It's going to fluctuate day in, day out, so I'd recommend focusing on the lifetime number and not the granular, day to day numbers as much.

[@colmcq]

How do I get my FB ads to record whether someone followed me on Spotify? I don't think that's recorded by the algorithm so I can't use it as an outcome

[@tomdupreeiii]

Unfortunately, there's no way to do that. We can't track user actions on Spotify itself. The landing page is as close as we can get.

[@colmcq]

@@tomdupreeiii that's all I got, alas.

[@ProjectAbdo]

Hey great video! I’ve started Facebook ads for my last 2 songs and they’ve gone very well! Both less than €0.13 cost per click. I have one question though, I’m located in Ireland and I have to pay an extra 23% of VAT to the money I already put in to the ads, is there any way to get around this at all? Thanks :)

[@tomdupreeiii]

Hey congratulations on the great results! Man, that’s a tough one. The truth is o honestly don’t know. Unfortunately I’m not familiar with that. You may have to research it a bit.

[@ProjectAbdo]

@@tomdupreeiii Thanks for getting back to me! Do you guys pay VAT in the US?

[@tomdupreeiii]

No, they get us in other ways.

[@ProjectAbdo]

@@tomdupreeiii I was thinking of changing my country to US but I don’t know how legal that is haha.

[@tomdupreeiii]

@@ProjectAbdo haha! Yeah me neither.

[@xtheflare]

Hey Tom I watch your content all the time check out my latest campaign on KZbin