Wavo Blog: This series shares information that’s most relevant to music marketers around the globe.

Context

Direct to consumer music merchandise marketing doesn’t have a one size fits all solution. It takes time, testing and adaptability to maximize conversions. The reality of merchandise marketing is that merch isn’t a product of necessity, we are selling fanfare and there is a combination of micro and macro factors impacting someone’s choice to purchase an item. Because of that, what works for one brand or artist may not work for the other. Therefore our recommendation is to start with the essentials. That means setting up your campaign in the most optimal way possible and then giving your ads time to learn. There are 3 simple basic considerations:

1. Choosing your platforms  

2. Creative asset and audience optimization 

3. Flight dates and adaptability

1. Choosing the right Platform

It’s been 2 years since the iOS14 update has impacted tracking abilities and we’ve definitely felt the decline in available data. Over the course of this year Wavo internal data shows that Google Ads report a 2.15x higher reportable Return on Ad Spend compared to Meta. The Google Search placement has continually exhibited stronger conversion rates compared to all other e-commerce advertising platforms. 

This isn’t a one-size-fits all rule, but our recommendation would be to always include Google Search to test if your audiences are converting there. This placement sees the most success when an artist has relevant activity and buzz impacted by tentpole moments. For example, an artist announces or goes on tour, drops a new music release, appears on television, or has a viral moment. 

Aside from Google Search, choosing the social platform where the audiences are the most engaged is next. Typically, this is still on Meta - campaigns can still be tracked relatively well there even after the iOS update. While we suggest advertising music merch on at least one social platform, there are advantages to not spreading your budget too thin, as listed here. 

For a data informed comparison of Snapchat and FB/IG click here. 

For more information on Google Search and music merch click here.

2. Creative Asset & Audience Optimization

Creatives - There is a sweet spot somewhere between too little and too many creatives, especially on Meta. Our recommendation would be to test minimum 2 and maximum 3 styles of creative to start on your social platform. That way each creative gets enough budget from each audience to have a statistically significant result, but there’s still a couple options to optimize between. 

One key element should be in all styles of creative and it’s that “pop” factor. Have your product and offer pop. If it’s a static image, find a way to stand out. If it’s a video, showing that product in the first 2-3 seconds is key. 

While the two case studies listed below aren’t specific to merch campaigns, we can infer some of the recommendations have applications to merch:

Music Videos vs Animated Visualizers

Artist Content vs Music Videos

Audiences - Building your audience is what will really drive the campaign. Because buying a piece of music merch is a high intent action, we have to be really intentional about who we’re getting these ads in front of. That’s how we stay efficient. 

One principle to bear in mind when marketing for a high intent action like music merch sales: let’s emphasize retargeting audiences. That means prioritizing users who’ve already expressed an interest in the artist. We can infer that they are the most prepared to take out their credit cards and make a purchase, and our internal data supports this notion. 

This case study determines the effectiveness of combining multiple targeting types to drive return on ad spend (ROAS) for merch campaigns on Google Search.

3. Patience and Adaptability

The best way to make a merch campaign successful and predictable, especially over the holidays when CPM’s fluctuate, is to extend the campaign runtime. With an extended run time, we allow for platforms’ machine learning to tweak how ads are distributed. This machine learning identifies which audiences are most driving Return on Ad Spend and directs more budget towards those audiences, improving total campaign performance. 

Extending flight dates also allow for data informed optimizations: budget can be shifted between platforms, audiences and creatives depending on results. It’s modern performance advertising - we can see what’s resonating with audiences and lean into that - but only if we have the opportunity and time to make adaptations.

Key Takeaway

If you’re looking to market music merchandise this holiday season, set yourself up for success by choosing the most effective platforms, selecting a small variety of creatives, engaging qualified audiences, extending flight dates, and making optimizations. 

Wavo’s approach to music merchandise marketing supports you through this process, learn more about our Managed Service Agency here.

Written by Megan Hilario, Merchandise Account Manager at Wavo

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