While the music industry enters a release slowdown during the holidays, fans increase both their listening and spending habits.

In 2019, Spotify revealed that session time goes up 10% from October through January, as people tend to listen together around connected devices. Naturally, seasonal classics are popular during this time of year, but the platform also sees a spike in non-traditional holiday music that falls under “romantic,” “easygoing,” and “lively” categories.

And between Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Christmas shopping period, November and December are peak months for online shopping.

With e-commerce better integrated into social media platforms and social media itself an increasingly influential channel for shoppers, artists with an engaged online following are in a strong position to make merchandise sales.

Considering all this, here are seven last-minute but no less effective strategies to keep your artists top of mind this holiday season and drive more streams, purchases, and audience growth.

1. Share Year-End Spotify Wrapped Data

Spotify’s annual review for artists, Wrapped, shows performance data for the year gone by along with insights on fan behaviour.

Publicly acknowledge fans by sharing your artist’s Spotify Wrapped banner on socials and boosting the post. Not only will sharing this data help develop a stronger bond with existing fans, but now you have social proof for new listeners.

The 2020 Wrapped was the most-searched edition since Spotify launched the campaign and with increasing user growth on the platform, we expect no less from the 2021 edition. With the extra help of hashtags, artists can join in on the conversation and ride a global trend.

Based on previous release dates, expect Wrapped to arrive the first week of December this year. In the meantime, read Spotify’s 3 Tips & Tricks to Enhance Your Wrapped Experience.

Update: On Dec 1st Spotify launched the 2021 edition of Wrapped.

2. Boost Best-Performing Creatives

The holidays can be a challenging time to put out new content—half of your video team are out-of-office, freelancers aren't checking their inboxes, and those who are around are busy scrambling to tie up final projects. If you can't get something fresh to share with fans in time for the holidays, there's no need to worry.

Instead, use your artist’s social analytics to determine what the year's most popular posts were and boost them. With thousands or even millions of existing engagements, these posts are likely to also be received well as paid media.

To inform your creative strategy, check out our case studies on best practices for Boosted Posts on TikTok and Instagram. To find your best-performing Instagram content, head to the Insights tab and click “Content You Shared,” where you can select a time range, then filter by post type and metrics (see below).

Pro tip: Boosted TikTok posts with creatives that appear native to TikTok generate more profile visits, more views, and stronger view and engagement rates compared to music video clips.

3. Integrate Holiday Themes into Social Posts

As record label releases start to slow, artists can use this opportunity to share music and messages that build their brand and familiarize fans, tailored to the nature of the season.

Posts that recognize specific holidays or include content with a seasonal focus (like spending time with family) feel relevant during this time of the year. Artists who prefer to stay neutral in tone can always share a “Happy New Year” message.

Furthermore, activities that demonstrate a spirit of giving, like offering seasonal promotions, teaming up with a charity, or even supporting other artists can be inspiring. To maximize marketing impact, put marketing spend behind posts that perform strongly.

Check out these examples for inspiration:

4. Make a 2021 Highlight Reel

Nostalgia is a strong force, so what better way to cap off the year than with a highlight reel? Compile significant moments and milestones from 2021 into a high-impact video to share with fans. New releases, anniversaries of old ones, music videos, tour footage, TV performances, award shows, and even personal achievements are all useful source material since they fit within the seasonal theme of reflection and gratitude.

Again, you don’t need any new content to create this video. According to Spotify research “6 in 10 people are more likely to engage with an ad when it feels nostalgic and reminds them of past memories.” So simply dig into 2021 archive to find content to splice together.

5. #TBT Campaigns

According to Adpsresso, #TBT is one of the most popular hashtags on Instagram, and Thursday is tied with Monday for the best time to post on Instagram. Paired with the nostalgic feeling sweeping holiday lovers, December is an ideal time to run a Throwback Thursday campaign and drive fans to stream your artist's music.

Ideally, you want fans to land on a page where they can stream multiple songs in a row from your artist, and not just the one throwback track. So be sure to use either an artist-made playlist, artist-specific playlist, or album in your ad campaign.

For the latest on audio advertising, get our free Spotify ad creative report and Spotify targeting best practices case study.

Doja Cat Playlist — Doja Cat’s Self-Made Playlist

6. Develop Your New Artists On TikTok

When we wrote the first edition of this post in 2019, TikTok was mostly known for it’s role in helping Lil Nas X get his first Billboard hit “Old Town Road.”

Fast forward two years later and TikTok is now a staple in music marketing media plans and a key channel for artist discovery, with over 1 billion users sharing music-driven short-form videos.

One thing that remains unchanged from 2019 is that Costs-Per-View (CPV) on TikTok remain low compared to major platforms like Facebook, making it an ideal channel for new artists to reach a big audience before the year is out.

Learn what kind of content works best with TikTok Boosted posts here.

7. Run a Holiday-Themed Merch Campaign

With most stores closed, lots of out of stock items, and fewer gatherings, last year’s pandemic-fueled holiday shopping season led flocks of consumers to online shops.

While this year's e-commerce holiday sales won’t see the same kind of growth spike as 2020, digital sales for this season are on pace to surpass $200 billion—the first time this has ever happened.

Take advantage of this trend with a holiday-themed merchandise campaign that drives people to an e-commerce store, either for a personal purchase or a gift. And be sure to download our free report “Artist Merch Creative Best Practices,” when planning your campaign.

Pro-tip: Make your ad creative and merch store mobile-friendly. According to Google, “Since the pandemic’s onset, more than a quarter of online shoppers are shopping on their mobile devices.”

Wavo Blog | Music Data, Marketing, and Analytics Content

Winter Holiday Marketing Tips for Artists