Mastering Spotify Ads: Proven Strategies That Work for Artists

Getting your music heard on Spotify amidst a sea of tracks is a challenge every artist and manager faces.

Unlike traditional ads, Spotify’s ads re-engage real fans and target new listeners based on actual listening behavior, not vague interests. And best of all? Because everything stays inside Spotify, there’s no drop-off between clicking and playing.

This guide cuts straight to the chase, showing you how to use Spotify Marquee, Showcase, and Ad Studio effectively for your specific goals, whether you’re launching a new single, dropping an EP or album, looking to breathe new life into your back catalog, or aiming to expand your audience and scale.

How the Right Strategy Can Change Everything (and the Wrong One Can Burn Your Budget)

1. Launching Your New Single with Impact

When you release a new single, the goal is clear: make an immediate splash, drive streams, and capture those crucial early fans. Here’s how Spotify’s ad tools can help you achieve this without unnecessary complexity.

• Your Go-To Tool: Spotify Marquee. For a new single, Marquee is often your best bet for instant impact. It’s a full-screen recommendation shown to listeners who are already likely to enjoy your music, based on their listening habits. This means you’re not shouting into the void; you’re reaching an engaged audience right when they’re looking for something new to play.

(Did you know? A Spotify study found Marquee delivers, on average, 10 times more listeners per dollar spent compared to similar social media ads! Source: Spotify for Artists Blog)

Best Practice: You can start your Marquee campaign either on release day for maximum immediate impact or 2–3 days later to avoid overlapping with Release Radar. Delaying slightly lets organic channels do their job first and improves targeting by reaching fans who haven’t streamed the release yet—helping you build momentum more efficiently.

• Follow-Up Punch: Spotify Showcase. Once your Marquee campaign has run its course (usually up to 10 days), or if you want to give your single an extra promotional wave, Showcase is an excellent tool. It allows you to feature your music directly on the Home feed of listeners who have shown interest in your genre or similar artists.

Best Practice: Schedule it 1–3 weeks later with a headline like “Getting Buzz” to signal ongoing momentum and re-engage listeners who may have missed the initial push. When using Marquee and Showcase together, artists can experience up to a 40x lift in new active listeners, creating powerful momentum for new singles—making this sequential strategy a powerful way to extend your release cycle.

• Bonus Tip: Use Spotify Ad Studio for Pre-Release Teasers, Audience Expansion, or When Marquee/Showcase Aren’t an Option.

Spotify Ad Studio is a flexible ad tool that supports both audio and video ads, making it ideal for a variety of strategic goals. Whether you’re building anticipation before a release, looking to reach entirely new listeners, or don’t yet meet the eligibility requirements for Marquee or Showcase, Ad Studio gives you a powerful way to get heard.

Best Practice: Run a short, visually compelling video teaser 5-7 days before your release to create hype. After release, use Ad Studio to target fans of similar artists or genres, expanding your reach with engaging creative. Even on a limited budget, high-quality Ad Studio campaigns can drive meaningful results—especially for developing artists.

2. Making Your EP or Album Release Count

Releasing an EP or album is a significant milestone. Your advertising goal shifts from a quick hit to encouraging deeper engagement with a full body of work. You want listeners to explore multiple tracks and ideally, save the entire project.

• Lead with Strength: Spotify Marquee. Marquee is particularly powerful for EPs and albums. When a listener clicks on your Marquee, they are taken directly to your EP or album page, making it easy for them to start listening and exploring your new music. This often leads to higher Active Streams Per Listener and a greater chance of them saving the whole project, which is a key indicator of future listening.

• Sustain the Narrative: Spotify Showcase. After the initial Marquee campaign, use Showcase to keep the momentum going. You can highlight specific tracks from the EP or album, share positive press quotes, or simply remind listeners that your new project is out.

Best Practice: After your Marquee campaign concludes, deploy Showcase to maintain momentum and re-engage listeners. This approach not only keeps your music top-of-mind but also supports continued algorithmic engagement by reaching both existing fans and potential new listeners.

Audience Growth Impact: Full projects benefit significantly from this approach, with up to 3x more streams per listener and 2.2x more saves, leading to greater algorithmic traction and long-term growth.

3. Build a Loyal, Engaged Fanbase & Get Discovered By New Listeners

Attracting new listeners is essential for building a sustainable music career. Whether you’re promoting a new release, boosting your back catalogue, or growing your presence on the platform, discovery alone isn’t enough—you need to convert that first play into a lasting connection. That’s where a coordinated use of Spotify’s tools helps turn strangers into superfans.

• The First Encounter: Spotify Ad Studio. Ad Studio is your go-to tool for introducing your music to completely new audiences. You can choose between audio ads or video ads, depending on your goals and creative assets. With precision targeting based on listening behavior, genre preferences, real-time context, and even fans of similar artists, Ad Studio helps you connect with listeners who are most likely to enjoy your sound—even if they’ve never heard of you before.

Best Practice: Whether you choose audio or video, craft an ad that gives a strong sense of your identity and sound. Use genre-based targeting or tap into fans of similar artists to make sure your message lands with the right ears—and eyes.

(Did you know? Artists can reach 50,000+ potential listeners with a single Ad Studio campaign—even with modest budgets.)

• Deepening Interest: Spotify Showcase. Once you’ve made that first impression, Showcase helps you re-engage listeners and guide them deeper into your world. Showcase keeps your release visible to new fans just discovering your music and gives you the chance to draw them in with compelling messaging.

Best Practice: Highlight themes, moods, or stories that resonate with your target audience. This is your opportunity to build a connection that lasts beyond a single stream. Focus on countries where your new audience is growing, and time the campaign to align with moments of heightened interest.

• Solidifying the Relationship: Spotify Marquee. For those who’ve already shown signs of interest, Marquee helps turn that spark into something more. It gives high-potential new listeners a nudge to return and explore more—right when they’re most receptive.

Best Practice: For new releases, apply the full-funnel approach by combining Ad Studio to tap into new audiences, Marquee to deepen engagement with recent listeners, and Showcase to keep momentum alive. This sequence helps reinforce interest and build lasting connections with your growing audience

Audience Growth Impact: A listener who hears you once might forget you—but a listener who streams multiple times, saves your track, or follows you is far more likely to stay. When used together, Spotify’s tools can deliver up to a 40x increase in new active listeners. This coordinated journey—from discovery to loyalty—opens up new markets, strengthens your fanbase, and fuels long-term growth.

4. Breathing New Life into Your Catalog

Your older songs still have value! Catalog marketing is about re-engaging existing fans with tracks they might have missed or loved, and introducing your established work to new listeners. This is where smart, targeted promotion can shine.

• The Star Player: Spotify Showcase. Showcase is the primary tool for promoting your back catalog. Its flexibility allows you to highlight specific songs, albums, or even playlists featuring your older material. You can use compelling ad copy to draw listeners in, such as highlighting anniversaries, seasonal relevance, or connections to your new releases.

Best Practice: Identify tracks in your back catalog that have performed well in the past or are getting momentum again. Use Showcase to bring these tracks to the attention of listeners who may have missed them the first time around.

• Broader Discovery: Spotify Ad Studio. For reaching new audiences who might appreciate your established sound, Spotify Ad Studio offers robust targeting options. You can target listeners based on their demographics, interests, listening habits, and even real-time contexts.

Best Practice: Create campaigns around specific themes (e.g.,”Throwback Hits That Still Hit”, “Trending Again”, “Feel the Vibes”) or target fans of artists with a similar sound. This can help you connect with new listeners who are likely to enjoy your back catalog.

Audience Growth Impact: Remember that 75% of a release’s streams happen after the first month. With targeted catalog promotion, you can convert one-time listeners into superfans and expand your audience internationally.

Spotify Ad Tools at a Glance

Smart Targeting: Your Key to Spotify Ad Success

Beyond simply boosting posts, understanding and leveraging specific targeting options is crucial for maximizing your ad spend and achieving meaningful results. Whether you’re using Marquee, Showcase, or Ad Studio, refining your audience can make all the difference.

• For Marquee Campaigns: While Marquee primarily targets your reachable audience (those who have already shown interest in your music), you can often refine this by selecting segments like super, moderate, or light active listeners, previously active fans who haven’t streamed you recently, or even listeners who discovered you through editorial or algorithmic playlists. This ensures your release reaches the fans most likely to stream, save, or dive deeper into your music.
• For Showcase Campaigns: Showcase promotes new or catalog releases on Spotify’s Home tab, targeting listeners most likely to engage. You can reach recent listeners, re-engage lapsed ones, or expand to those who found you through playlists or haven’t streamed you in over two years—ensuring your music hits the right audience at the right time.
• For Ad Studio Campaigns: Spotify Ad Studio (audio and video ads) offers the most granular targeting options – you can layer demographic data (age, gender, location) with interest-based targeting (genres, artists, podcast categories, fans of similar artists) and even real-time contexts (listening to a ‘Focus’ or ‘Party’ playlist). This allows you to reach both new and existing listeners, with a focus on audience growth and expansion.

Key Takeaway: Don’t just promote your music; promote it to the right people. Continuously analyze your campaign performance, test different targeting strategies, and refine your approach based on what drives the best results. This iterative process is key to unlocking the full potential of Spotify’s advertising tools.

Partnering for Success: Amplify Your Spotify Strategy

Effectively managing Spotify ad campaigns takes time, expertise, and a deep understanding of the platform’s features. At iGroove, we have the expertise and experience of running campaigns across these formats for numerous artists and labels, spanning different genres and career stages—we know what works.

Moreover, iGroove truly understands your music. As your partner in driving music success, we not only bring comprehensive historical data and deep insights into your audience, but also share your goal: to get your music as many streams as possible. Every campaign we run is tailored with that long-term vision in mind. This can help you achieve your goals more efficiently and effectively.

Our team of Spotify advertising specialists can help you:

• Develop a tailored advertising strategy: We’ll work with you to understand your goals, target audience, and budget to create a plan that delivers results.
• Optimize your campaigns for performance: We’ll continuously monitor your campaigns, making data-driven adjustments to maximize your ROI.
• Craft compelling ad creatives: From eye-catching visuals to engaging audio, we’ll help you create ads that resonate with your audience.
• Provide transparent reporting: You’ll receive regular updates on your campaign performance, so you always know how your investment is working for you.

Explore Our Upgraded Spotify Ad Packages

We’ve elevated our Spotify ad services—bringing you multi-format ad strategies, deep strategic planning, expert execution, and hands-on support at every phase. From tailored setup to real-time optimization and post-campaign analytics, we ensure your budget works harder.

Get in touch to learn more.