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The innovative agency develops Digital Marketing Strategies that are aligned with a client's goals which, of course, could be album sales, concert and ticket revenue, awareness, and social media followers. URLgenius is a key part of the agency’s strategy, and we’ll explain why in a moment.
First, to set the stage, it’s important to consider what’s happening in the music industry right now and how social media— especially TikTok— is changing the music industry in various ways, including how music is advertised and promoted.
Social Media Disrupts Music Marketing as App-to-App Linking Becomes a Key Campaign Requirement
Social media has become a powerful and disruptive channel for discovering new music. TikTok, Instagram, and other social apps are turning the industry upside down as unsigned artists are transformed into megastars seemingly overnight using a combination of raw talent and a knack for increasing followers with viral musical moments.
Learn more about the benefits of using URLgenius app links behind your social media ads to boost app installs and engagement:
Artists and record labels cannot rely only on the Spotify algorithm to find new listeners and loyal fanbases. Advertising on social media apps including TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram directly into Spotify and other streaming apps is now a vitally important marketing tactic to keep established artists top-of-mind and to help new artists get discovered.
So, whether it's simply driving awareness that a new album is about to launch or available now or creating buzz in the industry for a brand-new artist— social ads are here to stay as part of the promotional playbook.
So as the heart of music discovery continues to shift from the streaming platforms like Spotify to social media, a challenge is being presented to music marketers. Record labels and agencies need to send listeners from social apps like TikTok into Spotify and other streaming apps.
Sounds easy enough, right? Not quite. A regular Spotify link used in a TikTok ad will send the listener to the Spotify website login within the TikTok browser (nope you can't launch another app from TikTok and other apps easily). This is called the 'Walled Garden' effect.
The solution is something called app deep linking. The team at Exploding Bands needed to solve this (and quickly) using a solution that was simple and secure, but one that did not require any special technical resources.
Exploding Bands Media Chooses URLgenius for App-to-App Linking from Social Media to Spotify
When Exploding Bands increased investments in social advertising for their artists and record labels they immediately noticed the walled garden issue. What made the problem even more confusing was that Spotify links behaved differently when clicked from different social apps. TikTok in particular was extremely important for certain artists in their efforts to reach certain demographics, so that use case was absolutely needed to deliver measurable results.
After evaluating several solutions, Exploding Bands chose URLgenius for its simplicity and ease of use. Updating the Spotify links (artists, tracks, albums, playlists) was a simple process that took minutes— so they were able to be tested in the ad immediately. There was no SDK required and nothing to install, which made the decision to test a no-brainer.
In testing the links from Instagram, the URLgenius link for the Spotify app opened immediately and seamlessly. When the same URLgenius link was clicked from a TikTok ad, the team discovered the TikTok app is designed in a way that requires the user to be presented with a choice between the TikTok app and the website, which turned out to be a benefit.
URLgenius delivered an immediate and dramatic increase in listener engagement solving the problem instantly. Plus, there's a snowball-like effect as the Spotify algorithm takes and propels that success. – CTO at Exploding Bands
The results were instant and delivered more than 500% more engagement. In addition, as the URLgenius links drove more users directly into the Spotify app to specific tracks, artists, and albums, the Spotify algorithm started receiving more and more engagement signals which in turn the platform used in decisions to suggest that music to other listeners with similar music tastes. It was a self-reinforcing snowball effect that propelled artist growth and revenue.
Prior to using URLgenius, the team estimated that not more than 10% of listeners were able to reach the Spotify app after clicking the ads. With URLgeius, the percentage of listeners opening the app is more than 50%. The other half of the audience that decides not to open the Spotify app is attributed to user behavior at a mobile moment when the listener prefers the Spotify website or they don't use the Spotify app on that mobile device.
Either way, by giving the user a choice between the Spotify app or website, the ad isn't forcing the fan to use the Spotify app so ultimately the URLgenius choice page benefits music campaign performance.
The Preferred App-to-App Linking Solution for Music Marketing and Advertising
From ease of use and time to implementation, URLgenius delivered results not only for TikTok campaigns but for the business at large. Other benefits of using URLgenius included the ability to brand URLgenius links with the Exploding Brands domain, which is important to the growth of the agency. The app linking platform also supports a variety of streaming platforms and social apps which helps plan different use cases with different types of clients according to their campaign goals and objectives.
The future is bright with unlimited growth for Exploding Bands Media and their stable of artists, and URLgenius is proud to be in the audience to cheer them on!
If you found this content helpful, check out some of our latest how-to posts for music and social app deep linking to increase listeners, plays, and engagement:
- How to Create Spotify Profile & Song Links to Open the Spotify App from Social Media Ads & Increase Spotify Streams
- Music Marketing: App Deep Linking to Open the Spotify App from the TikTok App
- Deep Linking to the Spotify App While Tracking App Opens
- How to Create One App Deep Link that Opens iTunes on iOS vs. Spotify on Android