INTRODUCTION
According to Statista, Spotify has more than 400 million ad-supported monthly active users, with more than 50% of users between the ages of 18 and 34 years old.
Restaurants can take advantage of the popular audio streaming platform to reach potential customers, particularly younger customers, who live in their area by running targeted audio, video, display or podcast ads.
Following are some tips on how your restaurant can advertise on Spotify.
SET UP SPOTIFY BUSINESS ACCOUNT AND SPOTIFY AD ACCOUNT
Before you can advertise on Spotify, you must first create a business account and an ad account for your restaurant. Go to ads.spotify.com and click “Create an ad” to get started. Of note, your Ads Manager account must be associated with an individual Spotify music account, and you will use that email and password to log in.
Create an “alias” Spotify account using a business email if you prefer not to use your own. Once logged in, follow the steps to create an account for your business. You will need to enter your business type (e.g., brand), name and email, as well as your website (optional) and country or region.
A corresponding default ad account will automatically be created. Add an account name, industry (e.g., “Restaurants & Food Services”), billing information and a payment method to run ads.
The person who creates the business account will be assigned the “business admin” role for your account. They can add other business admins or ad account admins to help manage ads for your restaurant. You can also add multiple ad accounts to one business account, which could be ideal for restaurant groups with different brands.
Create and install the Spotify pixel on your website to track the actions people take. For instance, you could track reservation actions, newsletter sign-ups or gift card sales.
RESEARCH A SPOTIFY AUDIENCE FOR YOUR RESTAURANT
Before you create a campaign, identify demographics and key traits of the customers you’d like to reach. For example, if your restaurant is trying to drive foot traffic and bar sales for happy hour, you could target young professionals who live or work in the area.
Match the audience(s) your team identifies with similar parameters in Spotify Ads Manager. For instance, you can target by specific location, such as your city or postal code, and demographics like age and gender. Refine your audience further by assigning detailed interests.
For the young professionals example, you could target individuals in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups who are interested in careers, alcoholic beverages and dining out.
You also can create a custom audience to match your customer list (such as your newsletter subscribers or past reservations) with people on Spotify. Use custom audiences to help drive repeat business or promote special events (e.g., wine dinners) to the people who are most likely to attend. The platform also launched a website events source (currently in beta) to target Spotify listeners who’ve taken specific actions on your website.
Click the three-line symbol next to “Advertising” and select “Audiences” to set up a custom audience.
BUILD A SPOTIFY AD CAMPAIGN
Start by selecting the campaign objective that aligns with your goal. For instance, pick website traffic to optimize the campaign for clicks or landing page views on your website (e.g., a special event page, your reservation page) or brand awareness if you are trying to maximize reach.
Select “Auction” to access Spotify’s full streaming platform and set your own daily budget, or select “Podcasts” to exclusively reach podcast listeners with a set CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions).
Now name your campaign and click “next” to set up your ad set. Enter your targeting parameters (you can use the audience you already researched), ad format (audio, video or display), placement (music only or all placements including music and podcasts), budget and schedule. You should also set a bid cap, which allows you to set a maximum spend per 1,000 impressions.
Spotify will provide estimated results, including budget delivery likelihood, which can help you determine whether you should increase or decrease your daily budget. Estimates for impressions, reach (the number of unique viewers/listeners) and CPM are also available.
Click “next” to set up your ad.
CREATE YOUR SPOTIFY AUDIO AD
Enter the name for your ad, your restaurant name and a compelling headline that is 40 characters or fewer. If you are optimizing your campaign for website visits, you also need a call-to-action, like “learn more” or “book now,” and a destination URL (typically a special landing page). For the audio ad format, you must also provide a square logo and a square “companion” or full-screen canvas image to accompany your audio.
Next, add your audio. Upload your own MP3, OGG or WAV file, or have Spotify create an audio ad for you. The “Make your own” option allows you to create an audio clip immediately, while the “Work with Spotify” option can take 2-4 business days to produce.
If you opt to “Make your own,” create a script that’s up to 500 characters and 30 seconds long. Include the “what” (e.g., your promotion) early on. Add other key details like the name and location of your restaurant and, if applicable, the date and time of the special event. Read your script aloud to test how it will sound as an audio clip. For instance, dates should be written out as “September 30th” instead of being abbreviated as “Sept. 30.”
Spotify also has a generative AI option that can help write your script. You can use this to create an initial draft, but you should refine the copy before producing the audio clip.
Once your script is ready, select one of Spotify’s AI voices. The platform has various male and female voices that represent different age groups. You also can customize the tone (e.g., serious, friendly, lively) to align with your message. Spotify will generate the audio clip based on your parameters. You can then preview the audio and make edits before finalizing your ad.
Finally, add background music from Spotify’s preset library or upload your own music to use in the ad. When you are satisfied with the audio, save the ad to your campaign and launch it. It may take up to 48 hours for the campaign to be approved by Spotify.
Monitor advertising insights in Spotify’s dashboard and adjust your campaign or ad as needed.