Are you an indie musician looking to expand your reach on Spotify?
With over 456 million monthly listeners, Spotify is the key platform to build an audience as an artist.
The challenge? Over 82 million songs exist on Spotify from well-funded major label acts to emerging independents.
Simply creating a profile and uploading your songs doesn’t lead to overnight success.
You need real momentum on Spotify itself to cut through the noise.
The good news?
There are accessible marketing tactics within your control to gain more Spotify listeners, drive streams, and ultimately thrive as an indie artist using the platform.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the most effective promotional strategies and best practices you as an artist can leverage in 2023 to truly boost your Spotify plays and overall presence.
Let’s dive in.
Why Spotify Marketing Matters More Than Ever
In the attention economy, standing out among competition is everything. This applies 10x for music streaming, where listeners have endless artist options at their fingertips.
Driving streams then becomes vital for artists not only financially but also for:
- Increasing Listener Reach – Spotify enables tapping into new fanbases globally
- Unlocking Opportunities – Model platforms depend heavily on streaming numbers
- Gaining Industry Validation – Charts, playlists spots, and verified checkmarks signal real momentum
Yet over 25,000 tracks get added daily…so what can you do specifically?
This guide will tackle actionable Spotify marketing strategies for artists seeking to boost popularity.
First, let’s review how to best optimize your Spotify artist profile itself to shine.
Step 1. Optimize Your Spotify Artist Profile
Your Spotify artist profile is the landing page for all current and prospective fans. Treat it as your homebase.
Start by ensuring your profile looks professional and positions you to shine by:
1. Pick the Right Photos
Profile and cover images should reflect your artistic brand. Christmas music aside, these images remain static year-round, so choose clear photos or logo art that won’t look dated or out-of-place later.
2. Write The Perfect Bio
Keep your bio clear and skimmable for mobile readers. Cover your:
- Music origin story & background
- Preferred genre(s)
- Key career highlights
- External site links
3. Show Off With Profile Playlists
Playlists help current fans dig deeper into your catalog while allowing new visitors to preview your songs.
Create multiple playlists organized by themes like:
- Essentials – Top tracks
- Album samplers – Previews by project
- Mood-based – Chill, hype, melancholy
- Genre/Topic-focused – Holiday, love songs
This keeps new and existing listeners streaming more of your music.
Now let’s move onto driving external traffic to your improved hub.
Step 2. Land Editorial Playlist Placements
Securing spots on influential Spotify editorial playlists can drive massive streams.
The most popular like New Music Friday boast over 5 million devoted followers.
As an indie artist, you can submit upcoming tracks to be considered for high-reach playlists.
To submit:
- Go to Spotify for Artists
- Click on Song Submissions menu
- Enter your new track details
- Request slot for suitable editorial playlists
Follow these best practices when submitting to boost chances of a coveted playlist add:
- Submit at least 7 days before track release date
- Only submit one song per playlist at a time
- Ensure accurate songwriter metadata
- Provide multiple genre tags to broaden matches
- Follow playlist to understand their audience
With strategic submissions, a single playlist feature can set you on a path of sustained, scalable new listeners.
Step 3. Tap the Power of Algorithmic Playlists
Seeking additional placements beyond exclusive editorial lists?
Leverage Spotify’s own personalized playlists.
There are algorithmic playlists like Discover Weekly and Release Radar that help users find new artists based on their listening preferences.
As a rising artist, optimizing your metadata helps surface your music across these playlists as well.
Quick metadata tips:
- Maximize genre tags
- Provide detailed song descriptions
- Link artist collaborators
Setting this foundation means your new music has a better chance of matching with your current listeners and new fans of emerging acts through automated playlists.
Step 4. Grow with Spotify’s Marketing Platform
Want free data insights to better understand your audience? Or invest ad dollars more precisely?
Tap into Spotify for Artists
This app provides valuable listener analytics on:
- Where they’re listening from
- Demographic splits
- How they discover your music
Plus as you grow, you gain access to powerful marketing tools like Marquee to promote new releases to your most engaged followers.
For paid reach, utilize Spotify Ad Studio to create targeted audio ads to help achieve objectives like:
- Drive streams
- Gain followers
- Promote tour dates
- Develop mailing lists
Start with small test budgets to gauge performance then optimize spend for proven high-converting audiences.
Step 5. Collaborate with Aligned Artists
Collabs represent a time-tested tactic for merging fanbases to maximize discovery.
But chasing clout with big names won’t help if the song lacks authentic chemistry.
Instead find rising artists in a similar spot as you with an aligned aesthetic. This leads to ideal crossover exposure at a peer level.
Some ideas:
- Feature a rapper on a hype remix of your hit
- Produce a track for a singer-songwriter
- Blend country Artists for a pop-crossover jam
Coordinate dropping the collab track along with co-promoting it across both social media channels for optimal mutual benefit.
Step 6. Create Additional Content For Social
Beyond the music itself, fans crave seeing what’s happening behind-the-scenes too.
Short-form, sound-on content works perfectly across leading platforms like Instagram Reels or TikTok.
Record and save bits of travels, tour stops, studio sessions, writing vibes. Then craft into casual content clips highlighting your process and personality away from just Spotify.
This gives existing listeners added context while allowing discovery by new fans searching those viral sound trends.
Step 7. Promote Across Other Social Channels
While prospects first hear your music itself on Spotify, you must drive them there initially through other top platforms.
This means leveraging your existing followings across social media to lead them back into streaming on Spotify after release.
Post Previews Across
- Instagram Feed & Stories
- YouTube via Shorts or Videos
- TikTok Clips
- Twitter Snippets
Then link back to the full song on Spotify via your bio link or posts.
Step 8. Re-engage Inactive Listeners
Having existing listeners is invaluable. Yet your most recent streams could be predominately coming from newer fans.
Here’s how to get lapsed listeners back into the streaming cycle:
- Export streaming data via Spotify for Artists to uncover listeners falling off
- Identify older popular tracks they used to stream
- Refresh old playlist placements for those awakening dormant fans
- Promote varying throwback catalogue concurrently with newer releases
This sustains overall listenership while retaining hard-won fans.
Step 9. Grow Your Hyper-Engaged Community
Who are those superfans constantly streaming your tracks?
Tap Spotify data within Spotify for Artists to identify your most loyal listeners.
Seeking to better reward and engage this vocal minority?
Some ideas:
- Shout them out by name on social media
- Offer limited merch
- Create “insider-only” content
- Grant early access to pre-saves
Making superfans feel valued further solidifies their passion. And they can serve as brand evangelists to then attract wider audiences.
Step 10. Track Weekly Streaming Performance
Especially as you scale campaigns, closely monitor how promotional activities directly impact Spotify performance.
Within Spotify for Artists, follow weekly streaming trends tied to growth goals across:
- Followers – Overall reach
- Monthly Listeners – Audience scale
- Streams – Song specific resonance
Review what marketing initiatives and content releases corresponded to observable spikes.
This helps you double down on what demonstrably works and optimize areas falling short. With enough data, you can even forecast future promo success based on past correlations.
Final Thoughts
Gaining more ears and fans on Spotify comes through implementing multiple marketing initiatives in parallel then closely tracking their direct impact on streams and followers.
Consistently release music aligned to your brand that listeners proudly want to engage with. Distribute onto relevant playlists. Promote across social channels. And stay tapped into fan analytics.
Rinse and repeat this checklist overtime while testing additional techniques that could resonate. Don’t treat music promotion as a one-and-done step. View it as an evergreen, always-on process integral to sustaining artist growth in the streaming age.
The strategies covered throughout this guide offer aspiring and rising artists alike a blueprint for expanding your Spotify influence this coming year. Just don’t get overwhelmed implementing everything at once.
Start with foundational profile optimization and social cross-promotion to build sustainable momentum on Spotify and beyond.
What other Spotify marketing best practices have you found to effectively work as an indie artist? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below!