Domain Targeting
The first part of our process for targeting, is setting the websites in which we want our ads to appear on, also known as “domain targeting.”
There are two options for domain targeting: either “Premium Sites” or “Max Click Sites.”
Premium Sites (G) refers to websites that are “premium publishers,” or well-known websites with large monthly readerships. Premium Sites for music include RollingStone, Billboard, Pitchfork, Complex, XXL, and more.
Premium sites are batched into groups of sites, which can be selected for targeting by clicking the dropdown icon.
Premium Sites under the Music subheading are grouped by genre (e.g., the Hip-Hop group contains sites like XXL, Complex, and WorldStarHipHop). Choose the group of sites that is most applicable to the release you are promoting. If multiple different genre groups are applicable to the release you are promoting, “All Music - Premium Sites” is a good alternative option.
You can see which premium sites are in each group by clicking the pink Manage button next to the group’s name. Here, you can also add additional sites to target, or remove them.
If there are any domains you’d like to remove from the group, click the X next to the website’s name in the Pre-set list. If there are any websites you’d like to add to pre-set list for use in the current ad you are setting up, you can add them in the Domains List on the right and click Add. These lists can be saved for use in future campaigns. If further instructions are needed, see here.
Your other option for domain targeting, is Max Clicks Sites (H). Max Clicks Sites are not premium publishers, but are designed and optimized by the system to generate the most amount of clicks and engagement possible on your ad, while still also reaching users with relevant interests to your ad. In essence, Premium Sites are more expensive to place ads on, but the benefit that you’re getting is the placement of your ad on large, well-known websites. Max Clicks sites are cheaper - the benefit you’re getting is more clicks and engagement on your ads for the same budget.
Clicking the dropdown icon for Max Clicks Sites allows you to select a group of websites that is most appropriate for your release. Sites are grouped by genre here as well. Unlike Premium Sites, the groups under Max Clicks cannot be edited.
When setting up domain targeting, you may select Premium Sites OR Max Clicks Sites, but not both together.
When choosing between Premium Sites or Max Clicks Sites, it is best to consider the goals and objectives of the artist and release you are promoting. Choose Premium Sites if the artist’s primary objective is to build awareness of themselves and their music, raise their overall profile, and build their brand. Choose Max Clicks if the objective is to drive up streams and video views, or to encourage discovery of their music amongst new audiences.
Interest Targeting
After setting your domain targeting, Interest targeting is another targeting option you can enable when setting up your ads. Unlike domain targeting (which designates which websites your ad appears on), interest targeting displays ads to specific users based on their web browsing behavior and what users are most likely to be interested in based on their habits, on any websites they may be browsing.
To select interest targeting, it is advised to search whatever interests you’d like in the “Type to Search” bar above. As you start typing, a list of suggested interests will appear. You can also browse targetable options using the dropdown icon, but we would recommend searching as the list of interest targeting options is very long!
Targeting options include specific topics the user is interested in (e.g., hobbies, activities, purchases, etc), demographic (e.g., age groups, gender, marital status, etc.,), behavior (e.g., spanish speaking, e-book reader, etc.,) and much more! Just try searching for relevant interests, behaviors, and activities for your ad’s target audience.
Some important things to consider when utilizing interesting targeting:
Interest targeting is typically used alongside domain targeting, to widen your target audience (not narrow). So setting “Hip-Hop premium sites” in your domain targeting AND setting “Spanish Speaking” in your interest targeting will serve ads to 2 different sets of users.
Adding in Interest targeting can help lower your overall CPC (cost per click) when you also have premium sites domain targeting enabled, since interest targeting is able to serve ads to users on a larger amount of websites across all of the internet. In this way, Interest targeting operates in a similar fashion to our “max clicks” targeting options.
Optimizations
The following section is only applicable if you are using both “Domain Sites” Targeting for Premium Sites, AND Interest Targeting. If you do not meet these criteria, then the Optimizations setting will be greyed out.
If you do have both types of targeting enabled, our ad platform gives you an option of which objective you would like to prioritize: Brand Building OR Clicks/Engagements. Click the dropdown icon to view the two options and select one of the two.
Selecting one option or the other tells our ad platform which targeting to prioritize when serving ads. If Brand Building is selected, our ad platform will optimize how ads are served to prioritize delivery to premium sites - resulting in a lower amount of clicks/engagements, but more impressions on premium sites. If Clicks/Engagements is selected, our ad platform will prioritize ad delivery to users targeted by interest targeting. Since users via interest targeting are cheaper to reach than users on premium sites, selecting the Clicks/Engagement options will maximize the amount of clicks and engagements you are getting for your budget (instead of prioritizing placement on premium sites)