Like just about everywhere else in the world, Facebook is becoming more and more crowded and there is a lot more "noise" to deal with -- cat photos, food photos, inspiring quotes, etc.
How can a musician compete with these things?
If you've got $7, one option that will give your message a little boost is the "promoted post." Promoted posts appear higher in Facebook's News Feed, so there's a better chance your audience will see them.
When you post something on Facebook (via a personal page), it normally looks something like this...
Hit the "promote" link, pay $7, and it turns into something like this...
I've been playing around with promoted posts for the last couple of weeks. Since then, I've had a lot of people ask, "Are promoted posts worth it?"
The answer is maybe.
From a numbers perspective, you'll always get more views. Here are a couple of examples...
12.6x as many views isn't bad, but keep in mind that there are a lot of variables at work here and your results (for views and everything else) will vary. For one, "views" don't necessarily mean anything more than your post showing up in a feed. It's nice to be seen, or have the potential of being seen, but what you really want is for people to take action, which in the post above was for people to listen to the Music Marketing [dot] com podcast.
Another example for you...
7.2x as many people. Still not bad for $7, I think.
Over all, after trying this about 10 times, I'm averaging about 9-10x as many views as I would with a non-promoted post.
But would you make your money back? For many people, that's the deciding factor when investing in advertising or marketing.
Your results will vary here as well. Personally, I think, "It's just $7" and I haven't done a real test that tracks ROI, like I would with a more expensive form of advertising, such as Google Adwords or a direct mail piece. Instead, I look at promoted posts on Facebook as a way to potentially increase engagement with existing fans. If that's what you're looking to do, it's an inexpensive way to do it.