Artist: zukorosemeid
Platform: Spotify
Campaign Duration: 3 months

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📊 Starting Metrics (Month 0)

• Monthly Listeners: ~1,700
• Followers: ~1,185
• Top Track Streams: ~50K for “Lala,” but overall low recurring engagement

Challenge: With ~1.7K monthly listeners concentrated in South Africa and moderate streams on top tracks, the goal was to expand reach into new regions and drive consistent engagement.

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🎯 Campaign Goals

1. Boost monthly listeners to 60K+
2. Convert casual listeners into followers and savers
3. Secure both user‑generated and editorial playlist placements
4. Drive engagement via ads and repurpose content for retention

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🛠 Strategic Approach

1. 🎵 Niche Playlist Outreach

• Reached out to 100+ micro-curators and emerging-afro playlist curators across South Africa, Nigeria, UK, and the US.
• Secured placements in at least 12 user-generated niche playlists (deep afro-soul, chill-afro, etc.).

2. 🔁 Consistent Release Strategy

• Released new single roughly every 4 weeks to maintain momentum and algorithm freshness.

3. 📣 Pre‑save & Organic Social Push

• Built pre-save campaigns on Instagram & TikTok.
• Offered fans early-access snippets and behind-the-scenes video content in exchange for saves and follows.

4. 🎯 Paid Spotify Marquee Ads + Social Media Campaigns

• Invested ~$300 on Spotify Marquee during new releases.
• Ran targeted Instagram Story and Reels ads to key demo groups (18–34, South Africa, diaspora).

5. 📊 Data-Driven Retargeting

• Used Spotify for Artists and ad platform analytics to identify high-performing regions and platforms.
• Iteratively refined ads based on save rates, location, and engagement patterns.

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📈 Results (End of 3 Months)

Metric	Month 0	Month 3	Growth
Monthly Listeners	1,700	63,500	+3,640%
Total Streams per Month	~12,000	~320,000	+2,567%
Followers	1,185	8,200	+592%
Saves/Adds Percentage	~2%	~9%	+350%
Playlist Placements	2 micro	12+ micro & 1 editorial	+500% placements

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✅ Key Success Factors

• Focused playlist targeting unlocked organic exposure and authentic engagement from niche curator-audiences.
• Strategic ad timing via Marquee + social media amplified release signals boosting algorithmic inclusion such as Release Radar and Discover Weekly.
• Frequent, quality releases signaled consistency to both listeners and algorithms.
• Active fan incentives (pre-saves, behind-the-scenes) increased follow-through raising saves and algorithmic momentum.
• Data-informed optimization ensured ads were rerouted to the highest‑conversion regions and demographics.

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🚧 Challenges Addressed

• Low baseline visibility: overcame with playlist placements and precise ad targeting.
• Budget efficiency: maximized with layered campaigns Marquee during releases, social retargeting during lulls.
• Engagement conversion: tackled by embedding CTAs in Canvas visuals and visuals aligned with song mood (e.g., earthy, emotive).

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💡 Takeaways

• Quality over quantity: fewer, well-aligned playlists drove more value than high-volume, generic pitches.
• Saves + follower conversion: small percentage improvements had exponential algorithmic benefits.
• Retargeting pays off: identifying and doubling down on top-performing geos and demographics led to scalable growth.
• Release cadence matters: consistency maintained algorithmic and listener attention.