A free resource from Digital Edge Media

The ad playbook we use to fill live music rooms.

We handle marketing end to end for independent venues across the country, and paid ads are the engine that fills the room. This is the exact ad system we build for them, written out in full: the audiences, the targeting, and the default settings that quietly drain most budgets. It's yours to keep, free.

What's inside
  • The four-audience targeting stack we build for every show
  • How to set up custom audiences and lookalikes from scratch
  • Geotargeting that keeps your spend in your own market
  • The Meta settings worth switching off before you publish
  • What a healthy cost-per-click actually looks like
11.15x
Return on ad spend
$11.15 back per $1
$551,457
Total revenue driven
8,585
Tickets sold
$5.76
Avg cost per ticket buyer
$49,454
Total ad spend
44
Shows filled

Free. Takes about 20 seconds.

Here's your playbook. Read it, run it, and keep it for every show.
Yours — run it yourself, or have us run it

The Packed-House Playbook

The real audience architecture — the same targeting we build for paying rooms. No theory. Stack the audiences in this order and you stop renting strangers and start reaching people who actually show up.

AD SET 01
Direct audience
  • The artist's IG + FB engagers and followers
  • Affinity artists' IG + FB engagers and followers
  • Past buyer lists from the artist's shows + affinity artists' shows
AD SET 02
Lookalike audience
  • Lookalikes of every audience built in Ad Set 01
AD SET 03
Artist interest targets
  • Affinity artists and specific genre tagsSkip broad keywords like "Concerts" or "Music." Target specific genres — "Rock Music," "Indie Rock," "Pop Punk," and so on.
AD SET 04
Lifestyle interest targetsOptional
  • Key demographics, behaviors, and lifestyle interestsWhen the audience overlaps subcultures — LGBTQ+, environmental activism, spiritualism — or shows clear brand loyalty, it's a strong A/B test.
Setup

Creating custom audiences

In Ads Manager: Create new → Custom audience. Build the artist's direct audiences from Instagram account and Facebook page, and upload past buyer lists under Customer list.

Build two separate audiences from each source — people who engaged and people who started following — then create a lookalike off each (1% recommended).

  • Custom audiences and lookalike audiences go into two separate ad sets
  • Engaged and new-follower audiences stay split for clean signal
Targeting

Geotargeting

Unless you're a destination venue, target your market + 50 miles.

⚠ Do not check "Reach more people likely to respond" If that box is checked, your ads serve to fans all over the country and your budget evaporates. Leave it off on every ad set.
Before you publish

Final touches

Turn these off on every version of every ad — Meta's "helpful" defaults distort your creative and waste spend:

  • Catalog items OFF
  • Text improvements OFF
  • Visual touch-ups OFF
  • Add music OFF
  • Add animation OFF
  • Site links OFF
FAQs

The questions we always get

What should my campaign objective be?
In almost all cases, optimize Landing Page Views or Sales/Conversions. We lean Landing Page Views — fans click to check info and ticket price even when they're not ready to buy, and you can retarget them next campaign to close the sale. Meta reps advise against Awareness campaigns in this niche; it burns budget on people outside your audience.
What are ad sets?
Ad sets hold your targeting. Run 3–4 per campaign with minimal overlap so it's a true A/B test — Meta finds the top performers and shifts budget to them. Keep the ad itself (creative, copy, landing page) identical across every ad set.
What age range?
Never leave the default 18–65+. Unless the show is all-ages, most buyers land between 21–55. We'll flag when a room skews older or younger — when in doubt, ask.
What's a "good" CPC?
Run this way and expect $0.18–$0.30 cost per click. If you're at $0.40 or higher, flag it and we'll talk alternative strategies.