This guide walks you through launching your first Paid Growth campaign on Soundlink from start to finish.
Before you start
You'll need:
A Spotify link to the track or playlist you want to promote
A Soundlink account (free to create — you only pay when launching a campaign)
A budget in mind — campaigns start from $10
Step 1: Go to Paid Growth
From your Soundlink dashboard, click Paid Growth in the left sidebar, then click New campaign in the top right. Alternatively, click + Soundlink on the Paid Growth page.
Step 2: Paste your Spotify link
Paste the Spotify URL for the track or playlist you want to promote. Soundlink accepts individual tracks and playlists (playlists are recommended for higher streams and follower conversion). Soundlink will pull the metadata and artwork automatically.
Step 3: Select your genre and vibe
Choose the genre that best fits your music — this helps Soundlink match your track with the right audience and visual style for your ad creatives. Available genres include Alternative/Indie, Ambient/Sleep, Chill/Background, Classical, Country, Electronic/Dance, Hip-Hop/R&B, Latin/Reggaeton, Pop, Rock, and more.
At the bottom of this screen you'll see an Optimize for me toggle — this is on by default. When enabled, Soundlink automatically handles sound selection and creative generation for you. This is the recommended setting for most users.
If you want to manually choose your own creatives instead, turn off Optimize for me and use Full Control: [Ads] Full Control: Choose Your Creatives for Paid Campaigns →
Step 4: Select your platform
Choose where you want to run your campaign:
Meta — runs ads on Facebook and Instagram. Best for reaching a broad audience of authenticated Spotify listeners.
TikTok — runs ads on TikTok. Best for artists with a younger audience or strong TikTok presence.
Most campaigns use Meta as the primary platform. You can run separate campaigns for each platform to compare performance.
Step 5: Choose a campaign strategy
Select a strategy — these are pre-configured targeting and budget combinations optimised for different goals:
Maximum Growth — best approach for most campaigns
Discover Markets — find your audience across top streaming markets
Revenue Maximization — expects higher cost per listener
Custom Strategy — build your own tier combination
If you're not sure, Maximum Growth is the right default for new campaigns.
Step 6: Pick a conversion event
This is where you tell Meta what to optimise for across your ad sets. You have three options:
Soundlink Auth (Default) — optimises for users who authorise their streaming platform. Best for discovery campaigns where you want real Spotify listeners.
Soundlink Stream — optimises for users who play the track. Best for release-week pushes where stream count matters most.
Soundlink LP Click — optimises for users who click through to the landing page. Best for awareness campaigns where reach is the primary goal.
For most campaigns, leave this on the default Soundlink Auth. It targets authenticated Spotify users — the listeners most likely to turn into genuine fans and streams.
Step 7: Set your budget and duration
Choose a total budget and campaign duration. Soundlink will spread your budget evenly across the campaign period. You can adjust the budget at any point while the campaign is live. Auto-Renew is on by default — turn it off before the campaign ends if you don't want it to restart automatically.
Step 8: Add payment and launch
Enter your card or PayPal details and confirm. Your campaign will be submitted to Meta for review — this typically takes a few hours. Once approved it will go live automatically.
After launching
Give the campaign 24–48 hours before drawing conclusions — Meta's algorithm needs time to optimise delivery and Soundlink receives stream data from Spotify with roughly a 24-hour delay. Check your dashboard after the first 2 days for initial results.