I was talking to one of my artist homies about his ads recently and we got into a conversation about how to actually tell if an ad is working. He was looking at his CPC, CTR, all the normal ad metrics. And I was basically like... That's only half the story. What are people doing AFTER they click? Because you can have a 10 cent CPC and still be running a bad campaign. The way I usually look at it is by comparing your CPC on the ad with your CTR on your smart link. Those two numbers together can tell you a lot. Low CPC + High Smart Link CTR = Good content, good song The content got their attention cheaply AND once they got to the smart link, they still wanted to hear the song. That's what we're looking for. High CPC + Low Smart Link CTR = Bad content, bad song It's expensive to get people interested enough to click, and the people who do aren't continuing to a DSP. There can obviously be other factors, but usually we're going back to the drawing board here lol. High CPC + High Smart Link CTR = Bad content, good song This is actually an interesting one. The content isn't doing a great job getting people's attention, but the people who DO make it to the smart link are interested in hearing more. I might not need a different song. I might just need better content around it. Low CPC + Low Smart Link CTR = Good content, bad song And THIS is the one I think fools artists the most. Because you open Ads Manager and see cheap ass clicks and think you're cooking 😂 But then nobody is clicking through to actually listen. Maybe the video is funny. Maybe there's an attractive person in it. Maybe something about the content is interesting enough to make people curious. But whatever got them to click isn't translating into interest in the actual song. That's why I don't judge campaigns off CPC alone. For smart link CTR, I'm generally looking at: 20% = Okay 30% = Ideal 40% = Great 50%+ = Amazing And even if those numbers look good, I'm still not done.

1) It really can take ONE song to get you in the game. That doesn't mean one song is going to build your entire career. But one record can change your trajectory. One song can introduce you to 100,000 people who didn't know you yesterday. One song can create opportunities. One song can give you something to build from. You don't need your entire catalog to blow up at once. You need to keep taking swings long enough to connect on one. 2) Yes, you need a budget. I know nobody likes hearing this one lol. You don't necessarily need $20,000. But building a career costs something. Content costs money. Videos cost money. Ads cost money. Seeding costs money. Traveling costs money. Shit...sometimes just having enough free time to make music costs money. Figure out what you CAN afford and learn how to use it intelligently. 3) TEST. You don't know the answer until you do. This is probably one of the biggest ones. You don't know which song people will like most. You don't know which piece of content will perform best. You don't know which audience will respond. You can have an educated guess. That's it. Test that shit. The goal isn't to always be right. The goal is to find the answer before you spend all your money on the wrong one. 4) Stop looking at your audience like they're just numbers. 10,000 followers. 100,000 streams. 500 likes. Those are PEOPLE. The best marketers aren't just good at Meta Ads or TikTok. They're good at understanding why people do shit. What does your audience care about? What do they laugh at? What do they identify with? What makes them share something? What makes them root for somebody? Learn people and marketing gets a whole lot easier. 5) Stay in the game long enough to get lucky. Luck is absolutely involved in this shit. Anybody telling you otherwise is lying. But it's a lot easier to get lucky when you've released 30 songs, made 500 pieces of content, met hundreds of people and spent years getting better at your craft.

Some of you have seen me. Most of you haven't. I've been behind the camera at No Labels Necessary since the very beginning, back when it was still Brandman Network on YouTube, through the days when No Labels Necessary was just a podcast. I started as an intern editor in 2020, became the main editor, and over time ended up with my hands in just about everything we built. I've been in the shadows for a lot of that ride, so let me step out for a second. I'm EJ, Creative Director at No Labels Necessary. These days I'm working alongside Kohrey on the relaunch, shaping how everything looks, feels, and connects, from the content you watch to the community you're in right now. We've also got some artist showcase productions kicking off in 2027, and you guys will be the first to know when they drop. In the meantime, I'll be in here sharing what I've learned from years behind the camera. So if content is where you get stuck, that's exactly what I'm here for. Come say what's up. Let's build. 🚀

I was reading the comments under one of our videos and somebody said short form content is the best bang for your buck. Somebody else said ads and collaborations are the only marketing worth spending money on. And this was basically my response: All of this shit is supposed to work together. I think this is where a LOT of artists mess up. You run ads and expect the ads to do everything. Or you post 47 TikToks and get mad that none of them magically changed your life 😭 Or you spend $500 getting posted on a bunch of pages and three days later you're like... “Yeah bro seeding doesn't work.” Meanwhile none of those things had anything else supporting them. Your content should give people something to discover. Your ads should help you figure out which content actually connects and get it in front of more people. Your seeding should make it feel like you're popping up in places OTHER than your own page And then each one makes the other shit work better. That's what a campaign actually is. It's not picking the ONE magical marketing strategy that's finally gonna save your career. It's figuring out how to make a few different strategies work together with whatever time, money and resources you actually have. And btw...that doesn't mean you need a $20,000 budget. A $500 campaign should still be a campaign. So I'm curious: What's doing most of the heavy lifting in YOUR marketing right now? Content? Ads? Seeding? Playlists? Shows? Prayer? Let me know. P.S. If you're reading this thinking “okay cool...but how tf do I actually put all of that together?” 😂 That's literally why we built the Artist Blow Up Blueprint. We break down how to build the content, run the ads, launch the seeding and put the whole thing together into an actual 30-day campaign. So if you're tired of throwing random marketing shit at the wall and calling it a rollout... Go unlock the Blueprint. We got you 🤝🏾

What's up yall, tryna figure out what day and time to host the weekly live calls. So far I'm thinking Tuesdays from 6-8pmEST Wednesdays 7-9pm EST Sundays 1-3pm EST If yall could vote and let me know that would help a lot. Also, if you have any questions you'd like me to address on it, drop them as questions in the main community space. Thank yall!