What is a Tracking Pixel and Why is it Important for Artists?

As an independent artist in today's digital world, making great music is just one part of your journey. Another crucial piece? Building an online presence that resonates with your listeners. 

And what next?  Letting them know when you release new music or tour dates. That's where a 'tracking pixel' joins the show. But what is it, and why should you care?

What is a Tracking Pixel?

Think of a tracking pixel as a bit of invisible magic sprinkled across your website. Whenever someone drops by your site, it whispers a note to Meta and TikTok saying, "Hey, this person has been to your site to discover more about you". Whilst we don’t know exactly who these people are, we know they are likely to be fans of you and your music as they have already been to your site and shown an interest.

It's like having a virtual bouncer at your online gig, counting heads and taking contact details and information on the interests of your fans coming to your show.

Why You Need Tracking Pixels

Using tracking pixels creates two very useful ways to run ad campaigns:

Advertise directly to your fans (Re-targeting)

Now you know who has visited your website (or clicked on a smartlink), you can let them know when you have new music or tour dates through targeted ads on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. And even better, they’re likely to want to know about this so the ads should drive more clicks! The more engaged your audience, the more effective your ads and the lower your costs.

It's like getting that bouncer to tell you who your fans were at your gig. Then a few days later, you track them down and give them a flyer while they’re out shopping!

Create a ‘lookalike’ group of fans

From the group of visitors the pixel has ‘followed’, you can create a ‘lookalike’ audience on Meta or TikTok.  This is a group of users who have similar interests to the visitors to your website.

The easiest way to explain this is…

Imagine the bouncer from your gig has not only noted down the fans who attended, but also their interests. They noticed what band t-shirts they wore, the type of drinks they bought, even the kind of music chats they had.

Using the information they gathered, the bouncer helps you find people in a different location who share the same interests as your fans—wearing similar band t-shirts, buying the same type of drinks, and chatting about the same music. They may not have been to one of your gigs, but based on these similarities, there's a good chance they'll enjoy your music. Now you can let them know about you and your music through some targeted ads!

At un:hurd music, we're always fine-tuning our campaigns with pixels to see what groups of fans and potential fans engage most with ads (and convert into loyal fans). Its very powerful and has a huge impact!

Here’s the proof with J. Caesar

For J. Caesar, we experimented with two campaigns for his release, ICON. The first campaign aimed to get clicks to his smartlink, while the second targeted those who clicked on their preferred Digital Service Providers (DSP) while on the link. The result? A 10% drop in the cost per action whilst the number of people clicking to a DSP increased by 56%!

Find J. Caesar on Spotify and Instagram.

Finding Your Meta Pixel ID

Before you launch your website, you need to pin down your Meta Pixel ID to input into your microsite or smartlink provider. Here's how:

1. Open Business Settings in the Business Manager.
2. Choose your business.
3. Click on Data Sources > Datasets. You'll see your Pixels. Your Pixel ID is right under the name.

Haven't got a Meta pixel yet? 

No sweat. Here's how to whip one up:

1. Open Business Settings in the Business Manager.
2. Choose your business.
3. Click on Data Sources.
4. Choose Datasets.
5. Click on the 'Add' button.
6. Name your Pixel to avoid any future mix-ups.
7. Optional: Plug in the URL of your website if you already have one
8. Click Continue.
9. Click 'Set up the Pixel Now' and voila! You've got your Meta Pixel.
10. From here, click Settings on the pixel and you can copy the Dataset ID (also pixel ID) 

 Note: If you haven't setup a Business Account or Ad Account on Meta, use our handy guide here.

If you'd like more detailed instructions on how to create a Meta pixel, you can find Meta's 'How to set up and install a Meta pixel' guide here.

Locating Your TikTok Pixel ID

Finding your TikTok Pixel ID is a cakewalk:

1. Go to TikTok Ads Manager and click Assets.
2. Click Tools > Events, then under Website Pixel, click Manage.
3. Here's where you spot all your pixels. Your Pixel ID is under your Pixel name.

Note: If you haven't setup a TikTok Ads Account yet, use our handy guide here.

Need to create a TikTok pixel first? 

That’s easy too; here’s how:

1. Sign in to your profile at tiktok.com/business.
2. Select your Ad Account
3. If you're taken to your Business Center. Navigate to your Add Account and open in TikTok Ad Manager
4. Click on Tools > Events and click on Web Events
5. Click the 'Create Pixel' button (it might also be called ‘Set Up Web Events’)
6. Select ‘Manual Setup’
7. Give your pixel a name — this makes it easy to identify later.
8. Now you’ll be asked to ‘Build business funnel’ but you can skip these steps; press skip step
9. For the next screen, event setup, just click cancel as you aren’t adding any code to the site.
10. And there you have it! You've successfully created a TikTok pixel. You’ll be taken to the pixel page where you can see the ID: CXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX under your pixel name!

If you'd like more detailed instructions on how to create a Meta pixel, you can find TikTok's 'Get Started with Pixel' guide here.

As an independent artist, embracing tracking pixels can help you craft ad campaigns that hit the right note with your audience. It's a simple trick with a powerful impact.. Ready to pump up your music marketing game? Start pixel tracking today!

Are you an artist looking to grow your fanbase? Join un:hurd music now to access powerful music marketing and promotional tools, tailored for artists.