15 tips for running small-budget music marketing campaigns in 2026

Strong visuals don’t need a big budget

Ameh highlighted a campaign for British artist Kwn earlier in her career that used striking visuals from the video for her track ‘Eyes Wide Open’ as an example of a strong concept that was not expensive to fulfil.

“The visual just summed everything up in terms of the proposition of the artist. Her being not straight, essentially it was using the legs of females, and her sitting next to it and having that glossy legs… just the higher production values but keeping it simple,” said Ameh.

“It was so striking: that’s what actually intrigued me into the campaign and to discover more of the music and more of the songs, just as a music fan,” she continued.

“You can see that it wasn’t all bells and whistles, but it was what it needed to be… I knew some people connected to it, and I know that the budget wasn’t massive, so I just thought they did a really good job with that.”

Start by understanding your audience

If you don’t have an enormous budget to spread spending around willy-nilly, a campaign starts with the artist’s core audience.

“It’s really important when you start a campaign to work with your core audience. Identify where your core audience lay. See them at your gigs. And then try to target a bigger group, but still in the same type of core audience,” said Mikolajczak. “You’re going to save so much money with this!”

Ameh later came back to this idea. “Even before planning out a campaign, it’s about looking at who the audience is. If you’ve run a previous campaign, what worked? Depending on how long it’s been, how has the audience moved on? What are their habits?” she said.

“These are all data points that you can really drill into to make your campaign as efficient as possible… All of that data is so valuable in terms of telling you what your next steps are going to be, and to help you reduce that budget. Rather than blanket it, just put it in specific places that you know you’ve got qualified information on already.”

Mikolajczak also returned to the theme. “Go to the show [for your artist]. See who’s in the room. See who’s on the first row, middle of the room, back of the room. See who engages more on social. And then build from this.“

TikTok for discovery, but a newsletter for necessity

The panel talked about a perennial topic in music marketing: balancing activity between the big social platforms (which provide discovery: people finding artists for the first time) and owned spaces where they can have deeper engagement with fans.

“For me, the number one necessity is to keep a newsletter signup in your website and your bio at all times. It’s the one way you’re going to keep contact with your audience on any platform, whether [or not] there is any type of algorithmic change that you won’t be able to control in the future,” said Mikolajczak.

“Then you will need to invest some time in using TikTok and Instagram. TikTok is just discoverability. Don’t think too much of it. Don’t fall into the failure loop of thinking ‘oh, this haven’t worked, so it’s never gonna work’. Just try again, again, but don’t invest too much money in it. It’s more of a trial place, and then you will build a bit more of an audience on Instagram.”

“But the most important thing is to collect contacts: newsletter, Substack, phone numbers… and create incentives for this. Invite them for exclusive merch access, or presales, or exclusive behind-the-scenes.”

“Having that list is going to be really important,” agreed Ameh.

TikTok users don’t want to be sold to

The panel dug further into some of their learnings from TikTok and Instagram. “On TikTok, my observation is that the community don’t want to be sold to. Yes, you’ve got verified accounts, but there’s no kind of hierarchy in it,” said Ameh.

“Anyone can put content out and get incredible reach with it, so ads don’t normally tend to perform as well as on some other platforms. If you’ve got polished and shiny content, TikTok probably isn’t the best place to put it on. I would say dial up all of your organic content: anything you can plan in terms of that where it’s going to be relatively low in terms of the budget that you need to spend.”

She noted that consistency of posting is also key for TikTok’s algorithm. “You have to keep feeding it.”

The challenges of feeding the hungry social algorithms came up again later in the session. “You need to work to the algorithm and feed the algorithm to get in people’s timelines. And if you’ve got limited budget, then that just means you need more content, because you need to feed it more,” suggested Ameh.

“It’s really worth carving out time way in advance, shooting different types of content and not being too restrictive with what you’re creating. Obviously, have a vision: everything within the realms of your campaign, and still fitting the theme. But be prepared to be fluid.”

Ameh also talked about her recent experiences on Instagram, where reels have taken several of her campaigns “to the next level”. She had some advice on one of the platform’s key features too.

“A lot of artists or creators tend to try, tend to steer away from using hashtags… or they use all of the dots to try and hide them. But those hashtags are really important for reach, and I’ve noticed in recent months how far it can take your content in terms of reels. Putting spend behind that is probably the most effective [tactic].”

Ameh also warned marketers not to overlook Facebook, which “tends to be the best converter” if the audience has the right crossover with an artist. Aboud also praised Meta’s wider ecosystem for its conversion potential.

“We found really great success with running ads on Meta with the right targeting,” he said, adding that tracking the conversion to streams is a key part of that.

“Sometimes we’ll even do them on shallow catalogue, where something’s been out for maybe six months, and the decay curve is kind of like starting to slow down a little bit. We’re able to kind of reignite that through ads,” he said.

“Sometimes it doesn’t take much of an organic boost in streams to re-trigger the algorithm and then get a big boost in algorithmic plays, radio plays, things like that.”

Again, understanding the audience is vital for this to work. “The worst thing that people can do is spend money without really knowing who your audience is and who you’re really targeting, because [otherwise] you’re just lighting money on fire!”

Different platforms for different genres

Aboud also offered a quick breakdown of how different platforms can perform better for specific genres. Reddit and Discord over-index for alternative rock and metal – “those fans like to feel they are truly discovering something, and they like to be in the know” – while Instagram works really well for pop, with artists able to “really lean in to the super-polished aesthetic: photoshoots and the glam of it all”.

Meanwhile, R&B and hip-hop often do well on YouTube, SoundCloud and TikTok, where “it’s a little bit more about the storytelling and the authenticity: less polished”. However, Aboud also warned marketers off putting all their eggs in one platform basket – even if it’s the platform that over-performs for an artist.

“Even if you know Instagram is where 80% of your audience lives, well, 20% of your audience is somewhere else. And so if you’re not marketing to them on on on YouTube or whatever, you’re missing out on a potential segment of your core.”

YouTube Shorts: ‘hit and miss’ but exciting

When asked if there are any platforms that marketers still underuse or underestimate, Ameh suggested YouTube Shorts.

“It’s trickier to navigate, because in terms of the algorithm, it’s hard to figure it out. It’s kind of hit-and-miss in terms of reach and engagement. I haven’t seen anyone who is consistently, and in a widespread way, using it in a creative way,” she said.

“That for me presents opportunity. I don’t think it would be straightforward. I think you’d have to really spend time on it, and because it doesn’t really yield anything in the short term in terms of trying to figure it out, a lot of people probably wouldn’t.”

“But if you wanted to make noise and cut through in a section that is probably not as loud in terms of creativity, that could be a potential opportunity.”

Use the world as your (cheap) backdrops

One way to make a campaign feel big without spending much money is to be smart about production values. Ameh and Aboud both talked about using the world around you as the sets for your shoots as a prime example.

“Make sure that you consider your framing. Make sure that you consider the backgrounds. For me, less is more. If you’ve got a whole bunch of stuff in the background, it just feels like oh, you’re out on the street,” said Ameh.

“If it’s more considered… you could be on a street that has got loads of bin bags down the street and everything, but if you find one small area and you frame that – if it’s got, like, a beautiful doorway and bright colours – it pops. It’s just finding those little, hidden pockets of beauty.”

“You can find those areas around where you are. If you’re an emerging artist or creator, you just need to have the eye and the vision to do those things, without actually spending big.”

Aboud agreed. “I always like incorporating real environments into things instead of sets, because if it’s done well, it’s really cheap to use the world around you,” he said.

One recent example was a shoot in bodegas [small, independent convenience stores] around New York, where careful framing and planning made the results “coming out looking like a Vogue campaign!”

“It can be just one strong concept. Even if it’s putting a filter on it, or maybe it’s a colour palette that you’re sticking to. Honestly, sometimes colour is such a great way to maintain a visual identity and make it feel like it’s a really strong, cohesive campaign. But it’s literally just a filter,” he added.

Artists with a clear vision can cut through

“If you don’t have a big budget, it’s so important that you have a really clear idea of what your artist proposition is. What is the story you’re telling, why are you telling it, and why should people care about it?” said Aboud.

“I find that a lot of artists who aren’t really able to clearly articulate who they are as an artist and what it means, they’re constantly just flinging out different types of things, and it’s not really cohesive,” he added. “They’re looking for that viral moment, maybe, and they’re just trying a bunch of different things.”

It’s much easier when artists have “a super-clear vision of an aesthetic, or what their selling point is, or why fans should care about them”.

“If we can’t figure that out, as someone who’s on the team, then fans who are scrolling [in a social or video app] definitely can’t figure it out! So that’s so, so important especially if you don’t have the budget to try a million different things and see what’s sticking.”

Small budgets and influencers is tough

While the session focused on how to do great work with small budgets, the panel also addressed some of the challenges involved, with Ameh citing influencer/creator partnerships as a notable stumbling block.

“Trying to negotiate on lower budgets is just not that appealing to them. As much as you might love your artists, believe in your artists, and the idea of the collaboration might be incredible, trying to get that over the line is always more difficult when the budgets are just not there,” she said.

“Especially if there’s conversations in other areas for them, for these influencers, where the budgets are more healthy.”

Do you really need a full music video?

Aboud said that managing the expectations of artists who have “really lofty goals” creatively is another challenge.

“Like Laura said at the beginning: is it cheap? Is it fast? You have to figure out what you’re willing to compromise on, because you’re not going to get a $50,000 production value for $1,000,” he said.

“You’re going to have to maybe simplify the idea – maybe it’s doing a 15-second version of that full music video – or you’re going to have to find a way to be okay with doing less or saying ‘okay, I’m going to phase this out’.”

A lot of artists still want to make full music videos, and Aboud said that managing those ambitions is a common task.

“It’s just the idea in their head that ‘shooting a music video is something I have to do to check off that box’. And then you’re really kind of uncovering the why [of that]. Can we achieve this concept in a different way without spending 30 grand on a full-budget video?”

“It is negotiating with the artist to come up with a campaign that they feel really proud of… But ultimately to be realistic. We want you to have a super-sustainable career and not blow it all on one song. So that’s the hard part for me.”

Superserving superfans moves the needle

The final question of the session focused on what marketers waste money on. Mikolajczak said that ill-thought-out PR campaigns can be a drain, with the key being to target extremely carefully, and work with people who genuinely love the music and understand which media would cover it.

Ameh suggested that outdoor billboard campaigns can be just a vanity tactic – “sometimes labels succumb to that because artists really want it, but it essentially doesn’t get you anywhere – it’s a nice social-media post… but that two, three grand-plus could have been put into something else…”

Aboud agreed, and had some thoughts on the something-else.

“Investing in the fan-community building and the storytelling and the stuff that isn’t super-sexy is a lot of time the most impactful little needle-moving thing. Word of mouth is still, I think, the most powerful marketing tool,” he said.

“When fans are really attached to to what you’re doing, it will spread. Sometimes it isn’t the sexiest idea to focus on spending on a 75-person event with your superfans, but that truly is something that I feel is more impactful than – to your point, Chloe – the three grand on a billboard that is really not doing anything.”

Music Ally Marketing Week is continuing this week with three more days of online sessions. It’s free to register. See more details of the sessions here, and register here.