You’ve probably heard it a hundred times: if you want people to hear your music, you have to promote it. And while platforms like Meta (Facebook and Instagram), YouTube, and TikTok can help get your songs in front of new listeners, there’s one thing you’ll need first – content. Without content, there will be no Ads, particularly.
So, not just any content. But ad content that’s at least kind of scroll-stopping, easy to make, and actually feels like you… that’s usually the one that converts the most. So, how can you, as a musician who’s not particularly crazy skilled in this area, create your own ad content that works? Whether you're promoting a new song, album, or playlist – here’s a complete, low-pressure guide to making ad content that looks good, sounds good, and doesn’t need a full production team behind it.
Our own SubmitHub Ad Studio let you create a playlist or song ad creatives using clean, generic visuals, and it’s based on Pexels – and that’s actually great if you want to test fast and keep things simple.
Usually, the important thing to making that kind of content work is, well, good music + punchy text overlays that instantly tell people what they’re looking at (and why they should care). A bold font, a quick genre or artist comparison, and/or a vibe – that’s enough to get people curious. So make sure to try out our Ad Studio if you need easy-to-do, simple, and effective content, and try to look at it, when creating, with someone else's eyes – is this something that would make you curious and go listen? If yes, you’re already in a good place, video content-wise!
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That said, there’s something powerful about your own visuals – and no, they don’t have to be polished. In fact, real can (won't always, though) outperform polished and perfect if it’s different or easy to relate to. Let’s get into what that might look like:
If you’re promoting a playlist, this one’s almost too easy: just record your phone screen as you scroll through your playlist, then add a song overlay (ideally, on that phone scroll phone, the same song should be playing). Add a tiny camera shake, noise, or glitch effect with free editing apps like CapCut or InShot, and you’ve got something visually dynamic (you don’t have to, btw; the scroll itself can be enough).
If you DO want to level it up:
Even with zero fancy footage, this looks intentional – and lets viewers peek into what’s being promoted right away.
This one’s especially good if you’re tight on time or ideas. Simply use:
Ads, also, are about testing what works – so make sure to create 2–3 different versions using different music cuts (or different songs, if it’s a playlist). You never know which one will click with your audience until you run them, so be ready and have more to try out in one campaign.
If you’re a solo artist or in a band, don’t underestimate the power of you just performing the song – cuts from gigs are, of course, awesome and full of energy, but it can also just be in your room, in front of a mirror, or outdoors with your phone propped up on a book. And no, you don’t have to go for the full song’s length, 20-second cuts are just enough! So pick 2-3 strong moments of the song and just do those.
This can be:
Especially if you’re promoting a song or a “This Is [Artist]” playlist, you/your band on the screen can feel really personal and help people connect to you – not just the sound.
If you’ve got a music video (even a DIY one, or a lyric video), repurpose it for your Ads, too! If possible, cut out about 3 short music video segments (under 30 seconds each) that feel different:
Use different music parts if possible.
Always test in your ads – let the audience tell you which one works best, even if you think it’s the chorus ;-)
This one takes a little more creativity (not too much, though, don’t worry) – and in the age of short content and swiping next, it can just pay off. You can go for any trend that’s close to your heart, or just use TikTok or Instagram's greenscreen feature to place your album art, video, or lyrics behind you – then just react, talk over it, dance, or lip sync… don’t force yourself do anything you’d never normally do, just try what fits YOU and your style.
Some simple ideas:
Such a format will feel native to social platforms, which is often what makes them convert better in ads too.
Got good quote(s) from a SubmitHub curator, a blog, Hot or Not or a fan/more fans? USE THAT.
Grab a sentence or two from feedback, place it on screen with a moody background and/or your cover art, and run it with the track playing over it. You can also add more at the same time, o make them change, one into the other. This works especially well if the quote adds curiosity… but in any case, it validates what you’re doing.
Examples of what could be in there:
“This gave me Bon Iver chills.” – Billboard Magazine
“Best thing I’ve heard all week.” – John Smith, The Rolling Stone
“Kate Bush 2.0.” – Jason Skynet
SubmitHub even has a tool to pull quotes directly from your feedback: just go to your submission history and extract them, and pick the best ones to try out in your Ads.
Here are a few free or low-cost tools that many musicians love for quick ad creation (and you just might, too):
You don’t need everything – start with what feels easiest and go from there.
Musicians often hesitate to create ad content because they feel like it needs to look like a commercial, or like Shakira’s team created it. But that’s actually not at all what most fans connect with.
Raw > fake.
Simple > overwhelming.
Personal > polished.
When in doubt, just show what you love. Show you, your song, in a natural way you’d like to discover music yourself. That’s already enough to start. And if really, really unable to go for anything else… just use our Ad Studio and/or leave the Ad video creatives to us, using our SubmitHub Ads feature. Sometimes, you just won’t have time or energy to spend on marketing, and honestly, that’s totally fine, too.
And maybe the ad will need more testing or fixing over time... but starting is the best way to get somewhere.