I. Understanding Results and Analyzing Performance

To assess the effectiveness of your Ctrl+Reach campaigns, here are the key indicators to monitor and the expected averages for a good campaign.

Key metrics for your campaigns

For Interactions & Awareness campaigns

Boost post

Generate interactions & increase the visibility and view of an existing post

KPIs to watch :

• Impressions: Number of times an ad or post has been viewed.
• Engagement: Interactions such as likes, shares, comments or clicks.
• Engagement rate: Interactions divided by impressions, to assess content effectiveness..

Promote Music Video

Increase views on YouTube and generate engagement

KPIs to watch :

• Reach: Number of unique individuals who have seen the content.
• Impressions: Number of times an ad or post has been viewed.

For Audience Growth campaigns

Increase Followers

Acquire new followers by driving profile visits

KPIs to watch :

• Impressions: Number of times an ad or post has been viewed.
• Profile visit: Number of times users visit your social profiles after interacting with the campaign.
• Engagement rate: Interactions divided by impressions, to assess content effectiveness..

Collect Emails

Collect fans' email through a dedicated landing page

KPIs to watch :

• Impressions: Number of times an ad or post has been viewed.
• Link clicks: Number of clicks on your CTA.
• Total actions: Interactions such as likes, shares, comments or clicks.

For Listeners & Save campaigns

Listener Campaign

Generate streams and saves on streaming platforms

KPIs to watch :

• CPC (Cost per Click):Average cost for each click generated.
• CPR (Cost per Redirect or Listener): Amount spent for each *new listener ( generated via the campaign).
• Redirection rate: Indicates the effectiveness of Smartlinks in attracting listeners.
• Visits: Total visits to a Smartlink or linked landing page.
• Popularity index: Measures interaction and impact on your audience. Works only on singles

Presave Campaign

Generate presaves ahead of your release

KPIs to watch :

• CPC (Cost per Click):Average cost for each click generated.
• Cost per pre-save: Amount spent for each title pre-registered.
• Unique visits: Number of unique users who have visited your Smartlink.

*A new listener is someone who has listened to a track for more than 30 seconds on a streaming platform.

For sales campaigns with Pixel

Tickets and Merch

Promote an external link to promote ticket sales or merchandising

KPIs to watch :

• Taux de Conversion : Pourcentage d’utilisateurs ayant accompli l’action souhaitée (achat, écoute).
• Initiated purchase: Number of times a user initiates a purchase process.
• CPA (Cost per Purchase): Cost for each user who buys a ticket or merchandise.
• Visits: Total visits to a Smartlink or linked landing page.
• Unique visits: Number of unique users who have visited your Smartlink.

Link Clicks

Increase visits to an external link

KPIs to watch :

• CPC (Cost per Click):Average cost for each click generated.
• Link clicks: Number of clicks on your CTA.
• Impressions: Number of times an ad or post has been viewed.

Averages of a good campaign

Interactions & Awareness campaigns

For Audience Growth campaigns

Increase Followers

Collect Emails

For Listeners & Save campaigns

For sales campaigns

Tickets and Product Sales

CPC varies depending on the ticket or product price, but here are the average values we can typically provide.

Link Clicks

Tips for analyzing your campaigns

• Compare KPIs: Examine each indicator to identify strengths and areas for improvement.
• Optimize: If a KPI is weak (e.g. high cost per listener), adjust targeting or content to improve performance.
• Use benchmarks: Compare your results with the averages above to assess the effectiveness of your campaigns.
• Ask for help: If you have any doubts or need advice, don't hesitate to contact our team for a debriefing of your campaign.

II. Focus : A/B Testing

The purpose of running an A/B test campaign is to analyze and compare the performance of multiple creatives for the same campaign objective. This helps you quickly identify what works best and optimize your campaigns more effectively.

In this article, we explain where to find your results, how to read the metrics, and how to interpret them.

How can I see my campaign results?

To view your results, simply click on the campaign from:

• your global dashboard,
• or the artist dashboard.

Inside the campaign view, you will find three main sections:

• Metrics: This section shows the overall campaign results (spend, results, costs, etc.).

• Performance: Here, you can analyze performance by audience and by country.

• A/B Test: This is the key section for A/B test campaigns, where you can see results per creative variant**.

How to understand A/B Test results?

Inside the A/B Test section, there are three main parts:

Variant Performance

This graph shows how each variant’s performance evolves over time.

You can choose to display:

• the Key Result, or
• the cost per Key Result.,
• number of impressions,
• spend

(The key result depends on the type of campaign you launch)

This helps you clearly identify which creative performs best and how performance changes throughout the campaign.

Best Performance

This is the most important section.
Our algorithm automatically identifies the best-performing variant and highlights it here.

You will see:

• the winning variant,
• as well as some of the most important key indicators for understanding why this content performed better.

Variant status overview

This final section shows all variants with their status and key metrics.

As with other campaigns, our algorithm will automatically stop the least performant variants and focus the budget on the best one. 

What lessons can be learned from A/B testing

When the campaign comes to an end, several scenarios are possible:
Since the algorithm automatically optimizes the campaign, you can simply let it run.
You can also add more budget or extend the campaign duration to maximize the results of the winning variant.
Once the campaign ends, you can create a new campaign using only the best-performing creative.

III. Focus : Popularity Index

The popularity index is a performance metric available on Spotify. Ranging from 0 to 100, it reflects how popular a track is at a given time, the higher the score, the more the song is currently being streamed.

This metric is available on CtrlReach only for listener campaigns (singles, albums, and playlists).

Please note: the popularity index is not calculated for an album or playlist as a whole, but individually for each track within the album or playlist.

How to read your results

The popularity index corresponds to the blue curve on CtrlReach. It is displayed in a graph alongside a second curve representing your streams, allowing you to observe the correlation between the two.

In this graph:

• The left axis shows the values related to your streams.
• The right axis shows your popularity values.
• The bottom axis represents the time period being analyzed.

The main element to look at is your overall score displayed at the top, it is rated out of 100.
to interpret it:**

• Below 20/100: low score → your track has very few recent listens; it is not being pushed by the Spotify algorithm.
• Between 21 and 40/100: average score → you have some regular listens, but not yet significant algorithmic reach.
• Between 41 and 60/100: good score → your track is starting to be detected by Spotify’s algorithm and is gradually finding its audience.
• Above 61/100: excellent score → Spotify is regularly pushing your track; this is very positive for increasing your streams and indicates strong organic growth.

The small indicator inside the green box corresponds to the number of points gained between the start and end of your campaign.

As you run more campaigns, your popularity index can increase significantly.
Now it’s your turn!

IV. Improving Performance

Optimizing your campaigns is essential to maximize results while keeping your budget under control. Here are some practical tips to help you identify areas for improvement and get the most out of your campaigns.

Refine your target audience

Analyze the performance of your current audience

• Check demographic data: age, gender, location, etc.
• Adjust your parameters if the current audience is too large or too small.

Leverage similar audiences (lookalike)

• Use your existing data (subscribers, Smartlink visitors, opt-ins) to create similar audiences via Ctrl+Reach.

Improve your advertising content

Take care with your visuals and videos

• Use formats adapted to each platform
• Add clear, catchy text to encourage action (Buy now!).

Optimize your campaign objectives

Choose the right objective

• Awareness: If you want to maximize your impressions.
• Engagement: To increase interaction with your content (likes, shares, comments).
• Conversions: If you want specific actions (stream redirections, subscriptions, purchases).

Optimize your budget

Adapt your budget to your audience

• A budget too low risks limiting your campaign's reach.
• Allocate at least €10/day per platform and per country for significant results.

Monitor your spending

• If your budget isn't fully spent, your audience may be too small. Consider broadening your targeting criteria.

Monitor your performance and adjust during the campaign

• Regularly evaluate your statistics: Impressions, clicks, redirection rates, etc.
• React quickly to data: If performance is poor, modify your parameters (targeting, content, budget).
• Use Ctrl+Reach tools: Consult your results directly on your dashboard to identify areas for improvement.

Test and repeat

• A/B Testing: Launch several similar campaigns by varying a single element (content, audience, platform). Analyze results and apply lessons learned to future campaigns.
• Adapt your strategies: What works for one profile or project may not work for another.

Updated on: 19/08/2026