DSP Growth · Case Study · 2026

Ben Walsh
"She Gives Me Love"

Using paid Meta acquisition funnels to trigger the Spotify algorithm and drive algorithmic playlist placements for an independent artist.

Artist Ben Walsh
Single She Gives Me Love
Campaign Window 23 Jun — 20 Jul 2026
Channels Spotify · Apple Music · Instagram · Facebook

01 / Key Results

+45%
2,349
Total Streams (28 days)
Prior period: 1,616 streams
+25%
1,524
Total Listeners
Prior period: 1,222 listeners
+53%
673
Monthly Active Listeners
Algorithmic threshold crossed
+191%
236
Playlist Adds
Prior period: 81 adds
Paid
84.3%
Smartlink Click-Through Rate
759 views · 640 clicks to DSPs
IG
88.3%
Instagram CTR (Best Channel)
702 visits · 620 clicks

02 / Performance Graphs

Streams — Last 28 Days
2,349 ▲ 45%
23 Jun Peak: 236 streams (20 Jul) 20 Jul
Listeners — Last 28 Days
1,524 ▲ 25%
23 Jun Peak: 164 listeners (20 Jul) 20 Jul
Playlist Adds — Last 28 Days
236 ▲ 191% from 81 adds prior period
23 Jun · Baseline: ~2–5 adds/day Campaign activation: ~Jul 18 Peak: 87 adds on 20 Jul

03 / Traffic Sources

Source Visits Clicks CTR
Instagram by Meta 702 620 88.3%
Facebook 35 26 57.1%
Organic (Direct) 22 — —
Total 759 640 84.3%
— Challenge

Cracking the algorithm cold

Ben Walsh released "She Gives Me Love" as an independent artist with no label backing. Without a concentrated burst of high-intent streaming activity in the first weeks, the Spotify algorithm would deprioritise the track and suppress Release Radar, Discover Weekly, and Radio placements permanently. Organic social alone could not produce the listener velocity needed.

— Strategy

Paid traffic as algorithmic fuel

We designed a hyper-targeted Meta funnel using Instagram Reels and Stories, driving listeners to a custom smartlink configured for instant DSP redirection. By targeting music-active platform subscribers, we achieved an 84.3% CTR. The concentration of high-save, high-playlist-add listeners in a compressed 10-day window was enough to trigger Spotify's editorial algorithms — driving 236 playlist adds (+191%) and 673 monthly active listeners (+53%).

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