Solved: Getting More Recording Studio Clients Online

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! Happy to give you some initial thoughts on how you could get more clients for your recording studio. It's a common challenge for service businesses, but there's a pretty clear path to follow that works better than just throwing money at different platforms hoping something sticks.

The main thing to get right is understanding where potential clients are in their journey. Are they actively looking for a studio *right now*, or are they just a musician who *might* need one eventually? The strategy for each is completely different, and most people get this wrong, which is why they end up wasting a load of money. I'll walk you through how I'd approach it.

We'll need to look at your customer's intent first...

Alright, let's get straight to the biggest mistake people make. They hear that Facebook or TikTok has billions of users, so they think that's where they need to be. For a business like a recording studio, this is usually backwards. You don't sell an impulse-buy product. Booking studio time is a considered decision. People book when they have a specific need: a band has finished writing an EP, a singer-songwriter needs a demo, a rapper needs to lay down a vocal track.

When that need becomes urgent, what's the first thing they do? They go to Google and type in "recording studio near me" or "mixing engineer in [Your City]".

This is what we call active intent. They are actively looking for a solution to their problem at that exact moment. Your number one priority should be to be the first and best option they see when they do that search. Trying to catch a musician's eye on Instagram while they're scrolling through memes is much, much harder. You're trying to create demand out of thin air, whereas on Google, the demand is already there. You just need to capture it.

I've seen this play out time and time again with service businesses. I remember one campaign we are running for an HVAC company. They get almost all their valuable leads from Google Search because when someone's boiler breaks, they aren't browsing Facebook for a solution; they're frantically searching for an emergency engineer. Your situation is the same, just less of an emergency. The principle holds: be where your customers are when they are actively looking for you.

So, the answer to your first question, "What platform?", is unequivocally Google Ads to start. Specifically, Google Search Ads and maybe Google Local Service Ads. We can talk about social media later, but it plays a supporting role, not the leading one.

I'd say you should focus on these keywords...

With Google Search ads, you bid on specific keywords. When someone searches for that keyword, your ad has a chance to appear at the top of the results. The key is to choose keywords that show someone is looking to book, not just learn. We call this 'commercial intent'.

You'd want to avoid broad keywords like "how to record music". This is an informational search. The person is likely a beginner looking for DIY tips, not a paying customer. Instead, you want to target people who are ready to open their wallets.

Here’s a starting list of keyword themes you should be thinking about:

• -> Location-Based Searches: These are often the highest quality. Someone is looking for a physical place to go to.
  • recording studio in [Your City/Town]
  • music studio near me
  • local recording studio
  • [Your Area/Neighbourhood] recording studio


• -> Service-Specific Searches: These people know exactly what they need.
  • vocal recording services
  • book mixing session
  • audio mastering services
  • professional music recording
  • hourly studio time


• -> Genre-Specific Searches: If you specialise, this can be a goldmine.
  • hip hop recording studio
  • rock music mixing
  • acoustic session recording

You would group these into themed ad groups within your campaign, and write ad copy that speaks directly to that search. For example, an ad for the "vocal recording services" group should have a headline like "Pristine Vocal Recordings - Book Our Studio" to match the user's search perfectly. This relevance is what gets you a better click-through rate and, ultimately, a lower cost per lead.

You probably should understand what this will cost...

This is the next big question: "How much do I need to spend and what should I expect?" The honest answer is that it varies massively by location and competition. But it's not a black box. Based on our experience with dozens of service-based businesses, we can establish a realistic range.

You pay Google each time someone clicks on your ad (this is the Cost Per Click, or CPC). A certain percentage of those clicks will then contact you to book a session (this is your Conversion Rate). The total cost to get that one potential customer is your Cost Per Lead (CPL).

For local services, we've seen CPLs range from as low as £5 for a simple home cleaning lead to over $60 for a competitive HVAC job in a major city. For something specialised like a recording studio, you're probably looking at a CPL somewhere between £15 and £50 per qualified enquiry. This might sound like a lot, but this is where you need to do some basic maths on what a client is actually worth to you.

Don't just think about the first session they book. A good client might come back again and again. They might book a 4-hour session this month, then a full day next month, and then reccomend their friend's band. This is their Lifetime Value (LTV).

Let's create a simple calculator to figure this out. A client isn't just a single transaction.

Once you know your LTV, you can work backwards. A healthy business model often aims for a 3:1 ratio of LTV to Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). So if your LTV is £1,600, you can afford to spend up to £533 to acquire a new customer. If you convert 1 in 5 leads into a customer, that means you can afford to pay up to £106 per lead. Suddenly that £15-£50 CPL range looks very, very profitable.

In terms of starting budget, I usually recommend at least £1,000 - £2,000 per month for ad spend on Google. This is enough to gather data quickly and see what's working without breaking the bank. You can use the calculator below to see how that might translate into leads.

You'll need to fix your offer before you spend a penny...

This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you, and it has nothing to do with ads. The number one reason advertising campaigns fail is because the offer on the landing page is weak. You can have the best ads in the world, but if you send that traffic to a website that doesn't convert, you're just burning cash.

Most studios just have a website with a "Book Now" or "Contact Us" button. This is a huge ask for a new customer who has never met you and doesn't trust you yet. It's high-friction. They have to commit to spending money before they even know if they like your space or your vibe.

You need to create a low-friction, high-value introductory offer. Your only goal should be to get them through the door so you can build rapport and prove your value. Once they're there, and they see how great your studio is, the sale becomes much easier.

What could this offer be?

• -> A Free 15-Minute Studio Tour & Consultation: No pressure, no commitment. Let them see the gear, hear the room, and meet you. You can talk about their project and show them how you can help.
• -> A 'First Hour Half Price' Deal: This lowers the financial barrier to entry. It gives them a chance to try you out without a big investment.
• -> A Free 'Demo Mix Assessment': An artist could send you one of their tracks, and you provide 5 bullet points of feedback for free. This demonstrates your expertise and builds trust before they ever step into the studio.

Your entire website's homepage should be geared towards selling this introductory offer. It needs persuasive copy that speaks to the artist's pain points (e.g., "Tired of your home recordings sounding amateur? Let's fix that."). It needs clear photos of your studio, testimonials from past clients, and a single, unmissable call-to-action button for your new, irresistible offer.

Fixing this is more important than anything else. A strong offer can easily double your conversion rate, which means you cut your Cost Per Lead in half without changing your ads at all.

This is how Social Media fits into the puzzle...

So, where do platforms like Facebook and Instagram fit in? They are brilliant for retargeting. Retargeting is showing ads specifically to people who have already visited your website but didn't take action.

Think about the customer journey. Someone searches on Google, clicks your ad, browses your site, but gets distracted and leaves. They've shown interest, but they're not ready yet. Now is the time to appear in their social media feed. You can show them a different ad – maybe a video tour of the studio, a testimonial from a happy client, or a reminder of your special introductory offer. This keeps you top-of-mind and gently nudges them back to your site to finally book that consultation.

Running ads on social media to a cold audience (people who have never heard of you) is a much harder game for a local service business. When you set a campaign objective to something like "Brand Awareness," you are telling the algorithm to "find me the cheapest eyeballs possible." It will show your ad to people who are least likely to click or convert, because their attention is not in demand. It's a fast way to get lots of impressions and zero clients. We see many businesses engage in this, but it's often a complete waste of money. You are essentially paying to find non-customers.

For a business like yours, awareness is a byproduct of doing great work and getting results, not a prerequisite for making a sale. You build your brand one happy client at a time, starting with those you find on Google. The ideal advertising funnel looks something like this:

If you absolutely must try finding cold clients on Facebook or Instagram, you need to be very specific with your targeting and use a conversion-optimised campaign. Don't target broad interests like "Music". Instead, target followers of specific audio software pages (like Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic Pro), people who have listed their job as "Musician", or members of specific local music groups. And your ad must still point to your landing page with the strong introductory offer. But I would definitely treat this as a secondary, experimental channel once your Google Ads funnel is proven and profitable.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

To pull all of this together, here is a clear, actionable plan. This isn't just theory; it's a proven framework for growing service-based businesses with paid advertising. Focusing on these steps in this order will give you the highest chance of success and prevent you from wasting your budget.

As you can see, getting this right involves more than just setting up an ad and hoping for the best. It requires a strategic approach that aligns your offer, your channel, and your budget. It’s about understanding the customer journey and putting the right message in front of them at the right time.

This is where expert help can make a huge difference. We've run campaigns like this for countless businesses and know the pitfalls to avoid and the opportunities to seize. We can help you build this entire funnel, from crafting the offer to optimising the campaigns, ensuring every pound you spend is working as hard as it can to grow your studio.

If you'd like to chat through your specific situation in more detail, we offer a free, no-obligation strategy consultation where we can look at your website and put together a more tailored plan for you.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh