Effective Audio Advertising

The Impact of Audio Advertising

• Apple’s wireless AirPods sold 60M units in 2019 alone. (That’s 120 million ears.)
• Adult mobile app users will spend an average of 67 minutes per day listening to audio – that’s higher than any other mobile activity, including social networking and watching video.
• Amazon’s voice-enabled smart speakers, the Echo and Echo Dot, have been among its top-selling products. It was the most purchased holiday gift in 2016, in 2017, in 2018, and – yes – 2019. Roughly a quarter of Americans who purchased a smart speaker, love them so much, they have three or more in their home.
• According to Forbes, audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment of the publishing industry, now passing over 25% YOY growth and reaching $1B+ in revenue in 2019.
• Spotify and Pandora now dominate with over 70M users in the U.S.
• Podcasts now reach over 60M U.S. listeners a week—a figure that has more than tripled since 2013 and is expected to grow >80M+ by 2022.

Based on those stats alone, audio is everywhere, which means the opportunities for audio advertising are endless. Below are some quick tips for developing effective audio advertising:

Audio Advertising Tips

1. Audio isn’t clicked—be visually descriptive and include a strong call-to-action (CTA)

According to Spotify, audio ads outperform display ads with brand recall by more than 24%. Focus on strong visual storytelling. While some audio units include a companion banner, always mention your brand and prompt customers with a clear, concise CTA, to direct them where to learn more, buy now, visit your website or local store, or take another immediate action. If there is a companion banner in addition to your audio ad, make sure to keep it simple. It should complement and not distract from the audio ad.

2. Keep it friendly and conversational

Audio advertising allows you to reach customers 1:1 in a highly engaged setting. They may be listening to voices from a trusted news source, a favorite podcast, or singing along to their favorite song.  Avoid abrupt sound effects or loud background music that may distract from your primary message and turn off customers. As you often have only :15 or :30 seconds to communicate your message, make sure to highlight your brand or service upfront.

3. Consider your audience and context

With PMPs or private marketplaces, you can target your audience with precision and reach specific, brand-safe audio environments. There are also emerging creative opportunities with vendors like A Million Ads that allow advertisers to dynamically personalize audio messages based on criteria such as age, demo, language, weather, day of the week, and more.

4. Dive into reporting!

Programmatic audio advertising is highly measurable and valuable. With VAST (the IAB’s standard method of serving video and audio), compliant media partners can allow advertisers to report on in-stream audio metrics traditionally available for digital video – such as quartile or completion rate – and compare performance against other digital channels such as paid display, video, search, or social media ads.

5. Audio Advertising with Centro

At Centro, we have the knowledge and experience of our Media Services Organization, backed by Basis, the industry’s most comprehensive and automated digital media platform.

With the rise of major streaming services like Spotify and Pandora, an abundance of scaled, brand-safe podcasts, and the increasing availability of inventory across programmatic channels, it’s now easier than ever to reach your target customer.

Learn more about Audio Advertising with Centro.

Sources:
https://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Digital-Audio-Buyer%E2%80%99s-Guide-%E2%80%93-2.0-01112019.pdf

Report: Apple sold nearly 60 million AirPods in 2019, grabbing 71% of totally wireless headphone revenue

https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/customers-shopped-record-levels-holiday-season-billions-items

Infinite Dial 2019 from Edison Research

https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamrowe1/2019/07/16/us-audiobook-sales-neared-1-billion-in-2018-growingf-25-year-over-year/#576e69be6050
https://www.emarketer.com/content/spotify-to-surpass-pandora-listeners-by-2021-sooner-than-expected
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2019/11/18/podcasting-is-going-mainstream/#4b0e92ea1699
https://www.statista.com/topics/3170/podcasting/
https://www.spotifyforbrands.com/en-PS/insights/the-power-of-audio-chapter-2/
https://www.amillionads.com/
https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-video-ad-serving-template-vast/