Audio ads have emerged as a powerful tool to use to stand out from the competition while captivating and engaging audiences with fleeting attention spans. Modern audio options, including the digital darling, podcasts, have contributed to this new phase of audiences and their heightened expectations.
With the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity in marketers’ rear-view mirror, let’s contemplate the heart of advertising—the creative. The elements that make an audio ad effective are the medium, the creative and the moment. Here’s how they work together.
Medium
Audio ads have a century-long history, from the first radio ad running in 1922 to the plethora of ads running across today’s diverse platforms, such as satellite radio, streaming services and smart speakers. No matter when they’ve aired, engaging audio content remains at the core of an ad’s effectiveness.
A pivotal study by Radiocentre revealed that targeted ads related to activities like cooking or running supercharged engagement and long-term memory encoding (up 22%), outperforming other ads by 94% (TV and non-activity audio). Memory encoding fosters lasting impact, elevating spontaneous ad recall by 56% and prompted recall by 33%, enhancing brand salience. To validate audio’s efficacy, think of favorite sounds evoking emotions, like a beloved song or podcast host’s voice.
Creative
Creative effectiveness is vital in today’s audio marketing landscape, with podcasts, smart speakers and voice assistants shaping consumers’ lives. Winning audio campaigns leverage the listening format (streaming, on-demand, podcast) and device (desktop, mobile, car, smart speaker) as their creative foundation. Let’s break it down further.
Podcasts captivate a ready audience for relevant ad content. And when executed well, thoughtful ads blend seamlessly with the podcast’s theme and tone. Automated host-read ads still feel native and drive impactful results, with around 60% of listeners making purchases. Automating this tried-and-true format enhances the listening experience by diversifying the ads and brands heard.
Streaming radio creates a dynamic environment for audio ads to thrive, engaging listeners in the experience. To make ads impactful and user-friendly, integrate motion-activated CTAs. As listeners groove to music during various activities, these ads eliminate the need to pick up their phones; instead, a simple shake directs the person to websites, coupons or retail locations, transforming the creative into a measurement mechanism.
Smart speakers offer a unique opportunity to reach consumers in intimate spaces, prioritizing personalization. Tailored audio ads for smart speakers leverage voice assistants and interactivity for natural interactions. Like motion-activated ads, voice ads accommodate listeners seamlessly—all they need to do is speak to it. Then listeners can choose the next step: an audio message with more info or redirection to an offers landing page.
Moment
If marketers have learned anything from the 70’s singer Dr. John, there’s nothing worse than being in the right place at the wrong time. In this context, the right place is the listener’s ears. So, how do marketers get to the right time? Here are some advanced targeting approaches that digital audio can provide today.
Ad sequencing: This allows you to harness the power of storytelling and deliver multiple ads, in sequential order, to specific listeners. For example, you can deliver three ads in a predefined order within a podcast episode. The first ad can introduce your business and offerings, the second ad can hone your advantages, and the third ad could be an offer code to the listeners.
Podcast contextual targeting: This approach delivers ads based on the content of a specific podcast episode, ensuring they target the intended themes and discussions. Podcast contextual targeting reaches a receptive audience interested in the topics discussed, maximizing ad impact. For example, contextual targeting would place fitness or healthy lifestyle ads in a health and wellness podcast episode, resonating with listeners and increasing engagement and conversion chances.
Dynamic creative versioning and optimization: You can be in many places at the right time, even with the right voice with this tactic. Dynamic creative optimization (DCO) allows you to create many versions that dynamically change according to the macros the ad can target, such as location, day part, times of the day, demographics, behavior, device type, weather and genre.
Unlock the full potential of audio
The power of sound is more influential than ever. By understanding the nuances of different audio platforms, employing audience targeting strategies and crafting emotionally engaging narratives, brands can unlock the full potential of audio ads and captivate audiences in the digital era.
