Audio advertising Is in its performance era—It’s all about results

Americans are shown an average of 4,000 advertising messages daily, and breaking through that clutter is no easy feat. In today’s advertising landscape, all media must be high-performance media. And according to leading researchers, only audio can consistently pierce through the noise.

In a recent study, media agency Dentsu evaluated how audio and video ads drive attention and action, and audio shattered expectations, attracting more attention than TV, online video, social media and display.

Audio is clearly in its performance era. But even with this winning formula, many brands are underinvested in audio, and results-oriented marketers are missing out. In order to stay ahead of the pack with media planning and investments, here are the four strategies seasoned audio advertisers live by for high-performance results.

1. Optimize your media mix, so it isn’t the anti-hero.

“It's me. Hi. I'm the problem, it's me,” says your media mix. The balance of the media mix is something that marketers are always fine-tuning, and while each brand requires its own recipe of channels, marketers who are investing heavily in the channels that drive the most conversions are rising to the top. With more measurement capabilities at your disposal, powerhouse channels like AM/FM radio are showing what they can do to drive sales.

Radio drives greater sales conversion

2. Your creative Cliff’s Notes: dissecting the 30-second spot.

The best audio ads are memorable, informative and entertaining. That’s a tall order in just 30 seconds, so here’s your audio ad cheat sheet to help you make the most out of your ad performance:

• Craft your story: Every advertisement should tell a story, and the most effective ads follow a three-part recipe: First, start with the hook. This can be a question, a claim or anything that makes the listener want to hear more. And when it comes to brand mentions, promote yourself early, in the first 3 to 5 seconds. Second, move to the pitch. Offer value propositions like brand features, savings or innovative qualities. And finally, close with a solid call to action. Ask for the sale, a web or in-person visit, or a phone call, then make it easy for the listener to make it happen.

• Prioritize sound design: Layered sound design can transport listeners to a time and place, creating greater emotional resonance than a visual ad. This ad invites the listeners to mentally whisk themselves to a beach in Los Cabos, and actively consider booking their next visit.

• Get recognized with sonic branding: Sonic branding—for instance an audio logo, brand anthem or simple tagline—is an incredibly sticky branding method, increasing radio ad recall by 17% and podcast ad recall by 14%.² A strong sonic brand also helps build a good reputation. Listeners said radio ads with sonic brands are more likable, trustworthy, empowering and relevant—not to mention memorable.

 
Try it out—can you read the following lines without also singing the tune in your head?
 
I’m lovin’ it
Like a good neighbor…
The best part of waking up…
 
You’ll probably be humming these branded tunes all day—that’s the power of sonic branding.

3. Level up your podcast buy.

The secret is out that podcasts reach engaged audiences who take action. In fact, 65% of listeners have purchased a product or service from a brand they heard advertised on podcasts, according to Edison Research’s Super Listeners report. However, not all podcast campaigns are created equal. Today’s forward-thinking marketers deploy a multipronged approach that balances addressable and contextual to get the best of both worlds in the pod-sphere: Targeted shows and hosts for deep engagement and authenticity, matched with the scale of reaching your key audiences in more places across the network.

4. Getting closer to creators with podcast integrations.

By getting closer to the creators, your brand can be shown front and center, integrated directly within the podcast, displayed on video, and in real life. Here’s how:
 

• Innovative script integration: Brands become part of the story by being incorporated directly into the episode. Amy Poehler’s scripted comedic podcast “Say More with Dr? Sheila,” incorporated supermarket chain Kroger inside the content of one of the episodes, emphasizing Kroger’s value props without breaking character.

• Video: 35% of viewers will watch a podcast episode on YouTube after first listening to the podcast on an audio streaming service.³ Video offers advertisers another way to engage with listeners through in-content sponsorships, product placements and live reads.

• IRL: Take your brand on the road with in-real-life podcast events. To drive deeper connections, podcasts have started putting on events and tours to meet their fans in real life. Join the tour to strengthen your relationship with your brand, the podcast and listeners.

 
Fortunately, audio’s performance era has a lot more stage time, and with these audio tips you’ll be well on your way to crafting your brand’s own performance era. For more audio data and tips to uplevel your audio performance, check out Audacy’s State of Audio guide.

Sources

1. Dentsu Attention Economy Audio Study, conducted by Lumen Research, 2023

2. Sound Creative: How to Build Winning Audio Ads, Audacy, February 2023

3. Podcast Consumption on YouTube, Veritonic, 2023