Why Digital Audio Ads Should be Part of Your Media Mix

Digital audio should be part of your media mix now, or at the very least, be part of the media mix consideration.

But don’t take my word for it. Follow the data and these points should convince any reasonable ad buyer:

• According to eMarketer, there are 204 million digital audio listeners in the U.S., which is 62% of digital media consumers.
• Podcasts are a growing format, where survey research from Infinite Dial show that 70% of respondents ages 12 and older are familiar with podcasts.
• Media expert Jack Meyers, in a report, came out with a forecast stating that $6 billion in advertising will be spent on digital audio in 2019.
• Locally, it’s looking rosy, as combined revenue for local streaming audio and podcast advertising is forecast to hit $720 million in 2019, up from $590 million in 2018, according to Borrell Associates.

People are listening to digital formats. This shouldn’t be a surprise because people have always been listening to something – music, live games, talk shows, etc. Audio offers a way to let users consume media either actively or passively. You can drive and listen at the same time. Try reading a web article or watching puppy videos while merging on a highway.

Digital audio formats offer marketers engaged listeners and high share of voice because the users are served only one ad at a time. Furthermore, mobile devices have personalized audio experiences even more. So the signals consumers give while listening to digital audio enables marketers to precisely target the advertising in this format based on their listening habits.

So let’s talk about what you can do.

On our Basis platform, marketers can activate digital audio by buying ads direct from any major vendor or by buying audiences via programmatic channels. It converges digital audio into a marketing team’s overall ad strategy. Users automate direct buying workflow (RFPs, negotiation and IOs) with any vendor for audio AND other ad formats such as video, native, and more.

This is important because:

• Audio is typically utilized with multi-faceted campaigns that blend together other ad buying tactics and digital formats such as display, search and social.
• When audio is activated standalone on disparate tools, extra work is being created to connect its process and measurement with the other related parts of campaigns.
• When utilizing multi-format and multi-channel programmatic buying through one system, media professionals are able to manage frequency caps with users.
• With Basis automating inbound reporting from major search and social media vendors, it is easier for media teams to gather the reporting of multi-channel campaigns in one place.
• Related to the point above, media professionals can improve decision-making with data from all channels for a complete picture of digital investment.

When media teams are using digital audio ad buying tactics with their overall digital strategy, they are maximizing a full arsenal of tools to operate well-functioning and high-performing campaigns.

Learn more about Audio Advertising with Basis.