Maximizing Impact: Investing in Audio Ads for 2024

Although marketing budgets are subject to scrutiny in the current economic climate, consider incorporating audio ads into your marketing plan. This is because the growth of listeners is increasing for podcasts and other audio formats. Formats for advertising in audio also offer unique characteristics to aid marketers.

Below are five reasons why your marketing team should consider audio-based advertising.

1. More listeners are listening than ever before.

We expect that in 2024, audio recorded digitally will comprise five percent of all time spent on electronic media within the US.

• About 75% of US internet users will tune in to digital audio this year, according to our predictions.
• Digital audio will receive 2 hours, 20 minutes (2:20) each hour by US viewers this year. That’s more than Netflix (1:02), Hulu (0:53), and YouTube video (0:48), as per our analysis.

“We are seeing a decline in TV viewers and the number of digital audio listeners increasing. It’s a good time to try placing ads in both and find out what you’re trying to look for,” said Michael Holmquist, director of investment and media strategy at Tinuiti, during an earlier webcast.

1. The growth in podcasts is constant.

Although the double-digit growth period for podcast listeners ended around 2021, the platform continues to grow listeners more quickly than the digital audio industry in general, according to our projections. In 2023, the total number of US podcast listeners is expected to increase by 4.6 percent, more than the overall growth of digital audio at 1.4 percent. In total, the US podcast audience is projected to be over 150 million by 2027.

However, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t any challenges.

• The podcast channel is the one with the highest proportion of marketers who are just slightly or not entirely sure of the measurement abilities of this channel, as per a Nielsen study in April. This makes it harder for advertisers to assess the impact of their podcast content since it’s downloaded.
• Transitioning from embedding and “baked-in” audio ads, which are a part of the podcast for all time, to dynamic ad insertion, which allows you to alter the ads that appear in audio files at will for more targeted advertising, has been costly and challenging to implement.

1. Audio platforms can be sticky for users.

Adult Spotify and Pandora users spend an average of 51 minutes and 49 minutes listening to audio each day, according to. This is more time than all other social networks, per our projections. TikTok is the most popular platform for time spent, on average, 53.8 hours per day by its US adult customers.

“Audio has a massive reach and is bound to continue to grow with more people who are interested in it. Also, it’s a chance to improve the results of your lower funnels, to fit into different parts of your marketing funnel,” explained Holmquist.

1. The formats for advertising in audio have benefits.

Streaming audio advertising is not skippable, has strong targeting capabilities, and generally has shorter lead times when compared to other alternatives.

• Run-of-network (RON) advertisements are the only advertising option that provides the exclusivity of a particular category, said Holmquist.
• Host-read advertisements are usually included in the script for the show and will remain an integral portion of the episode. They are considered the most authentic, drive the most significant brand recognition, and have the highest prices per 1,000 impressions, as he explained.

2.   Audio is an excellent option for strategies that employ omnichannel.

The RONs for streaming podcasts and audio are the most efficient pricing options, which improves efficiency in the funnel. A host-read advertisement can result in the highest level of responsiveness. However, it is also the most costly medium, according to Rachel Alaynick, senior manager of analytics and client strategy at Tinuiti.