DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING - Exploring Opportunities in Streaming Audio, Podcasts and Smart Speakers - Digital Gabe
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DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING Exploring Opportunities in Streaming Audio, Podcasts and Smart Speakers JULY 2019 Lauren Fisher Contributors: Jasmine Enberg, Lucy Koch, Andrew Lipsman, Chuck Rawlings, Tracy Tang
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING
AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS
US consumers dig digital audio. Whether it’s podcasts or streaming radio and music, the US population is spending
more of its time in this digital medium. Naturally, advertisers are following.
How many US consumers listen to various forms of
By 2020, US Adults Will Spend More Time Listening to
digital audio today? Digital Audio than Radio, 2016-2021
minutes
More than three-quarters of US internet users will listen
86.5 86.9
to digital audio formats like podcasts and streaming 84.8
81.7 80.4 79.6
83.9
79.5 78.8
music at least once a month this year, according to our 74.6
April 2019 forecast. Podcast listeners account for a much 66.5
smaller portion of the US internet population (26.9%), 60.3
but this audience is growing the fastest. And 30.8% of
digital audio listeners will access that content via a smart
speaker in 2019.
Where are advertisers putting their digital audio ad
dollars today?
Streaming audio, specifically AM/FM radio and pure-play
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
music services such as Spotify and Pandora, are the
Radio* Digital audio**
biggest outlets for brand advertisers today. Podcasts
have been the go-to channel for many direct-to-consumer Note: ages 18+; includes all time spent listening to audio, regardless of
multitasking; *excludes digital; **includes music/other audio content
(D2C) brands. And, increasingly, traditional brands are delivered within a website or app (e.g., AM/FM online streams), podcasts
(streamed or downloaded), radio stations and streaming services; excludes
buying into the power of categorical exclusivity and other downloaded audio files (e.g., music MP3s) and digital
influence that podcast ads provide. terrestrial/satellite radio services that are delivered over the air
Source: eMarketer, April 2019
248520 www.eMarketer.com
What about smart speakers?
KEY STAT: The average US adult will spend more time
Smart speakers are contributing to the digital audio listening to digital audio than listening to radio in 2020 (a
advertising landscape in two ways. First, as an enabler difference of 4.4 minutes).
and accelerant of digital audio consumption. Second, as a
future-forward advertising outlet. It’s early days for smart
speaker advertising, but many brands are eyeing this
arena closely.
CONTENTS
WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report explores the current
state of digital audio advertising, focusing specifically 2 Digital Audio Advertising: Exploring Opportunities in
on streaming audio, podcast and smart speaker Streaming Audio, Podcasts and Smart Speakers
advertising opportunities. 3 The State of Digital Audio
8 Streaming Audio Advertising
12 Podcast Advertising
17 Smart Speaker Advertising
19 Key Takeaways
19 eMarketer Interviews
20 Read Next
20 Sources
21 Editorial and Production Contributors
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 2
THE STATE OF DIGITAL AUDIO US consumers aren’t ditching terrestrial radio, but they
are spending less time with it. Next year, US adults will
spend more time listening to digital audio than traditional
Terrestrial radio is alive and well, but it’s digital audio
radio. Time spent with radio will continue to decline.
where consumers are increasingly turning their
attention—and time—to engage with content in
By 2020, US Adults Will Spend More Time Listening to
newer, more dynamic ways. Digital Audio than Radio, 2016-2021
minutes
86.5 84.8 86.9
83.9
AUDIO LISTENERS 81.7
74.6
80.4 79.6 79.5 78.8
66.5
Radio, a category that includes terrestrial and satellite 60.3
radio, is still very much a mass medium. We predict
91.5% of US adults will tune in to traditional radio at least
once a month this year, and that portion will hold steady
through 2021.
Today, nearly two-thirds of the US population (and more
than three-quarters of the US internet population) listens
to digital audio at least monthly, including streaming
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
music, podcasts or other audio content consumed via
Radio* Digital audio**
live streaming or direct download. The podcast listener
pool, which makes up 37.3% of the digital audio listener Note: ages 18+; includes all time spent listening to audio, regardless of
multitasking; *excludes digital; **includes music/other audio content
population, will grow by nearly 5 million users between delivered within a website or app (e.g., AM/FM online streams), podcasts
(streamed or downloaded), radio stations and streaming services; excludes
2019 and 2021. other downloaded audio files (e.g., music MP3s) and digital
terrestrial/satellite radio services that are delivered over the air
Source: eMarketer, April 2019
248520 www.eMarketer.com
How Many US Consumers Listen to Various Forms of
Audio?
Digital audio is a diverse category that spans multiple
2017-2021
content types consumed on multiple devices and
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
platforms. Desktops and laptops have historically been
Radio* 230.4 232.6 234.7 236.7 238.7
favored for accessing digital audio content, but mobile
—% change 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9% 0.9%
—% of population 91.5% 91.5% 91.5% 91.5% 91.5%
is climbing as desktop/laptop listening shrinks. By 2021,
Digital audio** 195.6 200.9 204.8 208.7 211.3
66.6% of US digital audio listeners will access content
—% change 3.3% 2.7% 1.9% 1.9% 1.3% via a mobile device, compared with 68.8% via desktop
—% of population 60.1% 61.3% 62.0% 62.7% 63.1% or laptop.
—% of internet users 76.1% 76.7% 77.0% 77.4% 77.4%
Podcasts*** 67.3 72.7 76.4 78.9 81.2 Those accessing digital audio content via smart speakers
—% change 11.4% 8.1% 5.0% 3.3% 3.0% are in the minority of the digital audio listening population
—% of population 20.7% 22.2% 23.1% 23.7% 24.3% (only three in 10 US digital audio listeners do so today),
—% of internet users 24.5% 26.0% 26.9% 27.4% 27.9% but that population is growing quickly. Growth in US
Note: *ages 18+ who listen to radio at least once per month; includes digital audio listeners who access audio content via
terrestrial AM/FM radio and satellite radio; excludes digital; **internet
users of any age who listen to music or other audio content (i.e., podcasts) a smart speaker at least once a month will remain
via live-streaming on any device or via direct download on mobile devices
at least once per month; ***internet users of any age who listen to a substantially higher than mobile listening’s growth rate
podcast via direct download or live stream on any device at least once per through 2021.
month
Source: eMarketer, April 2019
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DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 3
US Digital Audio Listeners, by Device, 2017-2021 Podcasts are one of the fastest-growing audio formats,
millions, % change and % of digital audio listeners and they’re also largely accessed via audio apps on
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 smartphones and other mobile devices. According to a
Desktop/laptop
February 2019 poll of US podcast listeners conducted by
—Listeners (millions) 148.0 147.4 146.9 146.2 145.4
Edison Research and Triton Digital, 65% of respondents
—% of digital audio listeners 75.7% 68.8%
said the primary devices used to listen to podcasts were
73.5% 71.9% 70.2%
mobile or portable devices. In contrast, just a quarter chose
—% change 1.6% -0.4% -0.3% -0.5% -0.6%
desktop/laptop, and 10% chose a smart speaker.
Mobile**
—Listeners (millions) 120.3 127.0 132.6 137.1 140.7 Primary Device US Podcast Listeners Use to Listen
—% of digital audio listeners 61.5% 63.2% 64.7% 65.7% 66.6% to Podcasts, Feb 2019
—% change 8.0% 5.6% 4.4% 3.4% 2.7% % of respondents
Smart speakers***
—Listeners (millions) 33.6 51.7 61.9 68.0 71.9 Smart
speaker
—% of digital audio listeners 17.8% 26.5% 30.8% 33.2% 34.5% 10%
—% change - 53.8% 19.7% 9.8% 5.8%
Note: *internet users who listen to music or other audio content (i.e., Desktop/laptop
podcasts) via direct download or live stream via desktop or laptop Smartphone/tablet/
25% portable device
computer at least once per month; **mobile phone users of any age who
listen to audio via mobile phone through direct download or live stream at 65%
least once per month; excludes sideloaded audio, ringtones and ringback
tones; ***individuals of any age who listen to audio content such as music,
radio, audiobooks and podcasts via smart speaker with voice command at
least once per month; smart speaker is defined as a voice-enabled
standalone device whose core function is digital assistance, such as an
Amazon Echo or Google Home; excludes cars, smartphones, smart-home Note: ages 12+ who listen to podcasts monthly
devices and other devices whose core function is not assistance Source: Edison Research and Triton Digital, "The Podcast Consumer 2019,"
Source: eMarketer, April 2019 April 11, 2019
248519 www.eMarketer.com 246717 www.eMarketer.com
Thinking Mobile App? Think Digital Audio! Read on to learn more about how advertisers are
capitalizing on podcast advertising to reach this engaged
As mobile apps continue to draw marketers and their listening audience.
ad dollars, advertisers should be keenly aware of the
importance of digital audio in that space. Of the nearly 3 Reviewing digital audio consumption by listening channels
hours per day the average US adult spends on mobile app shows just how diverse the category is. The average
activities this year, audio accounts for the greatest portion:
US adult still spends the bulk of their listening time
53 minutes. Over the next 24 months, adults will increase
on AM/FM radio, including streaming, according to a
that portion of time by 4 minutes, an increase on par
with video.
June 2019 report by audio network Westwood One,
citing Edison Research’s “Share of Ear Q1 2019” report.
Many other sites and content types clocked meaningful
minutes, including music videos on YouTube, podcasts
and ad-supported Pandora.
It’s also worth noting that the survey found a good
chunk of listening was devoted to channels where
marketers can’t reach consumers. Between owned music
and ad-free options on various streaming services, the
average adult spent about a quarter of their audio time in
ad-free environments.
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 4Share of Time Spent with Audio Among US US Digital Audio Listener Penetration, by Provider,
Consumers, by Platform, Q1 2019 2019
% of total % of digital audio listeners
AM/FM radio Pandora 35.4%
46%
Spotify 31.9%
Owned music
12% Amazon Music 17.5%
Music videos on YouTube Apple Music 16.3%
11%
Note: internet users of any age who listen to digital audio on any device at
Ad-free SiriusXM least once per month; digital audio listeners are not mutually exclusive;
6% there is overlap between groups
Source: eMarketer, March 2019
Ad-supported Pandora
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4%
Podcasts We predict Pandora and Spotify will continue to
4% remain the top-two sources of streaming music in the
TV music channels US through 2023. But in 2021, Spotify will surpass
4% Pandora in terms of US users (73.7 million monthly
Ad-free Spotify listeners vs. 72.2 million). Amazon and Apple will remain
3%
significantly smaller.
Ad-supported Spotify
3%
Additional research from Jacobs Media offered greater
Ad-supported SiriusXM
insight into how various races/ethnicities, ages and
2%
genders engaged with digital audio and podcasts. The
Ad-free Pandora
firm found 69.2% of Asian internet users polled across
1%
North America in February 2019 had listened to streaming
Amazon Music
1% audio and radio at least once a month. Slightly greater
Apple Music
portions of blacks (71.2%) and Hispanics (70.7%) did the
1% same activity, with fewer white respondents (65.1%)
Other streaming audio listening at least once a month. More Hispanics listened
3% to podcasts and on-demand audio at least once a month
Other (38.0%) compared with any other race or ethnicity.
2%
Note: ages 18+; numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding Frequency with Which Internet Users in North
Source: Edison Research, "Share of Ear Q1 2019" as cited by Westwood America Listen to Streaming Audio and Podcasts,
One, "AM/FM radio: the centerpiece of American audio," June 3, 2019
by Race/Ethnicity, Feb 2019
248472 www.eMarketer.com
% of respondents in each group
Many of the platforms that garner the most time are also Asian Black Hispanic White Total
the largest. According to our estimates, Pandora and Streaming audio/radio
Spotify remain the most listened to digital audio providers Daily 43.7% 46.8% 48.3% 40.2% 41.1%
among US digital audio listeners. In contrast, just 17.5% Weekly 20.0% 17.5% 17.5% 18.0% 17.9%
of the digital audio listening population uses Amazon Monthly 5.5% 6.9% 4.9% 6.9% 6.8%
Music, and 16.3% uses Apple Music. Less often than monthly 12.8% 13.3% 12.4% 13.7% 13.7%
Never 18.0% 15.6% 16.9% 21.2% 20.6%
Podcast/on-demand audio
Daily 15.7% 8.6% 15.7% 9.4% 9.9%
Weekly 11.5% 11.1% 14.2% 11.4% 11.5%
Monthly 5.7% 7.9% 8.1% 7.9% 7.9%
Less often than monthly 24.0% 22.9% 19.1% 21.9% 22.0%
Never 43.1% 49.5% 43.7% 49.5% 48.7%
Note: ages 18+; via any device; numbers may not add up to 100% due to
rounding
Source: Jacobs Media, "Techsurvey 2019," March 28, 2019
248459 www.eMarketer.com
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 5Listeners of streaming audio and radio, as well as where you can’t reach them in any other media,” said
podcasts and on-demand audio, also tended to skew Scott Walker, senior vice president of ad strategy at music
younger, which is in line with other digital habits. Just streaming service Pandora.
7.1% of Gen Z respondents (those ages 18 to 22) said
they had never streamed audio or radio, compared with The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC
41.6% of seniors (ages 74 and up). Gen Zers were also estimated US audio ad spending totaled $2.25 billion last
more likely to have listened to podcasts and on-demand year. While this accounted for just 2% of all US digital
audio. However, a greater portion of millennials (ages 23 ad spending forecast by the two firms, spending was up
to 38) listened to podcasts monthly or more. 22.9% from 2017 ($1.83 billion). Mobile accounted for
more than three-quarters of all audio ad dollars.
Frequency with Which Internet Users in North
America Listen to Streaming Audio and Podcasts, US Desktop vs. Mobile Audio Ad Spending,
by Generation, Feb 2019 2017 & 2018
% of respondents in each group millions and % change
Gen Z Millennials Gen X Baby Seniors Total
(18-22) (23-38) (39-54) boomers (74+) Mobile audio
(55-73) $1,369
Streaming audio $1,729 (26.3%)
Daily 51.3% 50.0% 45.1% 35.9% 29.7% 41.1% Desktop audio
Weekly 28.1% 21.8% 19.4% 15.9% 10.1% 17.9% $462
Monthly 4.7% 7.0% 7.2% 6.6% 5.4% 6.8% $522 (13.0%)
Less often 8.9% 9.6% 13.0% 15.5% 13.3% 13.7% Total
than monthly $1,831
Never 7.1% 11.6% 15.3% 26.1% 41.6% 20.6% $2,251 (22.9%)
Podcasts/on-demand audio
2017 2018
Daily 13.6% 17.8% 11.7% 6.5% 5.1% 9.9%
Weekly 17.8% 16.6% 12.3% 9.4% 7.5% 11.5% Note: 2016-2018 have been adjusted to include podcast advertising
revenues
Monthly 10.8% 8.7% 8.3% 7.4% 5.2% 7.9% Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC, "IAB Internet
Less often 21.5% 19.0% 22.7% 22.5% 18.8% 22.0% Advertising Revenue Report: 2018 Full Year Results," May 7, 2019
than monthly 247362 www.eMarketer.com
Never 36.3% 37.8% 45.0% 54.1% 63.4% 48.7%
Many interviewed for this report emphasized the
Note: ages 18+; via any device; numbers may not add up to 100% due to
rounding importance of digital audio audiences gaining critical
Source: Jacobs Media, "Techsurvey 2019," March 28, 2019
mass—an absolute must for attracting any significant ad
248460 www.eMarketer.com
dollars. But they also highlighted the uniqueness of digital
“Ten years ago, when you talked to marketers about audio as an attractor: the ability to reach consumers in an
doing some audio advertising, they’d turn up their nose active and engaged mindset with an advertising format
and say, ‘That’s for my grandfather,’” said Buck Robinson, that requires no visuals and limited competition for share
partner and chief radio strategist at direct-response of voice at the moment of impact.
marketing firm The Media Manager. “Now they
understand how it’s going to help them get the “It’s a medium that weaves a brand into not only
demographic they’re looking for and deliver their message places that you can’t reach with screen time, but also
in a unique way they can’t do purely in an online space.” increasingly audiences that are moving away from screen
time,” said Zuzanna Gierlinska, head of automation for
EMEA at music streaming service Spotify.
ADVERTISING A February 2019 survey of 500 marketing and advertising
As listening activity heats up, so does business decision-makers in the US from Adobe and
advertiser investment. Advanis found 29% of respondents said having digital
audio as part of their cross-channel strategy was
“If time is the commodity, and attention is what a important. An added 19% rated it as very important.
marketer is trying to capture to influence purchase Just 22% of respondents said they did not do any digital
decisions and brand connections, then audio is a really audio advertising.
unique way to reach those consumers in those contexts
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 6How Important Is Digital Audio for US Marketers' review of on-demand audio streams conducted on its
Cross-Channel Advertising Strategy? platform by music consumption measurement firm
% of respondents, Feb 2019 BuzzAngle Music found only a small portion of music
Much less streams were ad-supported. And that portion has been
important declining over time. Keep in mind, the study highlights
6% I do not invest Very important
in digital audio 19%
a subset of the digital audio landscape and is not to be
22% meant as a benchmark for the broader industry.
Important
Less important
29% US Ad-Supported vs. Subscription Share of Audio
25% Streams*, Oct 2017-Dec 2018
% of total
18.1% 17.7% 16.4% 14.8% 13.6%
Note: numbers may not add up to 100% due to rounding 18.7%
Source: Adobe, “Marketer Perspectives on Digital Advertising” conducted
by Advanis, March 25, 2019
248522 www.eMarketer.com
Funding for digital audio advertising comes from many
places and depends on multiple factors. Common
sources of digital audio ad dollars may include: 81.9% 81.3% 82.3% 83.6% 85.2% 86.4%
■■ A new budget pool. Agencies and brands looking to
test the waters on digital audio advertising may allocate
a portion of their budget earmarked for testing.
Oct Nov Dec Oct Nov Dec
■■ A reallocation from terrestrial radio. Advertisers 2017 2018
moving into streaming radio or other forms of digital Subscription Ad-supported
audio as an extension of their terrestrial campaigns
Note: *on-demand
often reallocate traditional ad dollars to fund Source: BuzzAngle Music, "2018 Year-End Report: U.S. Music Industry
Consumption," Jan 3, 2019
those efforts.
244516 www.eMarketer.com
■■ A reallocation from other traditional media. Print, TV Increased advertiser activity inevitably means greater
and direct mail may also be sources of funding. competition and higher pricing, a trend that John Rosso,
president of market development at Triton Digital, said he
■■ A reallocation from other local advertising efforts.
sees play out. “We’re starting to encounter scarcity, and
As digital audio becomes more well-known, proven
that’s driving price,” he said. “That’s true of the streaming
and easier to buy, local advertisers are reallocating
audio business, whether it’s AM/FM streams or music
funds. A Q3 2018 survey of US franchisees conducted
service streams. Podcasting is a bit of an odd duck at
by BIA Advisory Services and Vya found nearly half of
the moment. It’s mostly powered by direct-response
respondents already used streaming audio to advertise
advertisers, but we’re starting to see more traditional
their businesses.
brands jump in with more upper-funnel-type messaging.”
■■ A reallocation from other forms of digital
advertising. Performance advertisers who closely Podcasts might have initially struggled to pull in big-brand
track ad effectiveness may ultimately choose to pull dollars, but that is quickly changing. In fact, sources
dollars from video, display or other digital ad formats suggest podcasts are among the fastest-growing ad
and channels to fund their audio efforts. In many formats for advertisers and publishers. In PwC’s “Global
cases, these shifts may be made within programmatic Entertainment & Media Outlook, 2020-2023,” the firm
buying platforms. forecast worldwide podcast revenue growth of 28.5%
for 2019. And Magna’s June 2019 forecast showed
Like other fast-growing digital categories, such as global podcast ad revenues increasing 29% this year. In
over-the-top (OTT) video and connected TV (CTV), contrast, Magna estimated digital audio ad spending as a
advertising is not the predominant way publishers whole would increase just 7%.
monetize their content. In fact, a Q4 2017 vs. Q4 2018
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 7Podcasts may occupy a small segment within the digital
audio advertising landscape today, but advertisers are
STREAMING AUDIO ADVERTISING
eager to test the waters. An Advertiser Perceptions
Streaming audio is the largest digital audio
survey cited in Westwood One’s “2019 Audioscape”
report found about a third of US marketers and agency advertising category and the most established.
professionals already advertised in podcasts as of May
There are two basic ways for consumers to listen to
2018, with 36% expecting to do so in the next six
digital audio content: downloading and streaming.
months. And of those 36%, two in five expected to fund
Streaming offers the most opportunities for advertisers
their efforts by pulling from other digital budgets such as
and is the most established today in terms of
video, display or search.
marketing activity.
US Marketers/Agency Professionals Who Advertise in Within streaming, there are still multiple channels for
Podcasts, Now vs. in the Future*, Sep 2015-May 2018 delivering various content types. For example, AM/FM
% of respondents
radio stations can be listened to via the web or an app,
Currently advertise and ads in this type of content are often closely related
15%
to—and bought with—traditional radio ads. There are also
21%
pure-play digital services like Pandora and Spotify that
29%
32%
offer music and podcast streaming via the web and apps
for a variety of devices. This section explores the types of
Plan* to advertise
10% objectives marketers are using these channels for as well
21% as the tactics they are using to reach those objectives
27% with streaming audio.
36%
Sep 2015 July 2016 May 2017 May 2018
Note: Sep 2015 n=310; July 2016 n=284; May 2017 n=316; May 2018
n=300; *"definitely will advertise" in the next 6 months
FULFILLING UPPER-FUNNEL OBJECTIVES
Source: Advertiser Perceptions as cited in Westwood One, "2019
Audioscape Report," March 25, 2019 VIA STREAMING AUDIO
246418 www.eMarketer.com
As noted in our prior reports, brands frequently turn
“There’s advertiser interest across the board,” said Bryan to streaming audio, be it AM/FM or pure-play music
Moffett, chief operating officer at National Public Media, streaming services, as a means of meeting upper-funnel
a subsidiary of NPR. “Sponsors are really wanting to objectives such as extending reach and frequency to
test out all these different environments and find the accomplish tasks like building brand awareness or affinity.
right voice and fit on those platforms. At the same time,
there’s a lot of innovation happening, particularly around For those coming from terrestrial radio, the objective
podcasting and smart speakers, in terms of attribution is often clear: to extend audience reach and increase
and targeting for sponsors.” message frequency. The digital counterpart can more
definitively target specific locations and tailor messaging
The remainder of this report will focus on how advertisers and ad creative to meet those markets’ needs.
approach three core areas of digital audio advertising
today: streaming music, podcasts and smart speakers. It “You now see local broadcasters that have very specific
will address some of the top objectives, measurement apps for their radio stations,” said Erica Farber, president
methods, and targeting and creative capabilities for and CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau. “In addition,
making audio a standalone success as well as an there are more and more radio stations and broadcast
integrated omnichannel effort. companies that are also providing local, regional and
national clients complete digital offerings.”
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 8Frans Vermeulen, chief operating officer at OTT and Programmatic enablement isn’t just making it easier
connected TV data management platform Tru Optik, to access and buy inventory across AM/FM and music
noted automotive advertisers have figured out how to streaming services, it also makes it easier for advertisers
leverage the terrestrial and digital radio combo. While to leverage these ads in combination with other
original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and other programmatically purchased formats. Here again, the
Tier 1 advertisers have historically relied heavily on goal for many is to use streaming radio ads as added
terrestrial radio, he’s now seeing a big push from regional reinforcement for upper-funnel objectives.
automotive dealers (Tier 2) and local dealerships (Tier 3) in
streaming radio and other emerging digital formats such “Brands are starting to invest more in building out audio
as connected TV. By embracing streaming audio across content,” said Greg Anderson, managing director of Xaxis.
all tiers, OEMs and their dealerships aren’t just increasing “And now that this content is much more available as
reach and message frequency, they’re also crafting more an asset and a format, it’s being paired a lot more with
tailored ad creative aimed at driving potential buyers video, connected TV and even digital out-of-home [OOH]
further down the funnel. executions to make sure that, if we’re trying to maximize
reach, brand recall or awareness, we see a combination
“If you’re looking at upper-funnel branding for national of those upper-funnel channels that are working really
auto advertising, you’re looking to do branding for well together.”
something like a new Ford F-150 pickup,” Vermeulen said.
“But then when you get to the local Tier 2 and Tier 3 buys, Many interviewed for this report emphasized the
you see both connected TV and streaming audio as an effectiveness of pairing digital audio ads with video ads
effective outlet for driving regional and local activity.” to boost reach and frequency and also go after unique
reach—that is, the portion of their target audience that
Stations and broadcast companies aren’t the only may not be reachable via digital video but is reachable
ones offering advertisers more aggregated, complete in digital audio. Extending connected TV reach via digital
offerings. Many media buying and planning tools, and audio is one approach advertisers take (and it’s a sound
now programmatic platforms, present buyers with one, considering US digital audio listeners will outnumber
ways to select inventory across national and local US connected TV users by 9.7 million this year).
broadcasters, traditional and pure-play offerings. These
pairings and packages more often resemble a direct-sold “You’re seeing a rise in popularity of connected and
than a programmatic buy. Thanks to advancements in data-driven TV advertising, but the scale isn’t quite there,”
programmatic guaranteed capabilities, advertisers are Pandora’s Walker said. “When you add the scale of digital
able to secure guarantees for audience reach and other audio to those buys, it becomes a really compelling
key buying parameters—a must for brand advertisers. opportunity from a reach and frequency standpoint.
We’re seeing a lot of the top Fortune 1000 advertisers
“Traditional broadcast buying teams at agencies are thinking about audio from a media planning and reach and
starting to wrap their heads around programmatic, frequency perspective in that regard.”
and they’re leaning in to buy more audio,” Spotify’s
Gierlinska said. “That’s helped buyers who aren’t
super programmatic-savvy to not have to deal with the
complexities of real-time bidding [RTB] and bidding
TARGETING (AND RETARGETING)
strategies. They can buy programmatically at scale Streaming audio ads often drive brand awareness and
through a guaranteed solution that’s very akin to a direct recall, but targeting and even retargeting play critical roles
IO [insertion order] purchase.” in this process.
Traditional age and gender demographic targets are still
For more on programmatic’s rollout within digital audio, used, but most advertisers also pair those with added
see our report “Programmatic Advertising Beyond Display: audience attributes. As noted above, one such capability
Automation Moves to Audio, Out-of-Home and Television.”
of streaming radio is more accurate location targeting,
which may be used to further reinforce or reinvent
messaging in specific markets.
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 9Many have also come to expect—and enjoy—the consumers in these environments. But it’s also about
targeting offerings of music streaming services and other being able to optimize and understand that a user was
streaming radio stations that let buyers target listeners exposed to a video ad and then retargeted with an audio
by music genre, playlists and a host of user-provided ad, and vice versa. That knowledge and ability to see that
demographic details obtained via profile creation and holistic picture is driving a ton of value for marketers.”
logins. Such insights can prove powerful for honing
brand awareness tasks; they can also help to take
that awareness further down the funnel toward actual
engagements and interactions.
CREATIVE CAPABILITIES
Programmatic also plays a significant role in the ad
“Those digital outlets allow a lot of targeting, and even creative and optimization processes.
hypertargeting, with both the ad placement as well as
the messaging that you can’t do in a traditional world,” The creative process doesn’t typically start with
The Media Manager’s Robinson said. “The traditional programmatic; it starts with repurposing other formats.
world of radio is more like a blunt instrument, but it A good portion of advertisers will simply repurpose
gives you massive reach. In these platforms, it’s more their 15- or 30-second terrestrial radio ads to get up and
about hypertargeting to get a particular type of audience running in these digital environments. Brand advertisers
with a particular message in order to get enough of a have also been known to strip the audio from their
response and engagement from the audience that will 15- and 30-second television ads and use it as a starting
produce revenue.” point for creative. Many of the digital audio platforms
today offer advertisers assistance with ad copy—be
Retargeting also plays an important role in streaming it directly by working with in-house creative teams or
audio advertising, particularly for reinforcing upper-funnel indirectly via referrals to companies like VoiceBunny or A
marketing programs. Whereas advertisers often think Million Ads that have voice actors.
of this tactic as a lower-funnel play designed to drive
conversions and outcomes, many audio advertisers are But many interviewed for this report were quick to point
leveraging retargeting capabilities within streaming audio out that simply repurposing ads from other formats was
to reinforce reach and frequency—even across other neither a best practice nor an ideal use of the streaming
channels and formats. audio medium.
“We see a lot of advertisers pixeling audio ads in our Instead, many emphasized the importance of using data
platform to get insights on the number of people who and programmatic tools to leverage dynamic creative. To
listen to 100% of an ad or 75% of an ad, and then be clear, most aren’t generating creative on a one-to-one
retarget them on display or video,” said Sid Bhatia, level. Instead, they’re using data and insights to create
product marketing manager at Adobe. ads tailored to address specific locations, weather events
or times of day.
But Bhatia was quick to note that the opposite is also
true. “If a brand reaches its max unique reach on video, it Spotify’s Gierlinska offered the example of a fast-food
will layer on audio to a video buy,” he said. company that uses only breakfast-themed audio ads in
the morning and will also tailor the message based on
Here again, programmatic technology is often needed the city. “You can have multiple versions of that kind of
to facilitate these cross-channel programs. “The idea creative on a very cost-effective basis,” she said.
of a multichannel media campaign that’s driven by data
and technology to execute is something you’ve seen
For more on the challenges, trends and opportunities
a lot of the major players in the programmatic space
surrounding dynamic creative, see our report
adopt,” Pandora’s Walker said. “As new advertisers test
“Dynamic Creative and Digital Storytelling: Mastery
programmatic, they’re starting to realize that adding audio of Data Management Allows Campaigns to Get
to the mix drives performance and makes the rest of their More Sophisticated.”
programmatic media campaign more effective. Part of
that has to do with breaking through and resonating with
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 10The affordability of dynamic creative for digital audio ads “We’re excited about the potential, both from an
is worth underscoring. We have covered the trend of ad-effectiveness standpoint and an improvement to the
dynamic creative for years, pretty much since the advent listener experience,” he said.
of programmatic, and it’s always been a tactic that most
acknowledge has promise. But it’s difficult to execute. When it comes to streaming audio, however, it’s
Lack of an understanding of how to best leverage data important to bear in mind that audio may be one of two
and lack of scale in building the necessary creative (which creative assets deployed. Across streaming radio and
is often tied closely to cost) are two ongoing obstacles music, advertisers also have the option to showcase
for dynamic creative in display. But in digital audio, these banners and other display ads designed to capture lower-
challenges are less acute. Many of the ad environments funnel activities, be it site visits or other conversions.
require sign-in and subscription, and therefore rely more
on known data vs. third-party cookies. And audio ads are “We do see a lot of direct-response call-to-actions in
cheaper to produce compared with display or video ads. online radio and streaming music ads,” Adobe’s Bhatia
The bottom line: Dynamic creative for digital audio isn’t said. “Things like, ‘Call this number,’ or ‘Go to this website
just a nice-to-have, it’s an actual best practice. with this specific code,’ but we also see a lot of
branding-focused advertising that’s sound-oriented
Alexis van de Wyer, CEO of digital audio supply-side without much call to action. But it’s embedded well within
platform (SSP) AdsWizz, noted that he’s seen campaigns the experience.”
with as many as 15,000 different creatives, reflecting
different weather, locations in the country and for every Even the calls to action are evolving. AdsWizz’s van de
point of sale. Wyer said he’s now seeing campaigns where the call to
action isn’t remembering a phone number, URL or clicking
“It allows you to have a very customized, personalized on a companion banner; it’s a shake of the phone. From
and effective campaign where you can optimize attribution there, the advertiser can drive the listener directly to a
but do that at scale, even though the messaging and call center or send them the location or address of the
targeting are pretty niche,” he said. “Those are the kinds nearest store.
of things that you can do only through programmatic.”
Often, discussions of dynamic creative, reach and
frequency lead to discussions of sequential messaging,
MEASUREMENT
where brands tailor not only the creative, but also Given how upper-funnel many streaming audio campaigns
the creative based on the number of exposures and are, it’s hardly surprising that advertisers today gauge the
interactions a consumer has had with previous ads. Like success of campaigns based on reach and frequency.
dynamic creative, sequential messaging is something Those turning to streaming audio as an incremental reach
most marketers aspire to, but few today are able to play will benchmark success of audio against the unique
achieve. As is the case for all of digital, it’s early days for or incremental audience of efforts in other channels
sequential messaging, but it’s also something that digital and formats.
audio can absolutely begin to deliver.
Upper-funnel audio advertisers also measure lift in brand
“It’s early days for sequential messaging, and it’s very metrics, typically via survey. Some audio advertising
much something that requires a test-and-learn approach,” platforms offer such survey tools; others may recruit a
Pandora’s Walker said. “It’s scientific, and you need to third-party company such as Kantar Millward Brown to
ingest different signals over time to correlate the different understand changes in brand perception.
types of ad creative capabilities to what is actually driving
the outcome that the advertiser cares about. But there’s “This seems to be where a lot of the audio measurement
also an art to the creative. We like to combine these two.” is lately,” Bhatia said. “Advertisers aren’t convinced that
someone who is listening to Pandora or Spotify while
According to Walker, one way Pandora is working to test lounging by the pool is going to click on a banner and
the two is by running longer-length creative followed go buy a mattress on a phone. For audio vs. display, the
by shorter-length creative that’s used to reinforce conversion rates are much lower.”
brand messages.
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 11Bhatia’s point exposes a key differentiator in objectives “When we ran audio in conjunction with video, we
and measurement strategies for advertisers: Some may actually saw a 15-times lift in engagement, which were
very well be more performance-oriented. secondary actions happening on the advertiser’s site” he
said. “Similarly, we saw a six-times lift when we ran audio
For advertising products sold online, the banners that in conjunction with display.”
accompany many streaming audio ad units are often
critical for capturing digital activity. This can be done in Anderson emphasized that the combination of audio and
two ways. First, by measuring any direct engagements display-based media allowed the agency to tie display ad
with the display unit. But because these units are exposure back to a digital identifier, thereby allowing it
deployed only when the audio ad is run, their impressions to track secondary actions taken post-audio or display ad
(and the tracking tags that accompany them) can also be exposure on the advertiser’s website.
used as a proxy for audio ad exposure. When companion
units aren’t an option, calls to action in the ads often Bhatia said Adobe has conducted similar tests with
direct consumers to a special URL or provide a custom video, display, search and audio to understand audio’s
promo code to track engagement. impact on site behavior. By measuring metrics such as
time on site or bounce rate for people who had listened
Some brick-and-mortar advertisers, like quick-service to an ad, Adobe can better gauge not just lower-funnel
restaurants (QSRs), are also interested in going beyond engagements, but also psychometrics and changes in
branding and attributing conversions to audio ads. An audience behaviors.
increasing number now look to capture the performance
of their audio advertising efforts via location data and
measures of footfall traffic to specific locations, such as
stores, dealerships, restaurants or more. This is largely PODCAST ADVERTISING
made possible by how commonplace mobile streaming
has become, which can give advertisers insight into which There’s not a clean line between streaming audio
ads were heard by consumers on mobile phones at a advertising and podcast advertising, especially
prior point in time. as the two biggest streaming audio services in
terms of subscribers, Pandora and Spotify, have
Bear in mind, streaming audio ads are often one piece of
eagerly entered the podcast market. Podcasts can
a larger plan. Proper attribution of results like ecommerce
be downloaded or streamed, and advertisers are
conversions or store traffic must account for the influence
and success of multiple channels. interested in both delivery channels, though there
are some significant differences in how they can
“Attribution plays a really big role within audio,” Xaxis’s be treated.
Anderson said. “We want to make sure we have the
ability to tie that exposure back to whatever actions a “The advertising opportunity for podcasts has blossomed
brand is looking to drive.” over the past year,” Adobe’s Bhatia said. “Podcast ads are
no longer just available through the platforms like Spotify
Anderson also said that many brands looking to attribute or SoundCloud; they’re also available through ad networks
digital audio’s success often do so against brand lift, and SSPs for programmatic transacting.”
awareness metrics or other measures of engagement.
He offered an example of a healthcare brand his agency But while aggregate supply is growing, the landscape
worked with to drive greater brand engagement. To remains fragmented. A March 2019 review of the top
accomplish this, Xaxis ran a combination of audio, video 10 US podcast publishers in terms of unique audiences
and display ads. conducted by podcast measurement firm Podtrac found
just two publishers, NPR and iHeartRadio, broke the 10
million monthly unique visitor mark.
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 12Top 10 US Podcast Publishers, Ranked by Unique Drop, an app designed to help consumers earn rewards
Audience, March 2019 from their shopping, is one such company that has
US monthly Worldwide Active started to explore new audio channels outside of social
unique audience unique streams shows
(millions) and downloads platforms and test podcasts.
(millions)
1. NPR 18.7 175.3 49 “We’ve had a lot of success on Instagram and Facebook
2. iHeartRadio 17.5 164.8 170 with leveraging influencers. But over time, these
3. PRX 8.0 69.8 70 channels have been getting more competitive and more
4. Wondery 7.8 54.7 67 expensive,” said Catalina Lee, director of marketing at
5. New York Times 7.1 61.2 10 Drop. “The podcast space is growing, and people go to
6. WNYC Studios 5.5 32.9 55
podcasts because they’re really interested in a topic, and
7. This American Life/Serial 5.5 28.1 3
because they’re into the storytelling and conversation that
8. Barstool Sports 5.3 39.7 38
happens with this format. As a result, you’re reaching a
9. ESPN 4.5 42.4 61
10. Daily Wire 3.5 31.7 5
highly engaged audience that connects not only with the
Note: represents activity tracked by Podtrac, broader industry metrics may topic being discussed, but also with the podcaster in a
vary; includes desktop and mobile audience meaningful way, so there’s a great deal of familiarity and
Source: Podtrac, "Podcast Industry Audience Rankings: March 2019," April
14, 2019 trust that gets built there.”
246949 www.eMarketer.com
While podcasts have historically been more of a
“If you look at the sheer number of podcasts out there,
performance marketing play, growing audiences and
there are over 700,000 podcasts,” said Hernan Lopez,
improvements to measurement are also now drawing
CEO and founder of podcast network Wondery. “It’s a
brand advertisers.
very fragmented space.”
“So many direct-response advertisers just keep coming
While programmatic advancements will undoubtedly
back for more,” Triton Digital’s Rosso said. “And those
help to aggregate the landscape, making greater pools of
marketers have finely tuned, highly refined KPIs [key
podcasts and ad inventory more accessible, advertisers
performance indicators] and mechanisms for ensuring
aren’t necessarily deterred by the state of podcast
optimum return on ad spend. The fact that they continue
advertising today.
to renew time and time again with podcasts suggests
that podcasts work. And brand advertisers with more
upper-funnel marketing messages are starting to take
A PERFORMANCE CHANNEL NOW notice of that.”
APPEALS TO BRANDINGS In the June 2019 edition of the IAB and PwC’s annual
The uniqueness of podcast ads and the frequent look at podcast advertising, the firms found podcast
categorical exclusivity these listening experiences provide revenues from branding campaigns were on the rise.
have historically drawn performance marketers and D2C In 2016, 73.0% of US podcast revenues came from
companies wishing to capitalize on these effects. direct-response advertisers. But by the end of 2018,
51.6% of the self-reported revenues of the 22 companies
“A lot of performance advertisers are investing in digital surveyed came from direct-response advertising.
audio as Facebook starts to plateau and platforms
like Google change their algorithms, and they don’t
want to be contingent on any one source,” said Giles
Martin, executive vice president of strategy and
insights at Oxford Road. “So when they come to us,
they’re looking for performance, and they’re looking to
measure performance.”
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 13US Podcast Ad Revenue Share, by Campaign Type, “We are seeing a shift from contextual to behavioral
2016-2018 targeting,” he said. “And that becomes more prevalent as
% of total people shift from direct to programmatic buying. A lot of
6.5% 10.1% programmatic buying leverages data targeting, and we’re
1.5%
25.4%
seeing buyers adding first-party data to become more
29.2% targeted with their audio ads.”
38.2%
However, Grimes was quick to acknowledge that such
targeting tactics aren’t as seamlessly ported over
into environments like podcasts, where ads are still
73.0%
64.2% predominantly host-read and part of the actual audio
51.6% experience. As dynamic ad insertion becomes more
common, it’s likely that audience targeting will as well.
But for now, it’s more likely that the use of audience
2016 2017 2018 data sets, such as first-party data, may be best utilized
Direct response ad Brand awareness ad Branded content as a refinement on top of an existing contextual buy or a
Note: self-reported advertising revenues represent the companies
means of identifying the ideal podcast audience, much as
surveyed, less than 100% of the total podcast advertising market; numbers is done in advanced TV buying today.
may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC), "Full Year 2018 Podcast Ad Revenue Study: A Detailed Analysis of
the US Podcast Advertising Industry," June 3, 2019
247910 www.eMarketer.com
CREATIVE CAPABILITIES
“The movement from early adopters and a lot of the Of all the audio ads, podcasts ads were heralded as the
D2C advertisers has become pretty mainstream,” said most unique and native to their surroundings.
Suzanne Grimes, executive vice president of marketing at
Cumulus Media and president of Westwood One. “You’re “Most of the ads are host-read, and they’re specific to
now starting to see the traditional brands embrace the the shows we produce—we don’t take third-party ads,”
medium and value the intimacy and the engaged nature Wondery’s Lopez said. “And I think that’s one of the
of the advertising experience. And in the brand advertiser reasons that podcasts are so well-received by listeners.
RFPs [requests for proposal] we’re seeing, podcasting When an ad is read by a host, it gives them an increased
is starting to appear as a matter of course, which wasn’t sense of relatability and relevancy vs. an ad that is not
true even last year. Brands know this is an exciting place read by a host.”
to be.”
As such, it’s no surprise that repurposed ads often have
no home—or context—in a podcast.
TARGETING “We rarely see brands repurposing ads,” Lopez said.
For podcasts, contextual targeting has long been the “They may keep the tag line and the brand message the
norm. On the one hand, it’s the primary form of targeting same, but podcast advertisers know they can engage
that’s been available, considering most podcasts are listeners emotionally with podcasts ads and get them to
topic-based. But on the other, it also fits well with the listen in for 60 seconds in a way that’s unusual to do with
native advertising experience—advertisers choosing TV or nearly impossible in all other forms of media.”
similarly themed or closely related podcasts that fit their
brand or product image and lifestyle. National Public Media’s Moffett agreed. “In commercial
radio, for decades you just created ads that were made
However, as the medium develops, more audience- to cut through the clutter and have your ad pop out
based targeting capabilities are coming into play. Both against the other 20 minutes of ads in an hour of radio
Grimes and Adobe’s Bhatia acknowledged the growing programming,” he said. “You don’t have to do that in
trend toward these audience targeting capabilities. Bhatia podcasting because the ad loads are significantly lower.
emphasized such a trajectory coincides with an increase It’s much more about finding a way to engage with the
in programmatic enablement of these advertisements. customer and not be interruptive. It’s about providing
value and information.”
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 14According to the IAB and PwC study mentioned Another growing creative trend? Dynamically inserted
previously, host-read ads are still the dominant ad ads. But to be clear, these units take several forms.
type within podcasts. Podcast ads that were host-read On the one end of the spectrum are host-read ads that
comprised 63.3% of the podcast ad revenues from the are, as the name implies, inserted dynamically into the
publishers surveyed by the firms in 2018. Thirty-five podcast at the appropriate commercial break. For all
percent of revenues came from announcer-read or intents and purposes, though, they maintain a seamless
pre-produced ads (up slightly from 32.7% in 2017), audio experience.
and just 1.7% came from supplied ads, which were
pre-recorded ads created for radio that were used in IAB and PwC found slightly under half (48.8%) of US
the podcast. podcast ads delivered in 2018 were inserted dynamically.
This portion was up from 41.7% in 2017.
Podcast advertising is one of the most underutilized
weapons in a marketer’s arsenal,” said The Media Advertisers might choose to go this route to target
Manager’s Robinson. “It gives you something that’s specific listeners in specific geographies or tease
almost impossible to find in other channels, and that’s upcoming events in specific locations. Triton Digital’s
categorical exclusivity. You’re really leveraging that Rosso said he has also seen dynamic ad insertion used to
relationship between the host or the on-air personality tailor the listening experience based on weather-related
and his or her audience in a way that’s incredibly events—for example, Home Depot wanting to sell snow
powerful, and it allows your brand to differentiate shovels in Detroit on the same day it’s selling garden
itself from the fray. It’s not just an ad—it’s a personal hoses to Dallas listeners.
endorsement coming from someone trusted by
the audience.” “It’s not as prevalent in the podcast world yet, but it’s
coming,” he said. “And as we move to advertisers that
That endorsement factor—and influencer factor—is have specific offers, it’s going to be really important
something many who were interviewed for this report with certain retailers. They don’t want a particular offer
raised as a significant competitive advantage of the to be persistent and live forever in a file if that offer
podcast medium. In fact, some experts suspected that has expired.”
over time, this advertising style may also be appropriated
across other forms of digital audio. Where experts became more cautious of dynamic ad
insertion was with non-host-read ads or ads with the
Online learning platform Skillshare is already looking at likelihood of insertion at an inappropriate time. Many
podcasts as a means of leveraging influencer power. expressed concerns about maintaining the seamless
According to Kyle Jansen, senior director of growth user experience in instances where a change of voice or
marketing, host-read ads that appear in podcasts where messaging becomes an abrupt, out-of-context experience.
the host is seen as an influencer in the community
tend to be the most effective placements for the For podcasts, like streaming audio, companion banners
company today. may also be available. For advertisers, this can be another
way to drive engagement and actions, leaving the details
“If the host is someone the audience really trusts and within the visual elements and freeing up the host from
is the authority, and the [host-read ad] reads are very listing a 10-digit phone number or lengthy URL.
authentic and genuine, then the ads tend to do really
well,” Jansen said. “If you have the option, you should take it,” Robinson
of The Media Manager said. “Not taking advantage of
D2C cleaning products company Dropps also leverages it from an advertising perspective is leaving a massive
podcasts for the influencer power they provide. amount of response on the table, and that doesn’t make
“Listeners are really engaged in podcasts and trust the sense for advertisers. They’re trying to get every dollar’s
host,” said Sydney Waldron, director of marketing at worth of ROI out of their advertising placements.”
Dropps. “It’s similar to the power influencers hold over
their followers when they’re talking about products—it
feels natural and authentic. That’s something you don’t get
in a lot of traditional advertising, whether it’s a display or a
TV ad.”
DIGITAL AUDIO ADVERTISING: EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES IN STREAMING AUDIO, PODCASTS AND SMART SPEAKERS ©2019 EMARKETER INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 15You can also read
