Constant connectivity is the expectation of today’s consumer. Innovation in connected cars, smartphones, wearables, and home appliances means that today’s consumer is constantly online. In this overcrowded connected media environment, consumers are bombarded with impressions, leaving advertisers searching for opportunities to penetrate the clutter. Digital Audio’s unique ability to overcome these challenges makes it an important tool for today’s marketers.
The demand for Digital Audio is growing, driven by connected lives that rely more and more on mobile devices. According to The Infinite Dial 2016 by Edison, 57% of Americans (12+) listen to online radio, while 21% listen to podcasts. This mainstreaming of digital audio follows a broader pattern of smartphone use and connected mobile lifestyles where audio plays an increasingly central role.
Audio is “On”
With its ability to impact consumers when they are listening but not looking at their device, Digital Audio offers marketers the opportunity to deliver their messages in a uniquely exclusive environment, when the consumer is “all ears.” In fact, digital audio is at its best delivering impressions while the listener is unable to look at the device – while driving a car, exercising, working, walking, or cleaning their house.
Audio is “In”
As innovation in connected devices grows, the way of communicating with those devices has shifted away from a browser and in favor of voice activated communications. As screens get smaller or disappear entirely on these devices, Digital Audio’s opportunity expands and becomes the essential form of communication.
Audio is Everywhere
Digital Audio moves with connected consumers from their home to their car to their office and workout, creating a soundtrack for their lives. This highly mobile media creates outstanding opportunities for marketers to impact the right consumers with the right message at the right moment, deepening the effectiveness of campaign objectives.
“In an always-on, always connected world, attention-based media solutions are required to capture peoples’ attention,” says Doug Sterne, Pandora VP Audio Development and Strategy. “Digital audio is the perfect mobile media to do just that, delivering impact even when screens are hidden, offering advertisers enormous buying and scheduling options and providing granular targeting and reporting insights.”
Listeners have embraced Digital Audio’s compelling offerings in the form of streamed programs that enable the user to select music by song, artist, station or genre, as well as podcasts which use spoken word and storytelling to engage listeners. The diverse programming available in Digital Audio offers innovative ways for marketers to explore compelling creative that engages the listener and impacts their brand.
Digital Audio presents marketers with a powerful tool offering unique opportunities to overcome a cluttered media landscape with an effective messaging environment that provides digital delivering and targeting capabilities, innovative creative options, sophisticated buying and reporting tools, and relevant, effective reach among today’s connected consumers.
Digital audio provides brands with great access to today’s busy consumer, offering the ability to break through the cluttered media landscape. The newly updated and recently released Digital Audio Buyer’s Guide provides marketers with a concise guide to the unique and compelling role that Digital Audio can play in expanding and enhancing a digital advertising plan.
“With the digital audio landscape continuing to evolve and grow at a record pace, this guide stands as a valuable source of insight, information, and direction for all facets of the industry,” adds Scott Liss, VP Connections, iHeartMedia.
The IAB, along with members of the Digital Audio Committee, have pursued a goal of educating marketers and agencies about digital audio advertising opportunities, and discussing best practices and guidelines for reducing operational costs while driving sector growth. With the release of today’s IAB Digital Audio Buyer’s Guide, we aim to dive further into these points and answer questions that creatives, planners and buyers have about investment in digital audio advertising.
Read the IAB Digital Audio Buyer’s Guide
