Audio Delivers Big Results For Both Consumers and Advertisers

Audio in its many platforms has become a beguiling alternative for both consumers and advertisers compared to television and social media.

For consumers, the idea of “radio” has taken on new meaning. It is no longer an analogue, old timey sound box. Now it offers a range of new platforms that provide a myriad of fascinating content from transportive AM/FM to self-select and recommendation engine content, to podcasts to audio books to information provided by smart speakers.

For marketers, the cost of television advertising defies gravity with increasing prices for inventory despite a shrinking and fragmented audience. CPMs for social media have also risen with diminishing results. In a marketplace riven with rising costs and diminishing returns, advertisers are finding that audio delivers the consumers they want in an immersive environment with cost effective options. Notably, these consumers are much younger than television whose average age is 57 years compared to 49 for radio.

A recent study by iHeart revealed that consumers currently spend about a third (31%) of their media time with audio. But, despite the fact that ad-supported radio drives scale, advertising dollars have yet to match this amount of usage. With radio, the ability to add incremental reach with lower cost should be extremely appealing.

With more data available through various and new platforms as well as the increasing use of machine learning to normalize and structure the data, audio offers a heightened ability to target cross-platform. Audio creative has also taken giant leaps in quality, efficiency and prove-ability compared to video. Currently, audio is as measureable as digital and TV and offers measurement solutions for every KPI and channel. Further, being able to target while knowing that consumer privacy is maintained (unlike in social media) offers an additional comfort level for marketers.

Talent plays a big role in the trust and influence of audio ads. Seventy-seven percent of listeners trust the information they receive from radio personalities which makes radio two times as trusted as social media. When it comes to overall impact, radio proves to be the most influential at the point of purchase compared to other media, with AM/FM radio accounting for 49% of visits to stores within a half hour of exposure to messaging. The second highest media was Live TV at 26% and, interestingly, outdoor ranked 5^th at 13%. Overall, 75% of measured consumers indicate that radio is the last media contact they have before shopping.

When it comes to iHeart specifically, their ability to reach a mass market audience age 6+ compared to television and social media is unsurpassed, according to Nielsen and Comscore. And, in a special Tik Tok case study using radio to drive new audience growth, iHeart, specifically, out-performs other audio companies in attracting adults 18+. Overall the company reaches 90% of Americans with both national and local presence. Its strength is proving successful among marketers with increasing spend topping $4 billion, dwarfing other audio options.

So in a media world of increasing content and platform choice, technological advancements, a call for privacy that still offers the ability to target effectively, there is no better choice than audio for both consumers and marketers. Radio delivers on all levels.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler