Get More Immersive with Audio. Audacy Reveals the Optimal Frequency to Engage Listeners.

There is almost an art to measuring the optimal ad frequency in a campaign. Audacy has just released a study that examines ad frequency effectiveness for audio that debunks previously held assumptions. 

The company hosted a webinar moderated by Audacy CMO, Paul Suchman that explored the study results. Panelists included Devora Rogers, Chief Innovation Officer, Alter Agents, Adam Weiler, Executive Vice President, Data, Technology, Analytics and Insights, Spark Foundry and Idil Cakim, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, Audacy.

The study was conducted by Alter Agents in partnership with Odyssey and Spark Foundry and demonstrated that exposing audiences to audio messages consistently and frequently offers benefits to both the listener and the advertiser because it increases immersion. Immersion is defined as attention plus emotional connection, according to Cakim.

Audio advertising, the report concluded, improves brand equity, growth and sales essentially across the funnel. The assessment, according to Suchman is that, “Ad engagement climbs with each audio exposure across industry categories across platforms and across genres. Audio advertising works.” He noted that the report proves that audio seizes attention and encourages retention, offering brands engagement and impact that drives consumers to action.

But how much frequency is too much? What is the right balance for audio exposure? Weiler noted that, “Radio as a platform is fairly established as a traditional channel but the audio landscape itself is growing and transforming.” Advertisers now have to think more holistically around context, creative and channel while still being able to measure on more traditional metrics such as reach and frequency.

The challenge within the study was to ascertain the right amount of frequency without, as Cakim explained, “bombarding the participants with too high frequency.” The decision was to go with up to 15 frequencies within the limits of the study and then measure variations. She expected peaks because she knew that, “audio was highly immersive,” but, even so, the optimal level was surprising. “The big surprise was how participants became increasingly immersed in a variety of audio messages at increasing frequencies. I was expecting a breaking point or drop off, but that didn't happen,” she revealed.

The study was configured using neuro methodology, measured by a smart watch rather than all of the more intrusive traditional tools of neuro measurement such as gel caps and MRIs. In this way a more uninterrupted experience by the listener could be achieved. Rogers explained that the smart watch captured the variable heart rate which is tied to immersion which is a measure of emotional engagement and responsiveness. The study also included stated data where one could match neuro responses to stated responses from the participants thus blending old and new methodologies together.

“We relied on second-by-second immersion data (biometric feedback from the audience) to measure creative resonance. And we coupled that with surveys that measure key brand effect questions on recall, familiarity, intention, etc,” explained Cakim.

The results speak for themselves. It is well known that immersion levels are important because it is highly predictive of a consumer action with an accuracy of greater than 80%. The study demonstrated that small differences in immersion can lead to significant changes in behavior. Audio, noted Cakim, “deeply holds attention.”

The key takeaways included:

Ø  As frequency increases, so does immersion. The more you expose people to audio ads, they become more attentive and the more ingrained in the content. And this occurred across genres and across audiences. “Deeper and deeper immersion occurred with audio frequency,” Cakim asserted, offering advertisers greater opportunities to place ads in audio. “Frequency in and of itself can be an important tool in helping to understand what an audio plan can do,” Weiler added. “We saw increased engagement as frequency grows.”

Ø  As immersion increases with exposure, so do positive brand opinions and brand equity. By fifteen exposures, immersion and brand opinion reach a high point for advertisers. “The scale for immersion measurement is from 1 to 100. The higher the score, the more immersed you are in the content. We are seeing levels of 59, going past 60 while the average for the industry in advertising immersion is 53. This is a significant difference,” Cakim revealed.

Ø  Immersion also drives consumer purchase consideration with immersion scores in the low 60s. “This helps us to understand that radio is very effective at moving people through the funnel and advancing potential targets on their purchase journey,” stated Weiler.

Ø  Creative matters. The most effective ads were those, “that explained what was in it for the customer and held attention to the end,” Cakim noted. Attention is easier to get at the beginning but hard to hold and sustain until the end of the message.

What can advertisers, especially those who may be new to audio, do with all of this information? “A recommendation to an advertiser new to audio is - go big and bold, devise a total audio strategy, leveraging OTA and digital platforms. And don't be afraid to go to higher frequencies across the board to drive your message home and immerse your audiences in your brand,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Artwork by Charlene Weisler

The Powerful State of Audio in the New Normal

There has never been a better time for audio, especially integrated audio that incorporates over-the-air radio, digital audio and podcasts. Audacy has just released their State of Audio e-book that details integrated audio's power to track, reach and engage consumers that is backed up by advanced and cutting-edge research and data.

According to the book, Audio has the capacity to, "stir emotions like no other medium." It goes on to explain that "via podcasts, sports, news or music, the auditory-neuro sensory embrace draws us in, makes us feel --really feel! -- and drives us to action. Personal audio (the kind we enjoy alone through our earbuds, smart speakers and talkable tech) is a bigger part of our daily lives than ever before."

The result is increased usage by listeners and increased ad spend by advertisers.

The New Normal

The pandemic has changed the way consumers use media, leading to a new normal and boon for audio. According to the research, there was substantial year-to-year growth in listening at home (+44%), via smart speakers (+43%) and via podcasts (+26%). At the same time, screen fatigue became a stress factor as both work and school locked consumers in front of their various screens. Audio with its mobile fluidity offers consumers the opportunity to de-stress, "and, even briefly, shut out the outside world … Audio just puts us in a good mood," the e-book notes.

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The research and data bears this out. When compared to screens, audio listeners pay more attention, spending more time with audio than social media (+60%), broadcast TV (+54%), cable TV (+49%) and video streaming (+42%).

"In a world where screen time has reached a new and sometimes uncomfortable peak, it's the ears, not the eyes that have always connected most deeply," explained J.D. Crowley, Chief Digital Officer, Audacy. "It's the ears that are generating the most excitement and energy in media today."

The Opportunity for Advertisers

At the core of audio's benefits for advertisers are trust and immersion. The State of Audio guide explains that "Audiences trust the messages they hear from the voices they know. Host endorsements, whether live reads or as part of an ad, drive listeners to buy. A lot." Immersion is a blend of attention and emotional connection. Audio delivers on this behavior with the highest immersion index of any media -- whether AVOD, digital video, linear TV or social media.

Perhaps the most profound and valuable aspect of audio for advertisers is its ability to be accessed anywhere and at any time from a range of sources. Whether cleaning the house, walking the dog, driving the car or shopping, audio is everywhere. The study revealed a resurgence of radio listening in the home, facilitated by the new and growing technology of smart speakers, Bluetooth speakers and wireless headphones that makes it far more mobile than ever before.

The Audio Trifecta

The research revealed that all three audio platforms deliver for advertisers. The overall strength of broadcast radio (which commands an audience at least twice the size of pure-play services), along with the impressive growth of podcasting, especially among younger listeners (83% of whom say their favorite podcasters feel like friends), as well as innovative digital audio (which offers customized experiences), has engendered greater enthusiasm for audio content and, by extension, advertising messages.

Advertisers can take advantage of these attributes in a variety of ways. "Brands are embracing the speaker-as-touchpoint phenomenon, adding voice-triggered ads to their audio campaigns. That paves the way for some amazing new opportunities with shoppable audio interactions."

In addition, advertisers can access the power of audio influencers who can deeply engage their listeners. Audio campaigns have been proven to increase lift in sales conversions (+68%), lift in web visitation (+44%) and lift in in-store visitations (+45%).

Getting Started in Audio

While the opportunity is there for advertisers across audio platforms, it is equally important to have compelling creative and optimized audience targeting. According to the e-book, creative needs to drive recall, intent, engagement and emotional response -- and ad placement needs to occur at the right moment, in the right content for the right audience.

To that end, Audacy offers insights into producing the most compelling creative and accessing over 16,000 attributes to profile listeners and create custom audience segments for advertisers. It also offers a range of measurement opportunities including trackable pixel-based measurement. And depending on the KPI, Audacy offers measurement on foot traffic, brick-and-mortar visits with geofencing, web conversion, sales conversion, brand lift, app downloads and ad-to-app conversions and downloads in near real-time.

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Audacy's e-book offers a step-by-step guide that provides insight into the power and value of each audio platform, the most impactful way to develop and launch the ad message, and the best ways to measure campaign impact through first party data.

Ken Lagana, Audacy's EVP, Digital Sales and Strategy, believes "Audio is the most engaging impression you can buy in media. Period. People are more receptive to receiving a message from someone they know and someone they trust. Only Audio can build these kinds of relationships."

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The New Screen is No Screen. Audio’s Renaissance. An Interview with Audacy’s Melissa Capuano, Michael Biemolt and Idil Cakim of Audacy

When looking at the impact of the pandemic on everyday life, one sector – Retail - was especially transformed. For a media company like Audacy which is in the audio space, this transformation created greater opportunities. Audacy’s Melissa Capuano SVP of National Partnerships, Michael Biemolt, Senior Vice President Sales and Idil Cakim, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, explained where the future for retail is leading and why “sonic marketing” is a pivotal part of the ecosystem.

The Retail Market Today

We are in a growth period post-pandemic as brands respond to the new normal. “The retail market is absolutely rebounding,” stated Biemolt, “We work with brands that have reimagined their overall operation within the pandemic and are starting to thrive.” This has resulted in increased demand, “specifically for reaching audiences in digital audio.”

Business as usual isn’t cutting it. “The impact of the pandemic was seen early on,” he explained, “Those retailers that, through the pandemic, added Ecommerce, really changed their consumer journey.” They improved convenience and safety as consumers could shop digitally at brick and mortar stores and then pick up their merchandise with curbside pickup at the store itself. “It was forced evolution in a significant way,” he concluded.

Brick and Mortar stores are adapting to a new shopping experience. “The convenience of shopping online or curbside pickup is nice,” Capuano began, “but there is still a future for brick and mortar. For sure, a lot of habits have changed, but for retailers, they are looking at the experiences for shopping in their brick and mortar location. Some retailers have really focused in on experience. Walmart even coined the term retailtainment where there's a reason for going to the store. Some stores have a bar or restaurant or a giant fish tank or bands playing and entertainment, so your retail shopping experience has changed a little bit.”

Audio’s Capabilities and Value

 “People are ready to get back out and shop,” Capuano noted. “And for advertisers, their spending is now starting to pick up as demand gets back.” Radio plays an important role to drive in-store traffic, according to Capuano. “You will see retailers that use radio, in particular, around sales events - Memorial Day, weekend sales, or even up into holidays - and now it's even a little bit more year round.” She added that advertising in addition to radio, additional platforms as digital audio streaming podcast integrations help brands get a little bit deeper. “Data is extremely important in targeting and in attribution as well, so that's that plays really nicely into what digital audio can provide,” she noted.

Audio adds reach and engagement. Much of that, according to Biemolt, “is being driven by podcasting and steaming audio.” With all of the teleconferencing in the past year, “Audio is an engagement experience and in many cases, is the new screen. As my client said, the new screen is no screen. Audio’s ability to reach the consumer not only from an engagement standpoint but to truly drive mid funnel and lower funnel activity, is what many brands have seen with the use of audio holistically in the last 14 months of the pandemic.”

Audio’s Pivot to Address Marketplace Changes

Data reigns supreme in the Audio’s world. “Not only are we providing research illustrating the engagement that audio provides, but, as people are running their audio campaigns with us, we're establishing set KPIs, whether it is brand awareness or sales activity or wherever in the funnel you want the outcome to be,” Biemolt stated. Measurement of these KPIs is part of the partnerships Audacy has with key measurement companies who data and metrics can be applied to clients’ campaign management. “Did they go to the store? Did they go to the client site? Did they make a purchase? That kind of lean forward is where we've helped these brands … and illustrate in so many categories how audio can be effective use in their marketing plans.”

Cakim showcased a study that Audacy is doing on return on audio spend. “Specifically in the Retail category looking at all these national advertisers’ media mix plans from the past three years, we can see that the retail industry is currently 22% under investing in audio,” she explained. “There is much room for growth, not only from a growth perspective, but also in efficiency and effectiveness. We know that coupling over the air and digital in these plans is critical. There is tremendous opportunity in the marketplace for retailers looking to attract more audiences into more customers into stores - physical stores, online stores, curb side pickup - whichever channel works best for them. Audio can be a great way to bring the customer lead the customer and convert the shopper from a looker to a buyer.”

The Future of Audio and Retail

When customers go into a brick and mortar store, audio can provide, “a theater of the mind,” noted Biemolt. “You don't have to always see the product, but be able to describe the experience you may get by going into the store.”

Cakim added that Nielsen just released a consumer insight survey in June, “where we saw, perhaps counter-intuitively, that all forms of shopping increased in-store, online, curbside picking. What that means is that shopping is the new entertainment as people are getting ready to go back to normal. Also, 90%+ of audiences across the board and 91% of Radio audience said they're ready to go back to normal. With this enthusiasm and optimism comes this quest to shop and that's a tremendous opportunity.  We are not seeing a drop in curb side pickup. We're not seeing a drop in online shopping. We're seeing an increase across the board in all forms of shopping. That's what the Nielsen data showed.”

For Audacy specifically, Cakim shared that, “We also look into how valuable these shoppers are from an audio perspective. Streamers, for instance, are really valuable shoppers across every single category. They spend more than average according to MRI Simmons.”

The future is bright for audio. “I'm really excited about where audio is right now in terms of many conversations that we're having with brands directly retailers and their advertising agencies,” Capuano said. “There's a lot of interest in audio because of all the innovations. Expansion into the digital audio space will only continue to grow.”

For Biemolt, voice and smart speakers are contributing to, “The audio Renaissance that's happening right now. Brands are rediscovering audio. For consumers, audio provides an escape and it’s also an engaging medium.  Over the next two years, I think that's we're just going to continue to see many, many more brands use it to a higher level.”

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

 

The Power of Audio in Adding Impact and Speed to a Media Plan. Audacy’s Idil Cakim Reveals Results of a New Study.

The true value of one specific media platform is often in synergy with other media platforms. Audio is one media form that not only has strength on its own but also super-charges lift as part of a full media mix. That is what Audacy found in their recent Audio Amplification study, a meta-analysis of audio performance that was conducted over a three year period 2019 through 2021.

Idil Cakim, Senior Vice President, Research and Insights, Audacy, explained, “We partnered with Neustar for this analysis and they were able to look at more than forty media mix models across industries – auto, financial services, telecom, retail and large national clients – to give us a perspective on how audio was placed in these plans and what the scenario would look like if audio received more investment and how it would optimize these plans.” She added that, “We were always curious about what the impact of audio on returns and this gave us an opportunity to look at it from a high level perspective and a broad way and also understand how audio functioned in a media mix which is a lot of our clients’ reality.”

Audio Amplification Study Key Findings

Audio Adds Impact - One of the major findings of the study was that even a slight shift in media spending into audio can have profound positive impact on the campaign. “Audio is currently under-invested,” Cakim noted, “and that under-investment might be 15%. In some industries, it could be more than 50%. But it is currently under-invested and that spells out a missed opportunity for a lot of marketers and advertisers.”

The study found that it doesn’t take much added audio weight to make a big impact. “We found that an average of a 1.2% shift from other media to audio, yields a lift in audio ROAS (return on ad spend) of 23%,” she revealed. The study also found that both Over-The-Air and digital, advanced this finding. “There is tremendous value in combining,” she added.  

Audio Worked Fast and Lasted – Cakim noted that when audio is added to a plan, its lift impact was felt immediately. “It peaked within two weeks across industries, some even faster. So you get results fairly quickly but it was also eye opening to see that the results lasted a long time, up to twenty-one weeks. So imagine investing in dollars that are giving you a return in one to two weeks and that you are seeing the impact of those dollars on your brand image, on your intention, on walk into stores and eventually on sales.”

Examining and Defining Lift and Success

The study centered on increasing lift. Lift, she explained, is defined as, “Propelling a difference, causing an impact, creating an increase,” of any sort. Success, “was defined as sales for the purposes of this study. But sales can mean different things to different organizations. Sometimes they count units, sometimes they count dollar amounts. The data scientists at Neustar normalized the data to make sure that we could just look at it as a revenue driver.”

The results of success confirmed Audacy’s hypotheses that, “What we saw day in and day out, was seeing the scale of the impact – that was eye opening,” she stated. “We could tell you that audio deserved more dollars and that audio created impact but seeing that scale was really affirming.”

Benefits of Audio, Regardless of the Pandemic

I asked if the study results were impacted by the pandemic but Cakim explained that the study looked at media plans from 2019 through the current time with the pandemic months excluded from the analysis. This careful study craft reinforces the positive and lasting impact of the results.

“The beauty of audio is how nimble it is and how it seeps into every moment in a day, especially now as people change schedules and habits, we are in a bit of a different time now. Rush hour has changed, work habits changed but audio is consistent in all that change. It’s with you when you wake up, it’s with you when you are on the go and it’s with you when you are seeking that alone time and want to focus on a topic of interest,” she noted, proving that audio deserves investment.  Advertisers take note - certain advertising categories are especially under-invested in audio, according to Cakim. “Auto was the most under-invested category,” she noted, “So they benefit the most from moving dollars to audio.”

Looking Forward

While the pandemic did not factor in the study’s measurements or results, it has impacted human behavior and this shift can positively impact the future of audio consumer usage. “I think we are at an incredible juncture point because, during Covid, we saw changes in behavior, adoption of technology, media consumption that, perhaps we would have waited years to take place. Smart speaker listening surged (as had) the increases in at-home listening. The podcast surge is something incredible that has sped up. So I think we are only going upward and forward,” she shared.  

For Cakim, smart advertisers must understand, “what really moves the needle. Audio is more than just digital pure plays. That is part of the ecosystem, for sure. Media is more than just binge watching.” She revealed that in a separate study, Audacy found that consumers tend to tap into seven different media sources in an average week. “It is beautiful, chaotic and challenging. It’s great that there are so many touch points but it’s also hard to break through. You have to be mindful going into it. The future of audio is that we see it earning its fair and proper share in the media mix and being leveraged more effectively and efficiently by marketers because it is only growing with all of these digital channels,” she concluded.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

Getting the Most Impact From Your Audio Strategy. An Interview with Audacy’s Sergei Peysakhov

Audio, like other forms of media, is fragmenting with both digital and over-the-air offerings coupled with fresh entrants such as podcasting and smart speakers. How can advertisers best leverage all of these popular formats? Sergei Peysakhov, Senior Director, Measurement and Insights, Audacy embarked on a new research study to better understand the power of audio in its many incarnations.

“Audacy is a leading national publisher with a focus on audio content,” Peysakhov explained, and has existed for over 50 years as a pioneer in FM radio. About three and a half years ago, Entercom and CBS Radio merged and a few months ago that merged company was renamed Audacy which consists of all facets of their audio business, “including our B2B media company and B2C brands.”

Total Audience Amplifies Study

Audacy’s Total Audience study was designed to offer advertisers insights into how to best meet their marketing goals by examining the synergies between the audio formats. The study examined the dynamics of digital audio and over-the-air radio when advertising messages are run on both platforms. “Do they work better together? Is there any sort of synergy to running digital and traditional radio?” he asked. These are important questions.

“A lot of times advertisers tend to fall into one of the two buckets. They have either been on the radio for many, many years and love it. But they might be a little nervous or skittish about digital audio because it feels different. Then there are marketers that are newer, born in the digital age, direct response marketers who love the digital stuff but they are worried about over-the-air. It’s funny because that distinction is really a marketing distinction. It is not a consumer distinction,” he noted. To a consumer, it is all audio and very fluid and as such, there is no reason that these two distinct formats cannot work together to drive a cogent call to action.

For marketers with these clear distinctions, it was important to understand the total audience of audio to better understand the optimal mix of audio formats from digital to over-the-air to podcasts and everything else.

Study Takeaways

Peysakhov and his team examined those time periods where digital audio advertising was running alongside over-the-air advertising and times when digital ran on its own, “and then we compared these two periods across different campaigns and we saw a very clear signal, pretty much without exception across all campaigns that the digital audio worked much harder when over-the-air was present. Digital in itself was converting at a much higher rate driving people to the website or to make a purchase,” when you are also messaging on over-the-air, he revealed.

There is considerable data available to help form insights. According to Peysakhov, the study used digital attribution that included traffic, conversion, “pixal tags that captures when the consumer makes a purchase or does some sort of low funnel transaction. We also pick up some sort of order ID … and purchase value for ROI calculation.”

The conclusions were impressive. “What we saw was the amount of traffic, the total amount of visitation to the site after exposure to an ad doubled when over-the-air was present and lower funnel conversion was about fifty percent stronger,” he revealed, demonstrating the stronger synergies to spur a call-to-action when both formats are used simultaneously.

Peysakhov added that, “one of the biggest surprises was how consistent the impact was. It was pretty much across the board where any time you had digital advertising running you add that over-the-air layer and digital works harder. It was universal across industries.”

Impact of the Pandemic

At a time when most media experienced a reset moment during the pandemic, one media form didn’t miss a beat. Audio, especially streaming digital and podcasting, continued to offer fresh content to a home-bound audience. What Peysakhov found was that, “while consumption habits of our listeners changed (during the pandemic) because of less commuting, we found that the total consumption of audio just became different. The composition became different.” He noted that, “We saw a huge spike in smart speaker audio. It was already growing and was already a large part of our listenership. It was relegated to the car for many years. But with smart speakers we’ve been saying that radio is back in the home and it just jumped.”

Interestingly, “There was actually an initial dip in podcast listening but it picked right back up. For listeners, the backlog of shows filled up and listeners found time for those shows,” doing household based activities. “I used to listen while I was commuting but now I listen to the shows while I am washing the dishes.”

Advertiser Reaction

As far as advertisers are concerned, the reaction to the study results, “has been very positive. It has led to a lot of conversations that help break down the wall. I think that a lot of advertisers mentally bucket those channels separately – a digital bucket versus over-the-air budget. Instead of thinking digital and traditional, think audio. Audio is an incredibly powerful medium,” he concluded.

 

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com