Build a Direct Connection to Consumers With Audio Advertising

Audio has long been a powerful storytelling tool, connecting brands with consumers in engaging ways. However, agencies and brands have yet to go all-in on audio’s potential—many view it as a top-of-funnel medium and don’t fully understand how to maximize it and measure its impact.

Technology is changing this, making now the perfect time for agencies to embrace audio and integrate it into their client’s media strategy.

Intimate and direct connections to audiences

Audio provides an intimate, one-to-one direct connection with the listeners. Savvy marketers are tapping into the medium to reach consumers in an impactful, uninterrupted way wherever they are—exercising, commuting or unwinding at home. Accessing audio ads via programmatic allows brands and agencies to stay in control and manage the progress of the campaigns in real time. Programmatic also allows agencies to find the perfect match for their clients, at scale, at their fingertips.

Plus, digital audio is growing—eMarketer forecasts that this year, digital audio will make up one-fifth of all time spent with digital media in the U.S. Podcasts in particular are seeing steady growth. The number of older Americans tuning in is growing at a faster rate, with a 22% increase in listeners over the age of 55. Meanwhile, podcasts also saw a 19% increase in female listeners 18-plus over the past two years, showcasing that everyone is consuming audio.

Increased reach and measurement opportunities

Audio is also a strong medium for contextual advertising, offering ways to target the audience beyond traditional digital methods. Knowing who you’re reaching with your message is key, and in a post-cookie world, companies have to turn to alternatives and be innovative to recalibrate and scale their efforts. Technology is evolving at a fast pace and digital audio is a big part of it.

Triton Digital, for example, partnered with market-leading identity provider ID5 to introduce rich audience data to Triton’s Audio Marketplace. The partnership helps create audio listener profiles, sourced by ID5’s next-generation universal identifier technology, which leverages consented signals to provide detailed and accurate information without compromising privacy and data protection. Agencies can use these insights to improve advertising targeting and addressability. 

Furthermore, as brand suitability is prioritized, companies are turning to AI. Sounder, an innovative intelligence platform, provides tools to ensure advertiser alignment with relevant content, thus elevating campaign effectiveness.

Having these tools, which make targeting and brand alignment easier, at your fingertips makes it easier for you to reach your goals. 

Ideal testing ground for creativity

Audio allows for creativity to take the lead. You’re using only one of the senses and allowing the listener to fill in the rest of the gaps. Challenge yourself to express your message with audio sensations.

For example, what do you imagine when sitting on a very comfortable sofa? What is the sound in your head? It’s easy to link sounds to mundane things that are usually only shown. Why not pique the consumer’s curiosity and imagination and help them construct an image with sounds, voices and music? When creativity and execution strategy are at the heart of a successful campaign, audio can and will play an important role in making it memorable.

The key to maximizing the opportunity in audio is to outline your goals and leverage the tools and people available to you. It needs to be clear where audio is going to sit in your marketing funnel so that you can accurately measure and analyze its performance.

Audio isn’t going anywhere

With audio’s growth trajectory showing no signs of slowing, there are more and more opportunities for connection. National and worldwide events are on the horizon, including the 2024 Summer Olympics, making it the perfect time to invest in audio and get a lay of the land or risk falling behind.

Regardless of how audio is consumed—radio in the car, via smart speakers while cleaning the house or on a desktop while working from home—the audience is there. The content is there, as well. In fact, there are more than 4 million podcasts worldwide and more than 15,000 radio stations in the U.S. alone. Audio’s moment is here and it can leave a lasting impression.

Audio is ripe for investment because it’s a direct 1:1 connection with the listener, advanced targeting solutions and opportunities for creatives. It’s time for brands to dive in.