Amplify Your Message With Digital Audio

Raise your hand if you’d rather lose your wallet over your mobile phone. If your hand is in the air right now, you’re not alone. Our connection with our mobile devices is not shocking but when you put it in context of how much time we’re spending with mobile, it begs the question -- what are people actually doing? For the first time ever, in 2019 people are spending more time with mobile devices than watching TV, and the number one activity is listening to digital audio.¹ In addition, people are spending more time on mobile listening than they are liking, tweeting and watching Tik Toks. That’s right, digital audio time spent on mobile even surpasses mobile time spent with social media.¹ It's not just time spent with digital audio that’s noteworthy, it is also the amount of people listening.

Digital audio listeners are listening throughout their day, across devices and in moments where their mobile is in their pocket or a screen is out of view and the only way for an advertiser to reach them is through their ears. According to the IAB, 79% of audio consumption takes place while people are engaged in activities where visual media cannot reach them.³ Digital Audio is necessary to complement your visual campaign efforts.

In these screen-free moments, audio is a great companion to other forms of media, like search or social. Audio generates attention and works as a reminder to listeners, reinforcing brand messaging so when the listener is back in front of a screen they can take action.

Digital audio can be especially helpful for small or local businesses who are battling for attention against national advertisers with robust marketing budgets to heighten awareness of their brand to drive action through other lower funnel media tactics. A local healthcare helpline saw 75%+ lift in search volume from a campaign that included Pandora as a key partner.

The authors of The Long and The Short of It cover the benefits of a dual marketing strategy of long-term brand building coupled with short-term lead generation to have the healthiest overall communication strategy.

A natural first step for many marketers is to capture the low hanging fruit of customers who are brand familiar and closer to the point of sale or conversion with lower-funnel media tactics but to truly make waves and attract more customers, upper-funnel awareness is needed to in essence “water the tree to keep it growing.”⁴

Erin Miller, VP of Marketing at Rocksbox (eMarketer, Dec 2017) echoes this approach:

This is where digital audio can help. Digital audio can amplify lower-funnel marketing tactics like search and social to keep brands top-of-mind, inspire consideration and drive action. To maximize marketing impact, it’s important to keep audio an integral part of your media strategy. To learn more about best practices and get insider tips on elevating your marketing with audio, we’ve got you covered. Read The Insider's Guide to Digital Audio and explore more advertising insights here.

Want to learn more about audio’s advertising opportunities and best practices? Read the 2019 Digital Audio Buyer’s Guide 2.0 by IAB, Pandora and other fellow members of the IAB Digital Audio Committee.

---

1. eMarketer Time Spent with Media Mobile May 30, 2019
2. Edison Research and Triton Digital; The Infinite Dial 2019
3. IAB’s Digital Audio Buyer’s Guide 1.0.
4. The Long and Short of It. And the Implications for Content and Storytelling