The Digital Audio Myths Costing You Performance, with Insights from eMarketer

Nearly two in three marketers plan to up their audio spend in 2026, do you?

That’s the question advertisers and brands should be asking themselves after eMarketer dropped its A Sound Move: Marketers Say Digital Audio is Ready for Bigger Investment report in conjunction with Amazon Ads. Nearly eight in 10 of the marketers surveyed have tried digital audio, with a recent uptick in adoption (40% started advertising in the past two years).

The investment gap

The follow-up question: Are you investing enough in digital audio?

Though streaming audio and podcast advertising are seeing boosts in participation, investment still lags behind other channels. While digital audio is included in plans at the same level as CTV, it claims a smaller portion of budgets.

We talk a lot about the gap between advertiser investment (just 4% goes to audio) and how consumers spend their media time (21% is with audio). But the eMarketer report also points to the gap between digital audio’s inclusion in media budgets (67% of marketers include it) and budget allocation (46% of marketers allocate only 1-10% of total spend to digital audio).

The digital audio truths to help you close it

Both gaps have a lot to do with general misconceptions about digital audio advertising—and present an opportunity for savvy marketers to get an edge on the competition. eMarketer’s report highlights not only the opportunities with digital audio advertising, but it also reveals the missed opportunities that dated industry myths are still creating.

So, let’s get into it.

Myth: ROI is hard to measure

Truth: Digital audio is measurable across the funnel, and increasingly, you can evaluate performance in media mix models (MMMs).

Proof:

• Check out our Audio Measurement Playbook

• Learn how we’re advancing digital audio in MMMs

eMarketer’s report shows that measurement is the primary barrier to scale, with 55% of survey respondents saying difficulty measuring ROI is preventing greater investment. Advertisers are seeking more robust measurement and attribution tools (45%), ROI transparency and benchmarks (43%), and more proof of effectiveness (37%) before committing larger budgets.

The reality is that digital audio is built to perform and ready to prove it. With creative testing, brands can test and refine messaging. Brand lift studies then quantify how audio exposure drives ad recall, brand awareness, and consideration. As listeners move closer to action, measurement solutions such as location analysis and attribution studies reveal how campaigns influence real-world behavior and post-exposure outcomes. And sales lift studies close the loop by uncovering direct sales impact.

As for evaluating digital audio in MMMs, we’ve come a long way and we’re pushing ever forward. We’re beginning to provide more granular, as-run data in MMM-ready formats, set industry standards, automate data flows, and expand insights through partnerships with measurement firms. Looking forward, we’re working to ensure audio is consistently and accurately evaluated alongside other channels in MMMs.

Myth: Digital audio is best for upper-funnel objectives

Truth: Digital audio is effective from awareness down to conversion.

Proof:

• Check out th Mobility of Audio study

• Read some recent case studies

The majority of survey respondents use digital audio for upper-funnel objectives like building brand awareness (68%) and reaching new audiences (48%). However, the lower-funnel potential of streaming audio and podcast advertising is underutilized. Just about a quarter of marketers surveyed leverage digital audio for lower-funnel objectives.

Here are the facts: Audio advertising facilitates personalized storytelling that reaches and influences audiences at every stage of the funnel. Digital audio offers anywhere, anytime access to consumers, providing both targeted and scalable reach during multitasking and screen-free moments. And the medium reaches them closer to point of sale than any other. With logged-in user data enabling personalization, tools like sequential audio and dynamic ad insertion supporting ad variation, and demographic and contextual targeting capabilities, you can tailor and align messages to inspire consumer action.

Myth: It’s less effective than other channels

Truth: Digital audio drives attention, impacts memory, and gets results—both as a standalone channel and as a part of the media mix.

Proof:

• Check out the case study proving digital audio’s ROI in an advertiser’s MMM

• Review the Claritas research showing SiriusXM performs as well or better than other digital channels

• Learn how digital audio improves CTV campaign performance (and read a case study)

Over one in three eMarketer survey respondents perceive digital audio as less effective than other channels, which is preventing greater investment. As for the media they do believe is effective, other survey question responses provide some clues. When you look at where marketers are prioritizing investment, visual media like social media (83%), display (75%), and CTV/streaming video (67%) rises to the top. And in the case of social media and display, media that lends itself to clicks seems to take precedence in media planning.

But there’s more to advertising than what you can see and click—and it’s with consumers over four hours each day (i.e., digital audio). Audio ads drive 50% more attention than benchmarks across TV, social, and display. And they have a 36% longer impact on memory than TV ads. Add to that the overlap between when listening and shopping peak, and you have a medium built to drive attention, consideration, and sales. Oh, and digital audio advertising can be visual and clickable, with display and video options and social media extensions.

Myth: Targeting is limited

Truth: Digital audio offers a robust suite of targeting solutions based on both identifiers and context for unmatched personalization and relevance.

Proof:

• Check out our audience targeting solutions

• Get to know the effective, privacy-forward capabilities

• Learn how a campaign targeting adults 55+ hit the mark

Over a quarter of survey respondents selected targeting limitations as a challenge preventing greater investment in digital audio advertising. But one look at the suite of targeting solutions digital audio offers points to this being a misconception from the days when AM/FM radio and audio advertising were synonymous.

When users sign up for streaming audio platforms like Pandora and Soundcloud, they consent to sharing personal data (like age, region, and gender). That first-party data is paired with other signals to power our demographic, geographic, and behavioral targeting solutions. And when it comes to content, we analyze music, use podcast transcriptions, and curate stations and collections to support robust contextual alignment. Additionally, we can take it even further with inventory targeting and advanced options (e.g., lookalike modeling and retargeting). Simply put, you can get the right message to the right person in the right environment with digital audio.

Myth: Audio creative is challenging to produce

Truth: Audio creative is often more cost-effective to produce, and we offer in-house expertise.

Proof:

• Check out this multisensory campaign from Studio Resonate

• Get audio creative tips from our experts

With so many marketers prioritizing visual media in their budgets, there’s a gap when it comes to understanding and producing audio creative. According to the report, 22% of marketers identified creative production challenges as an obstacle to greater digital audio investment—and 21% pointed to a lack of internal expertise/resources.

Big budgets. Location permits. Perfect lighting. With audio, you don’t need any of that to tell a story, influence buyers, or sell products and services. Audio ads are often more cost-effective to create and easier to revise or replace, enabling more responsive campaigns. With ad maker and synthetic voice ads, creative turnaround is a snap. And we have an award-winning audio creative agency in house (Studio Resonate), offering everything from sonic strategy, to campaign planning, to copywriting and design, to full audio production.

Up your investment and performance with us

And now you know. Digital audio advertising is powerful, offering the performance that modern marketers need. It’s measurable across the funnel, effective at every stage of the consumer journey, personal and targeted, and easy to produce and scale.

Now all you need it the right partner (like say, the largest audio ecosystem in the US). Let’s talk.

Get to know the digital audio opportunity with us