Have You Heard?
I am sure that most of you know that audio is the hottest new, old channel for content today. As Marketers know, in order to be successful in your marketing efforts, you need to follow your target audiences and meet them where they are. Back in 1920 when the first radio broadcast aired the results of the Harding-Cox Presidential election results, ad creative was a bit more simple to create. Back then, media consumption wasn’t fragmented the way it is today. Brands often had the listeners undivided attention, which meant that targeting and personalization wasn’t necessary. There are now 220 MM more people in the US then there was in 1920 and listeners have 3 distinct audio channels for audio content. Not to mention, they have more devices and other channels demanding their attention. Personalization and targeted creative isn’t a nice to have, it a must have.
60% of the US population will listen to streaming audio and podcasts this year. When you factor in terrestrial radio, nearly everyone in the US will listen to audio content in 2021. This is a difficult channel to ignore. Compared to digital marketing channels, audio has been behind the curve when it comes to targeting and tracking technologies. In order to appreciate the value of these channels, you need think about what’s logical to track and not try to fit a square peg into a round hole. The top audio platforms provide Marketer with tools and technology that allows them to target their audiences with the right creative message. There are 3 main types of audio creative; endorsements, host read, and pre-recorded.
Today’s audio landscape allows for user targeting, device tracking, versioning, and sequential messaging. Some of the best campaigns leverage 3rd party data points like weather, time of day, day of week, and POI location data. Technology makes it easy and affordable to create a unique ad for every listener. Over the last few years, brands have gravitated to Spotify, Pandora, and iHeart for their digital audio campaigns because the brand names and easability make execution feel safe. These are great partners for content and reach but are also the most expensive. Brands would be well served to diversify across content providers and networks to broaden their unduplicated reach and lower their average CPM’s. There are some great networks, like DAX, out there that aggregate quality content but charge 40-50% of the CPM’s that the big boys charge. The challenge created by working with multiple partners is also an opportunity.
An independent party like Frequency helps brands build, serve, and optimize creative in one platform while distributing the ads across many partners. This process ensures that you have creative consistency across all partners, targeting that is the same, tracking that is consolidated, and optimization that is easy. By working with Frequency, you can still buy Spotify, Pandora, and iHeart while adding in DAX, Radio.com, and NPR. This will drive down your CPM’s while increasing your overall performance. There are a variety of ways to prove performance and lift from device tracking to geo-match market testing. You can prove lift in-store and online. You just need a partner that can help. Frequency will make your first or next step into audio easy and fruitful.
Reach out to Sean or Tom to hear examples of creative that leverage time of day, weather, location, and device type to target the listener. If you would like a 1:1 tutorial with Frequency for an audio 101 or an advanced lesson, just say the word. Also, keep a lookout for a webinar/interview we will be conducting with the CEO of Frequency, Pete Jimison.
