Audio ads: How you can reach your audience when they are listening

Music has been instrumental in coping with our new routines. The soothing voice of Arijit Singh, a peppy number by AP Dhillon, or a calming podcast by Neelesh Misra has helped listeners survive many a difficult day. Moments with audio follow the listener through the day and across devices, creating different listening experiences. Whether it's while doing daily chores such as cooking, working out, or spending time with family, the versatility of audio makes it engaging and personal.

Audio advertising allows your brand to create a personal connection with consumers in moments when other mediums are unable to do so. On an average, the Indian listener spends 2.5 hours per day on audio and can’t be reached through visual media 80 percent of this time. So with only display or video advertising, you are missing out on valuable time with your audience.

Ads that match the moment, make an impact

With Spotify, you can be sure that your message will get noticed as it delivers ads in the moment when listeners are most receptive - in a no-swipe, no-scroll environment.

A deep understanding of our listeners and a connection with them throughout their day can help create and deliver messages that enhance rather than interrupt the moment. 75 percent of Spotify listeners say they remember ads more when the ads recognise their moment or setting. Spotify helps brands reach consumers in the right moment, and the results are a 2.7x higher awareness and 5.3x higher intent than campaigns with basic demographic targeting.

Striking the right chord

Multi-device listeners in India stream music for 2.5 hours per day. These are precious moments on screenless devices such as home speakers, cars, gaming consoles, and smart TVs.

For 56 percent of Gen Z, these screenless moments offer an escape from the overwhelming world of visuals.

With over 4 billion playlists on Spotify, there are endless opportunities to know what your audience is listening to and match your creative according to each vibe.

At Spotify, we’re constantly learning about how people listen in real-time through our streaming intelligence — first-party, contextual data that reveal moods, mindsets, habits, and tastes in the moment.

Audio brings moment marketing to life by reaching a mother in Mumbai when she listens to focus playlists in the afternoon while working from home, fitness playlists when she is working out, and sleep playlists when she’s putting her kids to bed.

Audio allows you to go well beyond primary data related to age, gender, location, and device type and really own a moment.

Playlist keywords give us clues to listeners’ context in the moment they’re listening: their setting and their current genre preference. Campaigns that include playlist targeting drive 2.1x higher intent than campaigns that don’t.

The right sensory mix

Multi-format campaigns (audio and video) showed a 1.8x increase in ad recall than video ads alone. From playful statics and creative videos during screen time to immersive audio as the consumer moves to non-screen devices, multimedia campaigns ensure that your brand complements the consumer’s device journey.

On Spotify, the sound-on environment lets you tell stories with both audio and visual elements — and you can be confident they’re being seen and heard. We’ve seen that running both video and audio increases ad recall by 90 percent and results in a 2.2x increase in brand awareness. This sensory combination extends your creative options, giving you the best of both.

Capturing the imagination of the listener

Our brains process information through audio 22x faster than through visualizations. With audio, there’s no limit to storytelling — it can communicate emotions, capture moods in seconds, engaging listeners to fill in gaps with their imagination.

Here are some ideas for an audio creative on Spotify:

● Provide an elevated sensory experience with a full sonic palette — ASMR, 3D audio, immersive effects, entertaining narration, and great music — to tell memorable stories.

● Explore sequential messaging, telling a story from one ad to the next.

● Use your audio identity, an audio signature, or jingle! The familiarity offers an impactful way to enhance the listener’s sonic environment and effectively get their attention.

And because all of this can be done in a personal, one-to-one manner with no clutter, audio is disruptive without disturbing.

We spend a large part of our day listening. Get your brand heard in the moment that makes the most impact. Whether you're taking the first steps in exploring the power of audio on Spotify or looking to connect with an audience that is difficult to reach otherwise, now is the time to act.

Ready to get your message heard?

Write to us at [email protected] to get in touch with our client support team.

^{1- IFPI Digital Music Report 2019}

^{2 - Spotify Nielsen Brand Effect Studies, 2018}

^{3- Spotify First Party Data, global, based on daily content hours / daily active users, free users multiplatform, May 2019}

^{4 - Spotify Culture Next trend survey among 4,000 respondents 15-37 globally [U.S., MX, BR, FR, DE, U.K., PH, AU], February 2019)}

^{5 - Data Source- Nielsen Brand Effect on Spotify, March 2020}

^{6- Source - Petra Vetter, Fraser W. Smith, Lars Muckli. Decoding Sound and Imagery Content in Early Visual Cortex. Current Biology, 2014}