How to Diversify with Digital (While Using the Same Audio Ads)

Marketers sometimes fall into the self-defeating habit of allocating all their resources to only one or two marketing channels. For example, “old school” advertisers may prefer to spend on radio and TV spots. Newer agencies may focus on digital platforms to exclude other viable mediums.  
 
The reality is that a complete marketing portfolio must be balanced, diverse, and cohesive to achieve the best possible results. But is it feasible to successfully diversify across multiple channels? Granted, you want customers to recognize your materials. Your company may already be in its comfort zone regarding platforms and customer segments. 
 
However, diversification is possible — and it doesn’t mean rebuilding your portfolio from scratch, either! With the right mindset and planning, you can extend your reach further than ever and attain your crucial marketing objectives. In particular, let’s discuss how you can blend digital and audio advertising in an efficient, unified approach. 
 

Align Your Digital and Audio Goals 

 
The first and most crucial step in blending digital and audio ads is to set goals for your company. Of course, you want your smaller marketing goals to contribute to your more significant business objectives. Therefore, it’s vital that your digital and audio initiatives cohesively support each other.  
 
What goals do you want to set for your next campaign? The goals you set should inform the way you execute them. For instance: 
 
• Do you want to increase foot traffic to your store? 

• Do you want to attract more online traffic to your website? 

• Do you want to boost your e-commerce sales? 

• Do you want to generate more brand awareness around your company? 

 
Whatever the case, utilizing digital and audio ads together can form a dynamic “one-two punch” that will help you meet (or even exceed) those goals. The stats support this conclusion: According to one study, allocating about 2% of your budget to audio ads brings a 23% jump in return-on-ad-spend (ROAS). Moreover, deploying mobile ads can increase awareness by 261% and boost your reach from radio ads by 81%. 
 

Research Where and How Your Customers Browse Online 

 
If you’re diving into digital ads after years of placing radio and podcast spots, you probably won’t have to start from scratch regarding market research. You’ll likely be able to expand on your existing knowledge of your customers and then leverage that to make informed decisions about their online habits. As a simple example, imagine that a large percentage of your consumer base listens to podcasts about basketball. From that fact alone, you could easily surmise that they’d naturally be more inclined to visit sports sites like ESPN or NBA.com — and you’d place your online ads accordingly. 
 
Of course, the most important thing is finding out where you can reach the largest proportion of your customers: which websites they frequent, which search engines they’re most likely to use, and which social media platforms they actively use. Armed with that information, you’ll be able to make optimal decisions about where your digital ads should go. 
 

Use Your Audio Ads as a Creative Basis

 
Do you have to develop entirely new ad creative when taking your marketing materials online? In many cases, the answer is a resounding No! Instead, your audio ads can serve as the creative basis for their digital counterparts, perhaps even providing a template for words or phrases to use in your online copy. 
 
Keeping your brand voice consistent across both audio and digital is a powerful throughline that can increase the existing awareness that customers have of your brand. The fact that you will probably not need to spend a lot of money on new ad creative is the icing on the cake.  
 
Instead, mirror your audio ads when investing in SEM or digital display ads. These ads can repackage your existing copy while adding a new visual component to build on your audio campaign. Think of them as “force multipliers” for what you already have in your marketing mix. Plus, digital ads have exceptional targeting capabilities, making them perfect for highly focused campaigns. 
 

Balance Digital and Audio Ads for Maximum Impact

 
A balanced, diverse marketing portfolio should be the aim of virtually any business. When you leverage your audio and digital ads to contribute toward the same goals, use existing knowledge of your customer base to improve ad placement. You can adapt creative elements from one marketing medium into another, you’re almost guaranteed to see an optimal return on your investment. 
 
With the aid of an experienced, reputable media partner, you can deploy digital and audio ads in a practical, cost-saving, and revenue-generating manner — with the final outcome being sustainable growth for your company. Who could ask for more?