Understanding the Customer Approach to Audio

Audio ads can be an exceptionally effective part of your overall marketing plan. Of course, for your company to gain the most benefit from audio ads, it’s essential to make them relevant to your audience — and the only way to do that is to first understand how your customers interact with the medium.
Nevertheless, once you understand your customers’ attitude and approach to audio, you’ll be in a prime position to grab their attention and motivate them to action. You’ll also be able to match your audio ads to the appropriate platform and craft messaging that will truly resonate with your listeners.
In this post, we’ll discuss how considering the ways customers interact with audio can be a critical source of inspiration that helps create more effective marketing messaging, along with some tips for making them.

Audio Has High Engagement — Why?

Audio ads have high rates of engagement across the board. One of the primary reasons for this is the ability of audio to evoke human emotion. Well-crafted messaging, sound effects, background music, and other features can make even a brief audio ad extremely memorable – that helps contribute to why audio ads can be as much as 36% more memorable than video ads!
The point is audio is a trusted and profoundly personal medium. It can tell a story that will leave a big impression on listeners. Why wouldn’t you want to tap into that potential for your business?

Understanding Listening Habits

To unleash the emotional power of audio, you must gain a firm grasp of your audience’s listening habits. People sometimes make audio a big part of their daily lives without even realizing it. For example, 91% of American adults listen to the radio at least once a month, and a sizable portion of that audience listens to it as part of their daily commute to and from work. Others may listen to audio while they do household chores, in the morning before work or school, or in the evening before bed. Audio is a key part of many people’s routines and a part of their days that helps them get up in the morning or achieve the things they want.
These routines are often perfect times for companies to reach customers since they’re more receptive to messaging than other times throughout the day. When you can identify your audience’s routines, you’re one step closer to seeing a massive impact from your audio ads.

Fitting Ads into Audio

Another benefit that audio ads can provide is the ability to deploy marketing messages in an impactful yet unobtrusive way. Podcasts are a great example of this. Listeners willingly accept that podcasts have occasional breaks for commercials and sponsored messages. They may even be more open to a message from a trusted host or audio personality. It’s no wonder U.S. podcast ad spending is on course to hit $2.25 billion in 2023!
Whether people listen to podcasts, music, or radio shows, there’s always room for advertising that catches their attention but doesn’t detract from their enjoyment.

Succeed by Matching Ads to the Platform

It’s critical to the success of your audio ads that they feel seamless and non-invasive, which you can accomplish by making them feel like part of the platform. Strategic targeting and personalization are critical here. You want to ensure you’re targeting the right listeners – with the right platforms and times – with a message that will resonate with them.
It’s usually best to keep audio ads short and sweet. On the other hand, you can use longer sponsored spots to reach customers with messaging that’s likely to resonate with them. Many listeners appreciate sponsors who help deliver their favorite programming to them. If your business hasn’t already taken advantage of this impactful form of marketing, consider doing so in the near future.

Audio Continues to Be a Powerful Marketing Medium

It’s no secret that audio ads can reach customers in ways other mediums cannot. Remember that audio often has high engagement rates — sometimes higher than other channels, like video or digital. When you analyze and clearly define your core audience’s listening habits, you’ll be able to craft an audio marketing plan that will feel seamless and unobtrusive to your listeners yet leave a lasting impression on them. Moreover, taking advantage of sponsorship opportunities can open the door to increased customer engagement and ROI from audio.
The bottom line? Research your audience, craft strong messaging, and match your ads to the right platforms. If you do those three things, your company will likely experience significant results from your efforts.