Media investment in streaming audio dips as IAB encourages collaborative buying
The number of media agencies using streaming digital audio advertising and podcast advertising as part of their activity dipped slightly in 2020, but remained strong across the year despite falling ad spend.
IAB Australia’s latest Advertising Audio State of the Nation Report Wave 5, presented at its Audio Summit today, reported that 81% of media agencies used streaming digital audio advertising. That includes Spotify, SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Live Radio apps, and more.
Usage Of Digital Audio Advertising By Media Agencies [Click To Enlarge]
That figure was down from 90% in 2019, with 5% of media agencies said they had planned to use streaming digital audio advertising last year but didn’t due to COVID-19 investment changes.
The story was similar for podcast advertising, with 65% of media agencies using it in 2020 (and 12% saying they planned to, but didn’t). That fell from 75% in 2019.
The report also found that 69% of media agencies reported streaming digital audio advertising is now a significant or regular part of their activity and, 36% use podcast advertising regularly.
Agencies Regularly Using Audio Advertising [Click To Enlarge]
CEO of IAB Australia, Gai Le Roy, told attendees at the conference this morning that the findings of the report had changed dramatically since it first launched five years ago.
“When we started the Audio State of the Nation Research five years ago, digital streaming and podcasting advertising didn’t sit in either traditional or digital budgets,” she said.
The report cited greater diversification across environments and genres, plus improving creative assets, as driving forces behind the rise of streaming audio and podcast advertising.
It also suggested that campaign integration could still be hampered because audio advertising continues to be planned and bought in siloed teams.
As a result, just 56% of agencies are planning and buying digital audio collaboratively with digital display activity, while 53% planning and buying in combination with digital video activity.
Agencies Planning and Buying Digital Audio [Click To Enlarge]
“Today, we are seeing an increase in the amount of agencies planning and/or buying their broadcast radio and streaming audio in an integrated manner, however with the increase in programmatic investment across all channels, there is still room for audio investment to be baked into cross digital programmatic campaigns.”
Meanwhile, one-third of media agencies are failing to tailor creative to suit different audio environments when running campaigns.
The Report looked at the top seven genres for podcast investment. News easily took the top spot, followed by Society & Culture, and Business at #3.
Categories For Podcast Investment [Click To Enlarge]
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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topics
Audio Advertising State of the Nation
Digital Audio
Gai Le Roy
IAB
IAB Australia
podcasting
Streaming Digital Audio Advertising
Wave 5 Report
