Digital audio advertising in 2019 made some significant inroads in the South African market, and 2020 will be no exception. We’ll see this audio format accelerate even more.
With the growth of podcasts, internet radio and music streaming, marketers will need to diversify their media mix and incorporate digital audio in their cross-channel advertising strategies.
It is estimated that the full audio market (live streaming and podcasts), has grown by an estimated 30% from the previous fiscal, and while small in comparison to other mediums, is still an explosive growth rate. The most captive audience and growth area falls between consumers aged 21-45 with a fairly equal split between gender, although very marginally skewed towards female listeners.
Programmatically, we can overlay additional audiences – and our individual messaging and targeting capabilities become endless. We continually see growth for live streaming on local terrestrial radio stations, increasing every month with some reaching almost equal levels. CapeTalk, for example, has an average of 76 000 listeners (over a seven-day period) on terrestrial, but close to 68 000 listeners accessing via streaming.
Digital audio will continue to mature in our mobile first market, allowing 1:1 brand-listener experiences. Digital audio is a rich creative medium which allows advertisers and brands the ability to tell authentic stories in a new(er) and more innovative way to an audience that is receptive for deeper engagement from advertisers.
The potential to deliver dynamic creative (multiple variations or sequential messaging) is increasingly recognised to drive further authenticity; as well as strong brand recall. Again, this goes back to an engaged and captive audience, and an estimated 80% of listeners were able to name at least one brand advertised in in an episode, with 67% able to recall a specific product feature.
The ability to buy audio programmatically using granular data to precisely target content specific ads to engaged listeners, makes this media opportunity even more attractive. Audio is becoming increasingly valuable in strategic planning as programmatic audio doesn’t face the same challenges as other digital display.
Since the majority of consumption is on a mobile device, brands do not have to fight for attention and can break through the clutter targeting consumers on the go.
Digital audio has virtually no ad blocking, no ad fraud and non-skippable ad formats in brand safe environments. Of course, the flip side, is a great challenge to brands to push themselves and develop engaging and relevant content for their current and perspective consumers.
It is also a very cost-effective medium in regards to reaching a targeted audience, specifically younger consumers. Digital targeting methods using location as well as frequency capping are available. Incremental reach can be achieved complimenting traditional radio media buys.
Digital audio in 2020 will bring:
- Greater scale – as time spent engaging with digital audio increases, so will the plethora of innovative opportunities for advertisers.
- Increased automation – programmatic ad buying with custom messaging and content across multi-screen experiences will be a game changer for brands to create meaningful connections with consumers.
- Rich targeting and audience segmentation – large amounts of listener data and increased growth of audiences will allow advertisers to leverage radio publishers first-party data in a privacy compliant way, not to mention brand safe environments.
- Spend migration – brands can further expand their reach in an ever increasingly fragmented audio landscape. Taking advantage of data enriched programmatic buys and eliminating wastage, brands can achieve a true 1:1 listener experience.
Audio, bought programmatically, in a cost-effective manner, with the same targeting capabilities as digital display, and the ability for dynamic messaging? Yes please!
Data Sources:
- Primedia Broadcasting
- Detonator Media (Iono.fm)
Kaley Ravinsky is lead digital strategist at Meta Media Cape Town and has been in the South African media industry for over 10 Years. Originally hailing from Toronto, Canada, she moved here to spend more time with her grandmother and explore the incredible country where her family originated from. She has experience across media sales and agencies, working in various product categories.
