Ad Networks
Article | October 20, 2022
As a marketer, your goal is to create ads that stick in the minds of your audience. You devote extra time and resources to creating memorable graphics, engaging CTAs, and interesting copy that works. You also buy just the right ad spots. But, what happens when your potential customer scrolls right past your ad? Your costly video ad never creates a difference and your campaign fails. Combat this video ad fatigue with audio advertising to effectively influence your target demographic.
After the audio content boom driven by podcasts, audio advertising is rising and becoming marketers’ new favorite. Nielsen Catalina Solutions’ 12-month-long study of audio ads on Spotify versus video and display ads found that audio ads were up to 25% more effective than other ad formats.
Mostly, audio ads are delivered through podcasts. We’ll dive into this shortly. First let’s look at how audio advertising can influence the buying decisions of your target audience:
Audio Advertising: Superpowers Explained
Audio advertising uses a broad content category such as background scores, jingles, and branded content apart from audio ads. By fusing audio ads into audio experiences such as ad-supported music streaming or podcasts, marketers can position relevant products and services in front of customers. Here are more of its advantages:
Audio Ads Offer Immersive Experience
A study done by Lightwave and iHeartMedia showed that one of the biggest benefits of audio advertising was its ability to connect with the audience on a deeper level. Remembering catchy jingles is also a part of this connection. Audio ads communicate emotions, capture the attention of the listeners within seconds and engage them enough to paint a picture in their minds. They achieve this without a big budget or production crew. A strong script and an audio booth are all you need to create an immersive audio ad.
They Have a Greater Reach
Primarily, audio ads are delivered through podcasts because they can be easily categorized and are widely consumed. According to Statista, almost 60% of all U.S. consumers older than 12 listen to podcasts. Interestingly, 70% podcast listeners do not multi-task while listening to a podcast, so you are catering to alert listeners who might end up retaining your ad (Edison Research). Apart from podcasts, audio ads are also run in locations such as radio, music, and news streams.
They Are Insightful and Creative
Marketers can use 3D and 8D audio to create soundscapes that offer an immersive experience. Additionally, audio ads create a 1-to-1 relationship. With the help of programmatic advertising, they also collect many layers of data that provide buying insights. Integrating audio ads with voice assistants is a creative approach to entice customers while being interactive.
Nars Cosmetics UK used Spotify to offer its customers voice commerce. Upon hearing the ad on Spotify, they could order samples and set up delivery using their smart speakers.
Smart Speakers Are Changing the Game
Smart speakers are contributing to screen-less moments in American homes. This means your video ad campaigns won’t get the kind of response you expect, but your audio ads just might. The Edison Infinite Dial report found that there is an average of 2.3 smart speakers in each home in the U.S. This number shows that a wide range of people use voice search and will listen to audio ads as a result.
Summing It Up
Audio advertising drives engagement and conversion through immersive storytelling, catchy jingles, and longer ad retention. It can be a great addition to your digital marketing strategy and refine the way you influence your audience’s buying decisions.
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Ad Networks
Article | September 1, 2023
Search engine optimization is one of the most important subdomains in digital marketing where organisations try to get visitors from search engine ranking pages to their website. The most vague approach by businesses is to just post content on their website, create backlinks of it and expect to rank number one on the targeted keywords. However the reality is that search engines consider a lot of factors in ranking a web page such as website’s loading speed, responsiveness for mobile device compliance, good user experience, rich snippets, keyword frequency in content, interest of visitors in content and then comes in the turn for backlinks and domain authority.
Why SEO is Mandatory for Websites?
SEO requires continuous efforts everyday due to 3 major factors. First is search engines rank the latest content on top most position at first and later on adjust the rankings according to other parameters. The second issue is changes in google’s algorithm bi-yearly which has the tendency to suppress the rankings of all web pages of a website. The third is your competitors who are creating better content to outbeat your website.
We need to understand that a business can put in limited efforts on content marketing and backlinking, depending on their budget. The above mentioned factors are continuously vanishing the results derived from their previously made efforts so the high performance websites, customizations and rich snippet integration to ramp up the performance of complete websites. In one of our previous experiences we have seen web pages jump up from 3rd page of google search to 1st page in a day after deploying a faster version of the website.
The initial journey of SEO can be done placidly with content management systems initially but later on comes the saturation point where to procure more traffic either we have to increase workforce or add more integrations. These integrations are very costly on a content management system for a website with huge user traffic that’s why such businesses should build their custom websites and get access over source code. To do so they can outsource the project to a software development company, hire developers from an offshore company or hire their own in house developers.
One more factor that contributes in converting leads to customers is user experience which can only be improved with tracking user behaviour, user feedback and testing new UI improvements done on the basis of suggestions. The same journey is followed with any new functionality built after users demanded it via feedback.
The above mentioned points suggest the conclusion that high performance websites and technical teams can help businesses to derive exponential growth in traffic if the SEO and technical team work hand in hand.
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Advertiser Platforms
Article | August 2, 2022
Marketers in the B2B domain have a multi-channel approach to marketing because they target companies as buying groups. B2B marketers are leveraging podcast advertising with the help of advertisers, creators, and publishers for brand building and generating leads. They leverage up-and-coming avenues of advertising, most of which are a part of digital media channels. One such avenue is podcast advertising.
Podcast advertising is emerging as one of the fastest-growing digital media channels for advertising. It is estimated to grow to more than $2.13 billion in 2022, according to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC.
But, what is driving this growth?
Engagement.
People are finding podcasts more engaging than ever. Consequently, the demand for podcast ads across all categories is growing.
Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI): The Rise of Automated Ad Tech
Dynamic ad insertion is a form of programmatic advertising that uses first or third-party data. This data comes from the device playing a podcast, a device user agent, the device’s IP address, and what episode is requested, to serve ads to a target demographic. The ad server of the podcast hosting platform decides which ads should be stitched into a particular podcast episode. If done well, the audience will never know the difference between a dynamically inserted ad and a baked-in ad, which is a permanent part of the audio of the podcast.
Podcast hosting platforms, advertisers, and publishers adopted DAI because it helps brands win contextual relevance and efficiency through granular advertising opportunities. Through custom audio ads that appeal to the target audience, dynamic or seasonal geo-targeted ads, measurable variables, and performance data, DAI gives advertisers good control over podcast ad campaigns. This control allows them to tailor the campaigns based on the marketers’ demands.
DAI is evolving and has great potential in transcription-based targeting using AI and machine learning. It also has greater creative interactivity to make audio ads engaging through voice interactivity, personalization, and mobile phone engagement.
A podcast advertising example using DAI would be a brand creating multiple versions of pre-recorded audio ads that are served to target audiences on any podcast that meets the campaign criteria.
Podcast Advertising Anchors Digital Marketers for Effective Outreach
Edison Research’s Podcast Consumer 2017 report found that:
24% of people between the ages of 18 and 54 listen to podcasts monthly
Listeners are almost evenly split between men and women
Listeners tend to be affluent, mainly educated consumers
In the 25-54 age bracket, monthly listening has grown year over year for the past four years
These stats demonstrate the growing market for podcast advertising and a very stable demographic that B2B marketers would want to target. Marketers rely more on podcast advertisers and platforms to tap into the potential of podcasts as a media channel.
Here are some of the ways in which podcast advertising can enhance B2B marketing plans and bring in more conversions:
Listener behavior expansion− By understanding what kinds of podcasts the target audience listens to, marketers can create ads that appeal to them, and advertisers can help them get the perfect spot for the ad campaign to make it more successful.
Pivoting messaging is easier− Using different voiceovers, marketers can deliver the same message but elicit a different reaction from their target audience. Recycling old ad files is also a viable option to save time and resources.
Human connection− Hyper-personalized targeted ads relevant to the podcast content create a human connection with the audience and can influence their opinion about a brand.
Personal influence− Podcast hosts create a personal influence on the listeners so they keep tuning in to the podcast and even listen to the episodes again after a period. Ads on such podcasts receive stronger engagement and response. Additionally, hosts can also relay brand messages to listeners and influence their buying decisions.
Regional marketing− Podcasts are a great way to connect with a target demographic residing in a certain geographical area. Geo-targeting is a boon for region-specific marketing endeavors.
Effective storytelling− Podcasts can fuse autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) for immersive storytelling to impress listeners. The continuity and power of an engaging narration keeps the listeners subscribed and attached, ensuring that any kind of advertising on such podcasts can reach a wider audience.
Advertisers Are Helping B2B Marketers Generate Revenue
According to a forecast by IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau), podcast advertising revenue will exceed $4 billion by 2024. Marketers are dependent on advertisers to tap into the podcast advertising potential to generate revenue in the following ways:
Demand Generation
An estimated 62 million Americans (Source: Edison Research) listen to podcasts, and this number is expected to grow. An interview by a product expert on an industry-relevant podcast can help get leads without wasting any budget on creating awareness, making it cost-effective. It’s no wonder LinkedIn and HubSpot have started their own podcast networks to host business and career-related content.
Brand Building & Customer Retention
Apart from using podcasts to generate leads, it can also help with brand building. Sponsoring a popular and relevant podcast episode can create a brand’s reputation and trust. It can also help retain existing customers as sponsorships demonstrate a continuous commitment to industry growth and development.
Ad Effectiveness
75% of podcast listeners were happy with the purchase they had made from podcast ads (A Study by Voices, the #1 voice marketplace). This goes to show that podcast advertising brings out expected results and conversions without compromising the customer experience or opinion.
Podcast as a Medium for Thought Leadership
Podcasts are a great medium for B2B thought leadership. They are a free space to express expert industry opinion, talk about the current industry trends, address the pain points of the customers, discuss tech advancements, and create a personal connection with the listeners. Tailored thought leadership content can fuel brand engagement and bring in leads that convert because of brand trust. Feedback gathered through interactive content can help B2B marketers create personalized marketing plans to align their goals with ad campaigns better.
Podcast Ads: Taking the First Step
Before you step into the world of podcast advertising, make sure you consider aspects like target demographic, podcast ad pricing, industry/brand relevant podcasts, ad purchasing, the reputation of the podcast advertising network, and podcast advertising platforms. Policygenius, a New York-based insurance agency, invested early in podcast advertising through Ad Results Media, an ad agency. Policygenius achieved its ROI goals, and its media spending increased by 10x in two years.
You can buy podcast ads directly, through a podcast advertising network, or programmatically. To track the success of your ads, use KPIs like unique listeners, ranking and reviews, subscribers, social sharing, and episode-by-episode metrics.
Wrapping It Up
Podcasts can be a great advertising avenue for B2B companies to influence their buying groups and create new customers. Its monumental growth as a media channel and its ad revenue over the past couple of years indicate that it is here to stay and should be harnessed for a wider reach and bigger sales numbers.
FAQ
What is the role of podcast advertising networks?
A podcast advertising network is a full-service podcast advertising solution that maintains podcast ad inventory and manages ad campaigns for marketers.
How is podcast advertising different from traditional advertising methods?
Podcast advertising uses automated ad tech to create dynamic ad campaigns across relevant podcasts, while traditional advertising methods focus on print ads, outdoor billboards, and cable television.
Which are some popular podcast advertising platforms?
Some popular podcast advertising platforms are Midroll, AdvertiseCast, PodGrid, and Archer Avenue.
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Article | April 16, 2020
As a veteran of two NASA space flights, no one knows more about social distancing than Mike Massimino (pictured at top). It's something he experienced first-hand and well before it became a societal requirement. Massimino, the first person to tweet from space and author of SPACEMAN: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, is just one of the many esteemed names appearing in the Science Channel special Hubble: Thirty Years Of Discovery airing this weekend, a celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of NASA's groundbreaking Hubble telescope.
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