Podcast advertising is forecast to hit $2 billion this year, but a key desire of marketers could slow future growth. A report by the audio advertising agency Oxford Road examining what brands want from audio publishers finds there is no bigger gap than between what the industry offers and what chief audio officers crave than when it comes to measuring audio campaigns.
The survey finds 14% of CAOs polled said they find the tools available for measuring audio campaigns “somewhat more” or “much more useful” than those for other channels, while 83% said they find the tools used to measure audio advertising much less or somewhat less useful than the tools used for measuring campaigns in other channels.
Marketing consultant Rion Swartz, who works with multiple brands, says in the report that he is looking for a “source of truth” where various brand metrics and return on investment can be found together, allowing him to optimize within the channel from a program platform basis.
Like many brands, clothing retailer Tommy John Senior Marketing Manager Sidney Stephens says they use several measurement sources. While she says each has pros and cons, she too is looking for a unified way to measure audio that offers a way to analyze different shows and eliminate any type of bias.
Oxford Road’s report, released Wednesday, is based on a survey of 49 chief audio officers — brand marketers who own audio advertising responsibilities within their organizations — to better understand how brand sentiments are also changing. Based on Magellan AI data, five of the top 15 podcast advertising spenders were represented, including DraftKings, BetterHelp, Indeed, Stamps.com and dozens of others.
The survey asked CAOs what measurement tools they use. Media mix modeling — the analysis that allows marketers to measure the impact of their marketing and advertising campaigns to determine how various elements contribute to their goal — ranked first. It is used by 57% of audio’s biggest ad buyers. But slightly more than four in ten (43%) said they rely on survey-based research and audio-specific pixel-based data.
But the report shows many are not entirely sure they have a firm grip on what the numbers show. Oxford Road says 55% of CAOs polled responded to the question “How well do you understand the tools available to plan, measure, optimize and manage your audio campaigns?” with “somewhat well,” while 31% answered the same question with “very well.”
The survey of audio ad-buying decision-makers also offers a fresh glimpse into the role they see audio playing in the current media landscape. One in five (21%) said they use audio for top-of-funnel marketing, such as driving awareness. Another 15% uses audio to drive mid-funnel actions like consideration and intent, while nearly two-thirds use it for lower-funnel marketing that drives the actual purchase.
“Even though brands are moving into the space and are starting to outspend performance marketers, the brands who are most loyal to the channel and over-index in percent of spend allocated to audio, generally see ad performance as a primary objective,” the report says. “In other words, despite the share of large brands who check the audio box, performance marketers are the ones who are most invested.”
As more podcasters look to artificial intelligence to produce not only content but ads, Oxford Road also gauged the comfort level of CAOs about the use of AI-generated host reads or cloned voices for personal endorsement ads on a scale of zero to five. It found that eight in ten rated their comfort level between a zero and two, pointing to widespread uncertainty about AI’s use. Only 8% put their comfort level at a four or five.
It also quizzed audio buyers about their primary concerns when it comes to brand safety. The results show 62% of respondents named political extremism, and 23% named political lean.
“AI verification, programmatic, synthetic voice, brand safety — these are all examples where technology is definitely making the marketplace better,” Oxford Road CEO Dan Granger says. “But as we think about the future of audio, we also need to remember why we love the medium. We care about the personalities. We want to hear people’s thoughts and opinions. I believe that audio is the greatest canvas in media for the free and open exchange of ideas, and I hope this direct feedback from chief audio officers ensures that as the industry embraces new technology, we continue to protect some of that authenticity.”
Download the “What Brands Want” report HERE.
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