Digital Audio listenership is consistent, ubiquitous, and only growing. That’s not our opinion, that’s just a fact.
By the end of 2026, eMarketer predicts that 70% of the US population will be regular digital audio listeners. That’s almost 240 million people. What’s more, 183.3 million of those listeners will be reachable with ads.
Over the last decade, digital audio listening has become a well-established behavioral pattern, and today accounts for 16.2% of total time spent with media.
So what makes all of this such big news? Despite the massive audience size, regularly established listenership, and substantial time dedication, digital audio ad spend only accounts for 2.1% of digital ad spend.
16.2% of time spent with media is with digital audio. 2.1% ad spend investment. See where we’re going with this? Underspend always equates to opportunity for marketers who are ready to take advantage. Here’s how to do just that.
The Digital Audio and Podcast Landscape
Though digital audio remains a strong opportunity for marketers interested in establishing their brand via new channels, it won’t be that way forever. Per eMarketer, 65% of surveyed marketers plan to spend more in digital audio over the next year, and 40% have only been using this channel for two years or less. That shows some serious growth in the number of marketers leveraging this channel.
That being said, almost half (46%) of marketers who utilize digital audio only commit between 1% and 10% of their ad budgets to it, representing an underutilization in the majority of marketers if compared to total time spent on the channel.
Moreover, the objective marketers hoped to achieve with their campaigns placed digital audio at the top of their funnel, with 68% focusing primarily on brand awareness and 48% focusing on reaching new audiences. While digital audio can be used to achieve both ends, it excels as a mid- to bottom-funnel tool, driving brand recall and pushing audiences closer to action.
To sum it all up, digital audio is still underutilized, but may not be for much longer. Brands that establish themselves in this channel have time to dominate it, but the clock is ticking.
How to Win at Digital Audio
Broad underinvestment in ad channels can indicate a lot of things. It might mean programmatic digital audio and podcasting tools aren’t catching up with marketers’ needs. It might mean that marketers aren’t seeing meaningful ROI yet. It just might be that the channel is new enough that it remains unproven to many marketers. With GroundTruth, you don’t need to worry about any of that.
Marketers need targeting tools that guarantee their ads are heard by the right audience. With GroundTruth Digital Audio and Podcasts, you can target by Location, Music Genre, Podcast Genre, Demographics, and our 1500+ real-world behavior-based audiences.
But targeting isn’t enough. Marketers also need to know their ads are working to prove ROI. That’s why we built attribution for online conversions and in-store foot traffic directly into our Digital Audio channel. With our last-touch attribution, you can see when your audio drives a sale online or drives a visit to your store.
Finally, marketers don’t want to risk ad spend on something that might work. Marketers need to know that their efforts will yield a return, especially if budgets run the risk of tightening. But that’s exactly why we offer digital audio: it’s a powerful results driver.
One of our customers, Gary’s Quicksteak, proved exactly that in a winning campaign that leveraged our CTV, Mobile, and Digital Audio channels. Initially, Gary’s Quicksteak was running a successful CTV and Mobile strategy, which yielded an exceptional 20% sales lift. When our Digital Audio & Podcast channel launched, they layered it into their existing campaign. That 20% sales lift rocketed to a 30% sales lift with just the addition of targeted audio ads. If a 50% increase in sales lift isn’t an indicator of the real value of audio ads, we don’t know what is.
Get Started with GroundTruth Digital Audio & Podcasts in Minutes
With GroundTruth, launching a highly-targeted digital audio campaign isn’t an ordeal. You can go from creating an account to being heard alongside your audience’s favorite true crime podcast in minutes.
Create your GroundTruth Ads Manager account today, and start exploring our platform (no minimum spend required). And, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.
