October 10, 2016 While adoption of digital audio advertising may be in the crawl stages, research shows that the listeners are already there; approximately 68 million are streaming music subscribers worldwide. According to June research, US marketing and media professionals will allocate an average of 11.6% of their ad budget and inventory to digital audio placements by mid-2017, doubling the share of investment made just two years earlier. Advertising Age and The Trade Desk, along with Advantage Business Research, surveyed 532 marketing and media professionals about the future of digital audio ads, and the potential impact of programmatic buying. In June, respondents said 7% of their ad budgets—or inventory, in the case of publishers—were currently set aside for digital audio. However, in the next 12 months, their investment in the format would likely grow to 11.6%, according to the data, marking a significant gain on the overall ad inventory compared to a year ago. So, where might these digital audio ad dollars go? And how? Research suggests streaming music services and podcasts, and likely through programmatic ad buying. In fact, industry leader Spotify rolled out a programmatic offering to its partners worldwide this past summer. According to the same AdAge study, the majority (67.5%) of respondents in the US said that streaming music services are of interest when considering buying programmatically. This was followed by podcasts (41.7%) and formatted music channels (37.4%).
US marketing and media professionals will allocate around 11.6% of their ad budget to digital audio placements by mid-2017, according to a survey of 532 professionals conducted by Advantage Business Research, The Trade Desk and Advantage Business Research in June. With around 68 million streaming music subscribers worldwide, advertisers are focusing on music services and podcasts through programmatic ad buying. Of the respondents, 67.5% were interested in streaming music services, 41.7% in podcasts, and 37.4% in formatted music channels.