Why digital audio?

Covid outbreak from last year and the unprecedented lockdown had a significant effect on the world economy. Like the rest of the world, Bangladesh suffered as numerous business industries struggled to operate or generate much revenue. But the entire situation brought about a change in how we handle things. It pushed us to become more accepting of digital practices. At a time like this, digital platforms had become the perfect place to carry on with business activities.

According to the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), there are 50,000 active businesses in social media and a total of 2000 web-based enterprises. The contribution of women entrepreneurs in the digital platform is even more commendable. Women and e-Commerce Forum, an association dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs, has witnessed a massive increase in their members to a million members from only 30,000 members.

The newfound dependence on digital platforms naturally means that businesses and brands are more focused on such media to engage with their consumers. But a successful marketing campaign should not be restricted to only one such medium. Digital advertising should not be exclusive to just visual ads. The world of digital audio advertising is quite vast, and this is where marketers should look into next to expand their reach to find new customers. Uninterrupted ear time and easy accessibility make audio advertising promising to marketers. There are several digital audio advertising variations that businesses should look into while planning their marketing campaigns.

Audio use can be active or passive in general. And as people become more accustomed to the variety of ways they can access audio material, the position in passive listening becomes more prevalent in our lives. With new ways to consume audio content, it has become the ultimate multitasking media source. Half of millennials and Gen Z listen to digital content while cooking, cleaning, and everything in between. However, digital audio isn't just for the young and tech-savvy.

The figures above demonstrate the enormous success of digital audio. Aside from rising listenership rates in this sector, there are many advantages to incorporating digital audio ads in your marketing strategy.

Reaching the Right Target Audience

Traditional radio commercials rely heavily on reaching customers while they are in their vehicles. However, consumers can listen to digital audio anywhere and anytime; at the gym, walking to work, working from home, and so on. Consumers are served advertisements whilst looking at their screens and televisions throughout the day; digital audio fills in the gaps while they aren't looking at their smartphones, but are still listening to content with strong audio-only ads.

Contextually Align Your Message

Digital audio advertisements, as previously mentioned, blend the scope of conventional radio ads with the strategic demographic targeting of digital advertising. Gone are the days of broadcasting your message on a radio station with the hopes of reaching your target audience. With strategic audience targeting features like contextual, behavioral, device-type, regional, and even genre relevance, programmatic audio advertising almost guarantees you reach your target audience.

Spending on Strategic Media

Marketers soon recognized the true value of digital ads in terms of cost-benefit analysis. Brands can be confident that audio ad experiences are reaching the right audience, with the right message, at the right time, thanks to analytics and attribution models.

And there's yet another advantage of audio for advertisers looking to cut costs. Although audio and video have distinct advantages and applications for brands, they are often contrasted. Audio is the perfect stepping stone for advertisers who want to enter the world of video, but don't have the budget. Although the cost of creating and producing adverts is lower than that of film, there are still competitive advantages to be gained from digital audio advertising.

Excellent Customer Experience

Finally, because of the high interaction and listen-through rates, many marketers are implementing digital audio ads into their strategy. Since listeners only hear (or engage) with one audio ad at a time, audio ads are difficult to miss and easy to absorb. According to Midroll Media, 60% of podcast listeners purchased after hearing a podcast audio commercial. Advertisers can make a lasting impact on customers thanks to viewer targeting capabilities combined with consumer-friendly ad placement.

Kazi Monirul Kabir is the country director of the Httpool Bangladesh