The majority of marketers want to spend more on programmatic audio, but its full potential is not yet being realised within Europe.
The study, from outcome-media company Xaxis, in association with IAB Europe, found 60% of buy-side respondents are looking to increase their programmatic audio spend over the next 18 months, however, confidence in understanding the potential of programmatic audio is low.
The full potential of audio is not being realised within Europe. Although 59% are already utilising the capabilities of programmatic audio to some extent, spend is low – over three quarters (79%) invest less than 10% of total ad spend on audio, and two-fifths (41%) allocate no budget to programmatic audio.
Surprisingly, confidence is low, with only a small proportion of buy-side marketers (15%) feeling confident in their understanding of programmatic audio. However, when speaking to the sell side, this is doubled with 30% stating confidence in programmatic audio understanding.
Despite the fact marketers are conservative in their approach to allocating significant budgets to audio, the top three drivers for investing in audio advertising are recognised as complementing the media mix (63%), reaching specific audiences (59%), and raising brand awareness (58%). The majority of respondents agreed that to reach audiences, device choice is important, with mobile ranking top (88%) followed by laptop/desktop (61%), in-car (59%) and tablet (46%).
For marketers, the key drivers for investment in programmatic audio are achieving targeting efficiencies (63%) and taking advantage of data insights (44%). However, two strong barriers to exploring audio investment are having a clear understanding of the impact of programmatic audio trading on total revenue (49%) and the availability of technology (44%).
“Programmatic audio is the future,” commented Alex McGibbon, Vice President of Client Solutions, Xaxis. “There is the potential for Europe to lead the way in cementing it as an essential component of today’s media mix. There is an obvious appetite to increase knowledge and understanding of programmatic capabilities and if addressed, the opportunity to boost programmatic audio spend over the next 18 months.”
Daniel Knapp, Chief Economist at IAB Europe, commented: “Audio’s high level of consumer engagement married with the efficiency of programmatic delivery and brand safe environments creates a highly appealing media channel for brands.”
The European report can be found at: https://www.xaxis.com/programmatic-audio-advertising-in-europe-report
The research aimed to understand the adoption and development of programmatic audio advertising across Europe and was conducted via an online survey between April-May 2019. 499 responses were delivered from buyers and publishers – both from across 30 markets – and from stakeholders with pan-European and global remits.