Listen up: Spotify is a whole thing right now, and brands that have turned a deaf ear to “radio” in the past are getting all over the streaming platform for exposure that will keep consumers coming back—even post-quarantine. The Drum has a whole playlist of reasons that you should consider throwing streaming audio into your company’s marketing mix.
We’ve got the short and sweet:
WHY NOW?
This current… situation… forced everyone to pivot messaging fast and hard—cutting crowd scenes, axing inappropriate ads, and going warm and fuzzy with “together apart,” et cetera, et cetera. Nobody knows what the “new normal” will look like, but we do know this will be over someday. (We really need bars and baseball back.) So the savvy brands are planning now for post-corona relevance—and that’s where audio comes in.
WHY NOT STREAMING VIDEO?
Because when this is over, even Carole Baskin can’t keep our glutes glued to the sofa anymore. Streaming video is screaming hot right now, for sure. But then again, so is audio. Except only one of those platforms will stay hot once we’re back to working, running, and commuting. Audio is, of course, untethered from the screen—and often welcomed for adding a soundtrack to daily life.
WHY SPOTIFY HITS THE SPOT
2020’s “Most Intimate Brand” is booming, with an 11% increase in mobile app installs in April alone. Music is intimately unique to each of the platform’s almost 250 million users—and Spotify brags that it personalizes every. single. listener. They generate 100 billion (yes, with a B) data points each day, which sounds like some pretty damn big data.
TUNE IN, TURN ON, SHOP OUT
So how can your business best take advantage of all those ears? The newly expanded Ad Studio allows brands to send in a script, from which Spotify will produce a slick and effective ad—voiceover, background music, and everything. Ads can geotarget regions from 2,000 to 180,000 listeners, so hellooooo local! The best part: the minimum spend is lower than current morale (pretty low), so a bona-fide test would only cost your company around 300 bucks.
Spotify has also recently launched a new ‘Streaming Ad Insertion’ (SAI) technology which serves up targeted ads based on location, age, and other inputs—so you have another option there.
PAY-TO-PLAY ON PODCASTS
Spotify Premium users don’t hear ads—but they do hear advertiser-supported podcasts. Plus, podcast listeners (as a whole) tend to be better-educated and higher earners. Also: podcasts are nothing if not niche, so your message can be targeted to exactly the audience your company is trying to reach. Athletic brand Puma saw a whopping 180% in ad recall when former ESPN journalist Jemele Hill read their ads on her wildly popular “Unbothered” podcast. Talk about your home runs.
PLAYLISTS FOR PROFIT
Lifestyle brands are all about the playlists. Prada has seventeen on their channel to help fashionistas “fully immerse themselves in the brand.” Coke, McDonald’s, and KFC are also pumping up the jams. But you don’t need golden-arch pockets to get in—any business can make their own playlists for cheap and easy engagement with their target audiences. Bring good taste.
WHAT ABOUT PREMIUM?
Surprisingly, a down economy may actually help advertisers on Spotify. If customers are broke and cancel cable—no CNN for them! But Spotify’s free tier will still be going strong—which means more ears for your brand’s ad dollars.
0 Comments