Getting Started: Audience Buys and AudioGO

Of all the things that separate traditional audio advertising from digital audio advertising, the most glaring difference would be how the latter leverages user data. 

Unlike radio ad buys that are limited to just location and station, digital audio advertising lets marketers target specific audiences based on information about listener demographics, interests, personas and more.

This approach is exactly how AudioGO helps its clients succeed — by giving advertisers powerful options for audience-based buying and more control over their ad targeting.

The Types of Audience Buys on AudioGO

On AudioGO, advertisers can choose from different types of audience buys for more accurate targeting.

Demographic Targeting

This involves focusing on specific listener demographics, such as age, gender, or income bracket. For example, if your target audience skews toward millennials, you might select listeners in the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups for your media buying strategy.

Behavioral Targeting

By analyzing user data from listeners' online platforms and behavioral profiles, this strategy targets audiences based on their interests and previous actions. So, an auto dealership would target listeners who have shown interest in car buying or used car owners. AudioGO's behavioral targeting feature offers more than 220 segments for precise campaign reach.

Keep in mind that these buys are limited to streaming (music and digital radio) ad campaigns.

Content Targeting

This type of audience buying targets folks based on the content they listen to. For instance, a company that sells fitness products could target listeners who regularly stream podcasts about health and wellness topics. This increases the likelihood of reaching listeners who are genuinely interested in the product.

For music-related campaigns, targeting listeners on platforms with strong music licensing frameworks ensures access to premium audio content and curated playlists that align with your advertising strategy.

Predictive Audience Targeting

In partnership with Comscore, Predictive Audiences is an industry-first, cookie-free, privacy-friendly targeting solution with over 300 audience segments that span a user's interests, behaviors, personas and activities. 

By pairing this data with AdsWizz's AI transcription technology, Predictive Audiences also knows how to match your advertising with the content your target audiences have a high affinity for. This adds another layer of personalization to your podcast campaign and boosts audience engagement.

Predictive Audience targeting leverages advanced programmatic advertising and real-time bidding technology, powered by machine learning, to target audience segments. When adding Predictive Audience segments to your campaign, our system will know to target each one of the options you select individually. If using any combination of Predictive Audiences AND genre targeting in your podcast campaign, each segment you choose is added to the other, creating a comprehensive listening audience.

The Importance of Where Your Ads Play

What makes AudioGO unique is our vast aggregated media network, combining audiences from 1,500+ stations, 7,500+ podcasts, and top streaming platforms like Pandora, iHeartRadio, and SoundCloud. By selecting specific music genres or playlist curation, advertisers can make sure their campaigns reach high-engagement environments.

And while you can't necessarily choose exactly where your ad will play, if you pick something like music genres as part of your audience targeting, there's a really good chance the bulk of your campaign's listeners will come from Pandora and/or SoundCloud because they specialize in music streaming. 

In any case, advanced ad targeting guarantees your ad will always connect with the right target audience, whether they’re listening to music, podcasts, or other audio content.

The Benefits of Audience Buying on AudioGO

There are several benefits to audience buying as part of an advertising strategy:

• Enhanced personalization. Digital audio advertising allows for the creation of highly personalized messages, which inevitably leads to higher audience engagement — and customer conversion rates. The ability to tailor your ad to specific listener behavior means your message will reach the people who are actually interested in their products or services. There is a limit, however, to how narrow your targeting should get. It's not like this world is teeming with newly married, anime-loving, small business owners with gluten allergies. So please be realistic about your choices, and don't forget to lean on our Audience Guide as you build out your campaign. It's there to help balance your targeting and budget. Use it wisely.
• Cost-effective media buying. By focusing on the most relevant audience segments, advertisers can optimize their ad spend and improve their return on investment (ROI). Research shows that targeted ads typically result in a 20% increase in conversion rates compared to un-targeted approaches.
• Better insights and real-time optimization. Through advanced data analytics and reporting dashboards, advertisers can gain insights into their target audience's behavior. This real-time data allows for constant campaign optimization to keep your ads performing at their best. Insights into consumer behavior allow advertisers to pivot campaigns in real time. By identifying listener preferences and engagement patterns, you can refine your messaging and maximize your return on investment. You'll also learn what works and what doesn't for future campaigns.
• Increased audience reach. With the rise of streaming platforms and podcasts, digital audio advertising reaches a diverse and engaged audience across various music genres, podcasts and other audio content.

Audience Segmentation Strategies

It's easier than ever to make audience segmentation part of your media buying strategy. Marketers can use various techniques to group listeners by shared traits, behaviors or preferences. For instance, a company specializing in subscription services might segment its audience by music genres — offering discounts on services to listeners who frequently stream rock music or indie podcasts.

Case studies show that advertisers using customer segmentation see big gains in campaign performance. For example, leveraging customer segmentation strategies can yield a 15% higher open rate and a 101% increase in click-through rates compared to non-segmented campaigns.

Best Practices for Audience-Based Buying

When you use audience-based buying, consider these best practices:

• Start with clear objectives. Define what success looks like for your campaign. Are you aiming for increasing brand awareness, generating leads, driving purchases? Having clear goals will help you target the right audience segments and use the appropriate messaging.
• Use cross-channel marketing. Make the most of cross-channel marketing strategies by integrating digital marketing techniques across different platforms. For example, combine social media influence with audio advertising to create a cohesive message that resonates powerfully.
• Leverage data analytics. Use data analytics to refine target audience segments continually. As your campaign progresses, you can adjust on the fly to maximize your ad inventory and reach optimal customer engagement.
• Test and iterate. Constant testing and analysis are vital. Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of your targeted ads to make sure you reach the right listener demographics and that campaign optimization efforts are on track.

Enjoy the Results of Audience-Based Buying

Between general ad fatigue and the growing popularity of streaming platforms, it's clearly a great time for advertisers to expand into audio channels.

For some, digital audio advertising is still seen in the same light as radio buys — incredible reach, yet minimal targeting, with limited analytics. We now know that the exact opposite is true — save for the incredible reach part. Digital audio advertising's reliance on data puts it firmly in the same camp as other digital channels. Which is something this legacy radio buyer found out first-hand when they used AudioGO for the very first time.

And to see what targeted audience buys can do for your own business, check out this other must-read case study about how an insurance agent was able to sign up 30 clients with just a handful of AudioGO campaigns.

Get Started with AudioGO today.