A New Era for Podcast Advertising
Over the last year, Spotify has made significant moves to modernize audio advertising. From the launch of Streaming Ad Insertion to the expansion of our self-serve ad platform, Ad Studio, to the acquisition of Megaphone, we’re committed to ensuring this industry reaches its full potential.
Today, we announced an exciting leap forward for audio advertising, creating a path for creators to earn more for their work while delivering greater impact for advertisers.
We believe that this space is primed for innovation as digital audio becomes an integral part of consumers’ daily routines worldwide. According to eMarketer, in the U.S., mobile time spent listening to audio content is now outpacing time spent on social media, video, and gaming.
It’s no secret that podcasts have played a pivotal role in the rise in audio consumption. Their intimate nature makes them an ideal medium for advertisers looking to connect with engaged listeners who are ready to learn, discover, or be entertained. Read on to learn about how we’re powering the next era of innovation for the entire audio advertising ecosystem.
Introducing the Spotify Audience Network
The Spotify Audience Network is a first-of-its-kind audio advertising marketplace in which advertisers of all sizes will be able to connect with listeners consuming a broad range of content. These include Spotify’s Originals & Exclusives, podcasts via Megaphone and Anchor, and ad-supported music. We’ll leverage our medium-defining technology to give advertisers the ability to reach our audience of hundreds of millions of listeners—at scale—both on and off Spotify. We are in the early stages of developing this offering and look forward to sharing more in the coming months.
Unlocking new features on Streaming Ad Insertion
At the top of 2020, we unveiled Streaming Ad Insertion (SAI), which delivers the intimacy and quality of traditional podcast advertising with the precision and transparency of modern-day digital marketing. SAI introduced an entirely new set of data-driven insights to podcast advertising, including a full digital suite of planning, reporting, and measurement solutions. SAI is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK, and we plan to launch in additional markets later this year.
Over the past year, we have been refining SAI with our Originals & Exclusive content and now are ready to scale our innovation. We’re unlocking more product features, like audience-based buying, native ad placements, and reporting on creative performance, all of which play a key part in powering the Spotify Audience Network. Later this year, we’ll start to make this technology available to Megaphone podcast publishers and leading Anchor creators.
Simplifying podcast advertising with Spotify Ad Studio
The best way for advertisers to get started with Spotify Advertising is through our self-serve platform Spotify Ad Studio. Spotify Ad Studio makes streaming audio advertising accessible to advertisers of all sizes, from Fortune 500 brands to artist teams to local coffee shops. Through Spotify Ad Studio, advertisers have the power to reach our audience of hundreds of millions of listeners and leverage our streaming intelligence to ensure their message is heard by the right listeners, at the right moment.
Today, we’ll begin beta testing podcast ad buying on Spotify Ad Studio in the U.S. The introduction of podcasts to Spotify Ad Studio makes it simple for any advertiser to connect with engaged listeners at scale, whether they’re streaming their favorite podcast or discovering a new playlist.
These advancements—the Spotify Audience Network, Streaming Ad Insertion, and podcast buying via Spotify Ad Studio—will benefit creators, advertisers and listeners for years to come. We spoke to HBO Max’s Vice President of Growth Marketing, Katie Soo, to get her thoughts about how the streaming platform is leveraging Spotify as part of its marketing mix.
“During the launch of HBO Max, our strategy was to expand our reach and align with digital audio to find entertainment seekers. We turned to Spotify, given its audio-first strategy, scale and cutting-edge technology, to address both of these key pillars,” noted Soo. “Our early campaigns have been successful, and we plan to continue partnering with Spotify to explore what’s possible in this growing medium.”
To learn more about these paradigm-shifting innovations, head over to Ads.Spotify.com.
