Only 10% advertisers are confident in their knowledge of programmatic audio advertising: Xaxis Report

Xaxis surveyed 107 agency and advertiser participants, and 25 publishers and media owners to understand the drivers, challenges and adoption of programmatic audio.

Mobile devices are believed to have the highest audience reach, according to the Programmatic Audio Playbook for marketeers launched by Xaxis. As per the survey, despite the high adoption rate, only 71% of advertisers commit less than 10% of their total ad investment to digital audio channels while 50% of publishers and media owners revealed that they get zero revenue from digital audio advertising. Xaxis surveyed 107 agency and advertiser participants, and 25 publishers and media owners to understand the drivers, challenges and adoption of programmatic audio. Meanwhile, brand awareness and advertising recall emerge as the most important metrics for clients running programmatic audio advertising at 71% followed by reach and frequency at 54% and the listen through rate at 54%.

Programmatic advertising for audio in this country is at a very nascent stage but the future of the digital audio advertising industry looks bright in India, Bharat Khatri, country head, Xaxis India, said. “Today over 200 million users use music streaming services. Yet, we have realised that audio is an undervalued and underutilised area by the advertising industry. As internet access via mobile grows, we believe that audio advertising can provide an edge to the advertiser and brands,” he added.

According to the report, despite the high adoption rate, only 89% of advertisers commit less than 10% of their total ad investment to programmatic audio advertising.This is primarily because of lack of understanding. Nearly 57% of advertisers said in the survey that they did not have a clear understanding of the impact of programmatic audio trading was a barrier to incorporating programmatic audio into their planning budgets. The report also highlights how 44% of advertisers consider campaign measurement as a key barrier to implementing programmatic audio. As a result, only 9% of advertisers and agencies were considering audio advertising to improve returns of their investment. Interestingly, only 54% of advertisers are familiar with audio advertising while only 10% are confident in the knowledge of programmatic audio advertising.

For Rita Sahajpaul, national head, product and marketing science, Xaxis India, despite digital audio advertising being in a nascent stage in India, new data suggests that the category will grow by leaps and bounds. “Explosive smartphone adoption has led to a 17x increase in content consumption. A staggering 97% of people listened to music through their device in the past three months, and they devote an average of 19.1 hours per week to the activity. The growing demand for more content is increasing the popularity of podcasts, music streaming services and online radio, especially among the 18-34 age group. Audio streaming is gaining popularity with the influx of domestic and international platforms, along with the power of data and AI, opportunities for advertisers looks bright with programmatic digital audio advertising,” she stated.

Advertisers and agencies have a general understanding and familiarity with digital audio advertising and its benefits. There are bright opportunities in this sector as well as the value proposition for advertisers looking to achieve reach, frequency, engagement targeting and measurability by way of mobile telephony. Whether that involves converting text-to-speech, for creating real time dynamic audio ads or pushing engagement through voice-enabled responses, programmatic audio advertising is here to stay to provide brands and people with plenty opportunities to connect.

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