When you think of audio advertising, you probably think of traditional radio advertising slots. While radio may have moved into the digital age with apps like Spotify and websites like SoundCloud, the ads format remain mostly the same. The big difference is how these ad slots are located and paid for, which is where we enter the country of programmatic advertising.
What is programmatic advertising?
Not so long ago, all advertising had to be handled by humans. A client would need to arrange with a television network, a radio station, a magazine, or another program to make sure they had an advertising slot on their show. Sometimes a client could call an advertising broker, who would act as a kind of agent to find the best value for the client’s money while locating the most ideal audience, but the heavy lifting was still done by people. Humans had to answer the phone calls, fill out the paperwork, put in the orders, and make sure the right ads were slotted in at the right times.
With the advances that have been made in technology, though, it’s possible to push a lot of these tasks off onto computer programs. Much like how machines can be programmed to handle the bulk work of stock trading, they can be programmed to find and buy advertising space for clients. This is the basic definition of programmatic advertising, according to Marketing Week; using technology to find and purchase ad space. Sometimes it’s done in real-time, and sometimes it’s arranged in advance, but if a computer is doing the lion’s share of that work then it’s a programmatic solution to your advertising needs.
Programmatic audio advertising growing in popularity
While programmatic advertising has been growing in popularity over the past several years, audio ads have been behind the curve. If someone wanted to get audio ads, they were largely stuck with the conventional models that were still around… until recently, according to Clear Code. As audio listening technology has changed, and moved away from the traditional radio station model, advertising has changed in order to keep up with what people are doing now.
As more of our audio programs have gone digital, fast-paced, and mobile, programmatic ads have had to keep up with where people are going for their entertainment. This is a huge opportunity for businesses to reach an audience before their competition does, using the advertising programs that are commonly used for online print and video advertising to reach a listening audience. A groundswell of activity has been predicted, and there is no reason to think it isn’t going to happen if you track the listening habits of people, as well as the changes in content creation for artists. With more podcasts, music, and other content going out over our networks than ever before, audio ads have had to adapt to fit the changing demographic.
The right data makes all the difference
Even when computer programs do the heavy lifting when it comes to your advertising campaigns, you need to make sure you have the right information to make your executive decisions. Because technology always does what you tell it to do, even if that isn’t necessarily what you want it to do.
If you’re considering how to make the best use of today’s programmatic audio advertising solutions, then you should listen to our streaming solutions at AdCellerant. We’re here to make sure that you have all the data you need to make the best decisions about where your advertising should go, and about what challenges you’ll face getting there.
