7 Ways to Add Incremental Reach to Your Campaigns with Audio

Your ads were made to be heard, but getting them into your consumers’ ears is challenging. New media, ad types, and devices are making it more complex for advertisers to reach the right audiences, at the right time, with the right message. The operative word there is “reach,” as in get attention, build connections, and inspire action with your target consumers.

In our latest report, Just Add Audio, we dive into the power of digital audio and its potential to add incremental reach to any media mix—including yours. In this blog, we’ll dig into the massive opportunities to improve your advertising reach (in every sense of the word) when you add audio.

1. Tap into the New Prime Time

When it comes to the best advertising timeframes, traditional media has been playing the same old tune for decades. But the rhythm of life has changed. Work and life need to balance. Daily commutes aren’t for everyone. Evening activities have transformed and diversified. And there are more places to be informed and entertained than on the couch or in the car. People are more mobile—and they’re taking digital audio with them.

It’s time to redefine prime time for your campaigns. And that means focusing on when your ads are most likely to reach consumers and influence their purchasing decisions. And recent data shows that shopping and listening windows are in sync.

2. Add Targeted Scale to AM/FM

You probably noticed that those charts show the overlap between audio consumption and consumer shopping habits. So, you may be thinking AM/FM radio is the answer. And it can be part of your strategy to reach consumers.

Terrestrial radio can be an effective tool for reaching listeners in a specific area (like on Seattle’s favorite local hip hop station or a popular indie rock station in Philly) or fans of a particular syndicated show. But you’ll need digital audio in the mix to both target specific consumers and scale to wider audiences. In fact, SiriusXM Media is #1 in 204 US markets (including Seattle and Philly), larger than all broadcast radio formats combined.

3. Add Extension to Linear TV

Though Linear TV viewing still peaks in the 8PM – 11PM window, what and how viewers are watching has shifted. These days, the medium’s biggest draw for audiences is the big events: sports championships, awards shows, important interviews, and reality specials. Digital audio can not only get your ads to your consumers’ ears at those pivotal moments earlier in the day, but it can also extend those massive cultural moments (at a fraction of the cost).

With digital audio, you can reach consumers more consistently outside of those big moments while also leveraging their impact. Post-event listening is a phenomenon on streaming platforms, like the 129% increase in Billie Eilish station adds on Pandora following her performance at the Summer Olympics. And for every big TV moment, there’s a podcast (or five) to delve deep into the details.

4. Add Attention to CTV

CTV is rapidly replacing linear formats as the go-to option for evening viewing, which can mean a better chance of catching consumers’ eyes. But did you know that your video ads can play on digital audio platforms? Oh, and they also perform better, too. Our audiences only see your ads when they interact with our platforms, driving higher video completion rates, with less muting.

Audio offers more than another option for your visual media—way more. For consumers, it offers less fragmented access to the content they love and a much-needed escape from screens. And for advertisers, digital audio delivers both more consistent and incremental reach.

5. Add Influence to Social Media

You can catch Gen Z on TikTok, millennials on Instagram, and Gen X and baby boomers over on Facebook, but can you resonate with them? As consumers scroll between tasks, while waiting in line, and when TV ads roll, the algorithms that engineer their feeds continuously push new content (and ads) their way—and the pace can make ads easy to miss.

Digital audio can help you reinforce your social media campaigns while adding reach to new and different audiences. And as audiences view social platforms with increasing skepticism, streaming audio and podcasts can bridge the gap. Listeners say streaming audio is 4.7x more trustworthy and authentic than social media—and a whopping 23x more so when it comes to podcasts.

6. Add Incremental Reach to Digital Audio

Digital audio pulls in 76% of Americans ages 12 and over every month. And listeners spend nearly five hours a day with their favorite music, podcasts, and live content. With numbers like those, you need to diversify your audio media mix to maximize reach. And SiriusXM Media offers incremental reach over other audio platforms.

7. Add More Audio

Digital audio isn’t a monolith, and neither is its audience. There are as many formats as there are generations to enjoy them. And when you add together the SiriusXM Streaming Network, the SiriusXM Podcast Network, and SiriusXM you can reach our 150M monthly listeners.

Ready to add digital audio? Let’s talk.