How to Overcome Streaming Audio Advertising Challenges
Mar 12, 2025Here’s a statement we’re willing to bet money on: If you have a target audience (and of course you do, because what brand doesn’t?), we can almost guarantee they’re engaging with streaming audio content.
Think it’s bold of us to assume that? Here’s why we’re so confident: Each day, consumers spend 4.5 hours with digital audio. And nearly 75% of that listening time is spent with music.
All of this is to say that adding streaming audio advertising to your media mix is one of the most effective ways to reach a massive, leaned-in audience at scale. And while no media channel is perfect, digital audio does come pretty close. Even still, there are some pitfalls you can fall victim to if you approach your search for a media partner without the right insight and education.
As the leaders in digital audio, we’ve got the expertise (and experience) to help make sure that doesn’t happen. So, let’s break down some of the most common challenges advertisers may face in the streaming audio space—and how to avoid them.
4 Common Streaming Audio Advertising Challenges—And How We Help Brands Avoid Them
1. Fragmented Media Can Limit Ad Exposure
Media fragmentation isn’t confined to traditional radio, TV, display. Sure, there are more than 200M monthly streaming audio listeners, but those listeners are divided by dozens of top streaming platforms. And that number grows each year, making it difficult for advertisers to find their audiences at scale.
At least, that used to be the case. The SiriusXM Streaming Network offers a guardrail against that fragmented traffic by creating one comprehensive ecosystem in which advertisers can reach a massive portion of listeners—93M, if you want to be exact.
Our premier platforms and partners include:
Pandora
SoundCloud
Dailymotion
Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS)
idobe
audiomack
Sonos
2. Poor ROI Measurement Can Make Budgets Hard to Justify
Many streaming platforms struggle to provide accurate campaign performance data. It’s not that they’re trying to hide something so much as the data is tough to track, especially while maintaining data privacy compliance.
But we believe our advertising partners deserve to understand how their ads are being received. And we can’t do our job without that valuable feedback.
As the only audio publisher that is IAB Data Transparency Certified, we offer comprehensive measurement solutions through partnerships with industry-leading third-party research vendors to provide accurate, unbiased performance reviews.
Creative testing through Vertitonic
Brand lift studies via Nielsen and Signal Hill Insights
Location analytics with Foursquare and Cuebiq
Attribution studies through Leads RX and Claritas
Sales lift measurement via IRI and NCS
3. Imprecise Audience Targeting Can Lead to Wasted Spend
Many streaming platforms offer limited targeting capabilities, making it difficult to reach specific audiences effectively. Meanwhile, our advanced targeting capabilities help brands connect with audiences at their most engaged moments. With nearly five hours per day spent listening to streaming audio, our digital audio platforms create deeper, more meaningful connections with listeners throughout their day.
Here are just some of the targeting solutions we offer brands to help them home in on a precise audience segment:
Demographic and geographic
Audience segments
Database matching
Language targeting
Activities, moods, and mindsets
Behavioral retargeting
4. Premium Audiences Don't Hear Ads
Some streaming services, such as Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, and Spotify, tout large audience numbers. But what appears to be an endless consumer base waiting for you to connect with is actually a much smaller pool of people. That’s because for most of these services, their users opt for “premium” accounts—which means they pay not to hear ads…which means they aren’t addressable.
Not us, though. We’re proud to boast the largest network of ad-supported listening compared to all other streaming audio providers, including Spotify, iHeart, and Amazon. In fact, 46% of all ad-supported time spent happens on Pandora, with Spotify taking a distant second (36% of ad-supported time spent).
Navigate Streaming Audio Advertising with SiriusXM Media
If you’re still on the fence about adding streaming audio advertising to your media mix, our team offers expert guidance and end-to-end support for streaming audio campaigns.
Take advantage of our industry-leading targeting capabilities and measurement tools and maximize your reach across our diverse media portfolio. Ready to overcome your streaming audio advertising challenges to create campaigns that connect? Let’s talk.
