Programmatic Audio: Pragmatic, Powerful, Profitable

If your media strategy lacks programmatic audio, you’re missing out. And here’s why: Programmatic buying streamlines the ability to reach wider audiences, anytime and anywhere. In other words, programmatic audio provides scalable efficiency, and when combined with digital audio, advertisers have more opportunities to connect with their most valued audiences. This year, programmatic audio is expected to grow +18% to $2.3B. But despite this projection, there’s still a low rate of investment—and we want to change that. 

As the digital audio powerhouse, reaching 160M listeners, SiriusXM Media has the most dynamic portfolio in audio, the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem in North America, and the crown in ad-supported scale. With offerings across music, sports, news, podcasts, and live talk, our extensive portfolio is the comprehensive resource for your programmatic purchasing needs. Below, dive into why we’re the leader in programmatic audio.

Digital Audio Dominates Over Other Media

Digital audio is a constant companion, playing through headphones, car stereos, smart speakers, and connected devices. For brands, that means access to large audiences throughout the day, wherever they are. And as digital audio listenership keeps growing, so do the opportunities for brands. Digital audio consumers listen for four hours and 30 minutes per day, spending 65% more time with audio compared to non-digital audio listeners. In fact, streaming, podcasts, and live talk are fueling digital audio’s growth. From turnkey, to completely custom, to hands-on solutions—SiriusXM Media brings you the best in audio advertising across digital audio. 

Meanwhile, other media leaves behind gaps. The popularity of linear TV and AM/FM radio is shrinking, CTV is mostly ad-free and fragmented, and social media lacks consumer trust. But through the SiriusXM Streaming Network, advertisers can simplify their media buys while consistently reaching consumers in a better environment for brands. Digital audio ads outperform other formats, with a 49% better impact on lasting memory than AM/FM ads and 36% better impact than TV. And audio ads capture over 50% higher active attention than benchmarks for online video, TV, social, and display.

Whether your target audience is our streaming audio or podcast listeners (or both), reach them programmatically.

A Programmatic-First Approach 

With platforms like Pandora and SoundCloud, and our expanded SiriusXM Streaming Network, programmatic audio enables advertisers to effectively and efficiently reach both broad and specific audiences. We take a programmatic-first approach to our audio inventory, holding our programmatic auction before we serve our direct IO campaigns. It’s a win-win for both programmatic and direct IO buyers. By holding our auction first, we let our programmatic clients find their preferred users. Certain users are more valuable to the auction: they are more data-rich, have desirable behaviors, or are expected by the DSP to have great candidacy for a certain KPI. And then we deliver our direct IO campaigns based on our logged-in user information.

The TL;DR: Adding programmatic audio to your media plan gives you easy access to your target audiences every time. 

Unlimited Entertainment Options & Targeting = Customized Content Listeners Want 

Advertisers can take advantage of Pandora's limitless entertainment options, which connect listeners to the customized content they crave. Meanwhile, through SoundCloud, advertisers can access a fan-driven community that’s young, diverse, and at the forefront of the latest trends in music and culture. Together, Pandora and SoundCloud offer unparalleled reach, connecting brand messages with audiences across every generation and demographic. 

Plus, with advanced targeting solutions that uncover listener interests, behaviors, moods, demographics, and even technologies, we have the inside scoop on our listeners—allowing advertisers to reach their ideal audience at the right time, with the right message. 

Add Podcasts for Incremental Reach 

Here’s a confidence boost: The impact of adding podcasts saw a +33% growth in programmatic revenue last year. To get started, you need the right partner. Home to the podcasts listeners can’t get enough of, the SiriusXM Podcast Network gives brands unparalleled access to every audience, with the intimacy and authenticity the medium is known for. If you’re only buying streaming, you’re missing out on a key audience that streaming alone doesn’t encompass. Essentially, every dollar spent on podcasting means incremental reach for your brand as there is no duplication between streaming and podcasting. In fact, you can see +50% median incremental reach from adding the SiriusXM Podcast Network to your plan.

But, it doesn't matter where audiences are listening or what their preferred streaming platform is, your brand messages reach them with the SiriusXM Podcast Network. So when brand messages play on podcasts in our network, listeners hear that ad regardless of which app they use. We pass genre, publisher, show, and episode in every bid request, making those data points available to DSPs for reporting because we're committed to total transparency in the programmatic ecosystem. This gives our programmatic buyers the ability to know exactly what content their ads are placed in. And if you’re concerned that your ads won’t play in the right genres, shows, and episodes for your brand or audience, our targeting solutions can fix that. 

It’s also important to note that our podcast network is a safe environment for your brand messages. We understand that brand safety and brand suitability are two different things. That’s why we developed multiple content filtering tools that are both specific and broad, to guarantee that you can determine exactly what podcast content you want to associate with your message. And thanks to our collaboration with Barometer, brand suitability is measurable for advertisers. 

Expanding Programmatic Audio to the Home and Car 

Connected home and car usage is on the rise: 38% of Pandora listeners tune in exclusively through connected home devices. And time spent listening to Pandora via connected car integrations has increased +8% year over year. Our fully programmatic, biddable connected home offering allows you to control budgets, manage reach and frequency, and measure performance. On top of traditional DSP attribution reporting, we have the capability to measure all funnels on connected home devices. And the innovation doesn't stop there. In the not-so-distant future, we’ll leverage SiriusXM’s primary position in-dash to expand our programmatic audio offering to native vehicle functionality. With this, we’ll be able to offer the first fully addressable, scalable programmatic in-car marketplace.

The Proof Points 

When it comes to measuring the success and efficacy of your programmatic audio campaigns, you have options. No matter your KPI, programmatic audio is your gateway to success, and here’s the proof.

A recent SiriusXM Streaming Network campaign for a CPG advertiser leveraged programmatic placements across Pandora mobile audio, SoundCloud mobile audio, and connected home to drive incremental sales for a women’s personal care product. Harnessing the power of the network’s advanced targeting capabilities, the campaign was successful in engaging the advertiser’s key audiences—women ages 18-54, non-loyal brand buyers, and non-brand buyers. 

The creatives featured educational brand messaging and focused on the product's core benefits, resonating with listeners and inspiring action. The programmatic audio placements were a key contributor to the success of this campaign, converting non-brand buyers into new customers and driving incremental sales for the CPG advertiser. 

Take a look at the results:

• +8.05% lift in incremental sales 

• +$2.4M total incremental sales 

• 60.55% of incremental sales were attributed to new brand buyers 

In another recent campaign, the SiriusXM Podcast Network drove lifts in upper-to-middle funnel metrics for a travel and tourism advertiser. The campaign used programmatic podcast ad placements to optimize and target listeners in real-time, at scale, to effectively build awareness. Through behavioral audience targeting, the campaign pinpointed podcast listeners with interests in travel, gambling, clothing, health, and beauty, and used creatives that continuously reinforced brand messaging. The campaign proved the impact of programmatic podcast ad placements and its positive impact on brand-building.

See how the campaign paid off:  

• +14 pts lift in online ad awareness  

• +12 pts lift in message association  

• +8 pts lift in brand favorability 

Are You Serious About (Programmatic) Audio? 

To recap, our digital audio portfolio provides advertisers with unparalleled access to achieve their campaign goals, offering substantial cross-funnel advantages for programmatic buyers. If you’re ready to see what digital audio can do for your programmatic campaigns, let’s talk.

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