Streaming Audio vs. Podcast Ads: Which Is Better for Your Campaign?

Finalizing your advertising spend is like a visit to the eye doctor, but with a whole lot of dollars on the line. How, you might ask? Well, if you’ve ever had your eyes checked, you know the doctor will ask (what feels like) a million questions to get the prescription just right. 

Determining where to place your media dollars is a similar concept. Traditional or digital media? Video, social, display, outdoor, audio? Pre-roll, post-roll? 

If you’ve decided to invest in digital audio, undoubtedly one of the questions weighing heavily on your mind is this: streaming audio or podcast ads? Both are solid choices to help advertisers reach their marketing goals. But if you want to achieve true incremental reach, you should consider bundling both.

What Is Streaming Audio Advertising?

Streaming audio advertising reaches listeners through digital music platforms and internet radio services. Most of the listening is music, but the category includes much more. The total streaming audio advertising audience has grown to 218M listeners, with the average listener spending four hours and 36 minutes per day streaming (61% more than non-digital audio listeners).

A massive, 87M call the SiriusXM Streaming Network their home (and 87% of them listen to ad-support content). Our streaming portfolio includes:

• The SiriusXM app

• Pandora

• SoundCloud

• Sonos Radio (premium music and original shows)

• Spanish Broadcasting System (SBS) / La Musica (Hispanic streaming)

• idobi (alternative music)

• Audiomack (youth-driven, artist-first music platform)

• DailyMotion (premium video platform)

• And more

What Is Podcast Advertising?

Podcasting has grown from a niche medium for true crime, politics, and comedy nerds into a mainstream media juggernaut with more than 135M monthly podcast listeners (which equated to a +350% growth over the last decade). But the thing that makes podcasts really special? The loyal audience. For every niche interest, television show, comic book, reality series, and murder cold case, there is a podcast. And each one has a dedicated audience.

Podcast advertising capitalizes on the personal relationship listeners have with the hosts of their favorite shows. The trust and goodwill the host has earned week over week, year over year, rubs off on the brands that sponsor the show. Plus, listeners feel grateful to the brands who make the show possible.

The SiriusXM Podcast Network is home to 2,500+ shows, attracting 59M monthly listeners. Our content slate includes more top 50 shows than any of our competitors (e.g., Spotify and iHeart), included owned and operated networks like TeamCoco and Earwolf, and features popular networks like:

• audiochuck

• The Unwell Network

• SmartLess Media

• NBCUniversal

• Pitaya

• And many more

What Are the Key Differences Between Streaming Audio Advertising and Podcast Advertising?

As similar as the two types of media are, for the purposes of advertising, some key differences should be considered for brands to get the best results.

1. Targeting Capabilities

One of the most important parts of an audio campaign is ensuring your message is heard by the right listener. To that end, targeting plays a crucial role in determining which medium will best suit your needs.

Podcasts and streaming audio share some similarities in terms of targeting. For instance, both offer standard demographic, geographic, and psychographic targeting opportunities. On a more granular level, you can also focus on content categorizations, allowing you to select what kind of music or podcast genres you want to run your ads across. This also includes inventory source control targeting, which allows you to target an entire publisher’s listener base.

Now, for where they differ. Each medium offers unique additional targeting capabilities to ensure maximum impact based on the content and how listeners most often engage with the platforms.

Streaming audio advertising's unique targeting capabilities include:

• Audience segments: Made possible with both first- and third-party data.

• Database matching: Allows you to provide your own data to craft a unique, high-value audience segment.

• Activity, mood, and mindset targeting: Allows you to connect with users based on how they are feeling or what they are doing throughout the day.

• Lookalike modeling: Allows you to identify and scale unique audiences based on either on-platform ad engagement or your own data.

• Behavioral retargeting: Allows you to stay connected with listenings that previously indicated intent with your ads.

Meanwhile, podcast's unique targeting capabilities include:

• Predictive audiences: Allows you to target listeners based on predictive behaviors like TV-viewing, life stage, or purchase intent.

• Brand suitability: Allows you to filter out podcast episodes that might include content you don't consider suitable for your brand.

• Show anti-targeting: Similar to brand suitability targeting, but at the show-level. This allows you to filter out specific shows you don't want your ads to run on.

• Ad break: Allows you to target inventory based on where you want your ad to run (pre, mid, or post-roll).

Ultimately, the key to finding success on either platform is to combine the standard targeting available with the more precise capabilities to hone in on exactly the right audience. With this approach, finding success with either streaming audio or podcasts (or both) is all but guaranteed.

2. Ad Format and Delivery

Much like targeting, streaming and podcasts both offer unique ad formats designed to best suit the user’s experience—and maximize the chances of your ad leading to conversions.

For streaming, this means finding unique ways to deliver pre-produced ads while the user engages with the platform. This runs the gamut from audio ads to display and video, as well as leveraging connected home and car devices. Streaming also offers some flexibility in crafting more custom solutions, such as full-page takeovers or sponsored station listening.

Podcast ads, on the other hand, may be a bit more straightforward in terms of content types, but don’t let that fool you: They’re just as effective and easy to customize based on your campaign goals. For delivery, you can choose from an announcer read (the publisher produces the ad), a brand read (you produce the ad), or a host read (the host produces the ad).  If you opt for the latter, you also have the option to incorporate video elements.

3. Measurement and Results

For performance measurement, each advertising partner is different. But we boast the most robust measurement tools and analysis in the industry. Here are a few of our measurement metrics and measurement partners:

• Veritonic for creative testing

• Nielsen and Signal Hill Insights for brand lift

• Foursquare, Cuebiq, and In Market for location analysis

• Leads RX and Claritas for attribution studies

• Iri, Claritas, and NCS for sales lift

What does this tell us? No matter which format you’re leaning toward, you can rest assured it’ll be fully measurable—and effective.

Choosing Between Podcast and Streaming Audio Advertising: Why Not Both?

If your campaign goals are focused on reach, advertising on just the SiriusXM Streaming Network, the SiriusXM Podcast Network, or SiriusXM is already a slam dunk. But if you want to achieve incremental reach, layering your campaign is the way to go.

Here's what you'll get when you do:

• +142% incremental reach from adding streaming and podcasts to a SiriusXM campaign

• +100% incremental reach from adding SiriusXM and streaming to a podcast campaign

• +89% incremental reach from adding SiriusXM and podcasts to a streaming campaign

Discover Streaming Audio and Podcast Advertising with SiriusXM Media

With the largest digital audio advertising ecosystem and IAB Data Transparency Certification, we provide advertisers with the tools, reach, and effectiveness needed for successful audio campaigns. 

Are you ready to reap the rewards of incremental reach? Let’s talk.