The IAB Australia has published its annual audio advertising report. The analysis shows strong support for streaming audio, with 87% of agencies using the format in 2018. Streaming digital audio, which includes both music streaming services and live broadcast radio, was a regular part of ad activity for 62% of media agencies in the country.
It was also a good year for podcast advertising: 60% of agencies pursued that channel and another 25% said they plan to use podcast ads in 2019. A fifth of the surveyed media buyers said they regularly bought podcast advertising during 2018, up from 14% in 2017.
While streaming audio is now firmly established for advertisers, marketing by voice assistants is still in its infancy. In 2018, 56% of media agencies were unsure about voice marketing strategies, and that rate dropped to 22% in 2018. Just 9% have used voice for marketing, and the proportion of agencies that are looking to use voice rose from 13% to 32%.
Australian media agencies and advertisers are showing interest in other industry shifts. Many want to experiment with developing creative dynamic audio, with about a quarter of buyers already trying these formats and an additional 57% looking to recommend it for clients this year. Programmatic buying has been slowing rising within the sector, and 2019 is expected to see more dramatic upticks in its use. The rate of programmatic guaranteed arrangements is projected to increase from 37% to 47% in 2019.
“Streaming audio is now cemented as part of the commercial media market and we are pleased to release the third wave of this important industry audio research to help the audio market thrive in 2019,” IAB CEO Gai Le Roy said. “IAB will continue to invest in research projects such as this to provide the market with objective market wide data.”