Audio’s Modern Renaissance

With Strategic Planning, Audio Publishers Have an Opportunity to Capitalize on the Medium’s Boom

The numbers speak for themselves: Thirty-eight percent of the U.S. population tunes in to at least one podcast on a monthly basis. Audio streaming services are on track for double-digit year-over-year revenue growth. The podcast advertising market is set to reach $4 billion by 2024, while global streaming audio ad revenue will climb to $23 billion by 2028. 

While attentive listeners can spell big bucks for audio companies, many still face a number of question marks, hurdles, and costly barriers. 

We explore the audio industry’s evolving challenges—and how to overcome them— in our ebook, Audio Industry: Guide to Growth with Smarter Proposals. 

Digital Audio’s Difficulties 

The most common challenges for audio publishers include: 

Skyrocketing sales costs. Formats are proliferating thanks to a low barrier to entry and incredible popularity of audio mediums. While the creative ecosystem flourishes, however, sales teams are becoming increasingly fragmented into “specialist” units to keep up. The result? Too many sellers on one side and a confusing buying experience on the other. 

Lack of bundling and small deal sizes. In the audio landscape, it can be difficult to sell multiple products in the same campaign. At best, most companies manage to snag a deal for just two to three products on a single campaign. If audio publishers could break down their sales silos and gain greater visibility, they could optimize bundles and increase their sell-through rates, benefitting the bottom line. 

Riding the Streaming Audio Wave Profitably 

As with most digital media, a rapidly changing streaming audio landscape can be challenging to navigate. Sellers in this space are negotiating new terrain while relying on touch-and-go tactics, as opposed to more proactive strategies Yet, through greater data visibility, better cross-selling and bundling, and savvy media plan creation, publishers can capture more of audio’s profit potential with less guesswork.  

Here are a few places to start for publishers wanting to max out 2023 audio revenue: 

• Break down data silos and integrate real-time inventory levels and optimal mixes for different marketing objectives into a single, accessible source of truth.
• Scale through cross-sells and bundling.  Sales strategies must include multiple products to effectively capture the maximum ad budget share from clients.
• Employ AI for product mix recommendations, automated proposals, and more. If your company isn’t using technology to optimize operations, now is the time to start. With all digital media increasing in complexity, eliminating human data errors while freeing up company genius for strategy creates impact in every area.

Capitalize on Audio’s Reach 

With its abundant customer data, targeting capabilities, sizable audiences, and growing market receptivity, audio is emerging as the digital platform of the moment. 

The rise of audio platforms presents publishers with an opportunity to innovate, flex their creativity, and positively impact the medium. They can seize this opportunity with technology that automates data aggregation, optimizes media plan creation, expedites RFPs, and liberates sellers from spreadsheets and busywork, so they can do what they do best—-sell. 

We’ve created a full report on audio’s prospects, its challenges, and tactics to unlock its potential in our ebook, 2023 Audio Company Guide to Growth with Smarter Proposals. You’ll also find an analysis of trends, strategies, and tools to maximize your platform’s potential.