Audio: The Incremental Channel
Nobody's Measuring Correctly

There's a conversation that keeps coming up in marketing circles: audio is back. But here's the thing - it never left. It just didn't have the tracking pixel. I recently sat down with a senior executive from iHeartMedia, one of the most experienced people in the U.S. media business, to talk about the state of audio, the performance vs. brand debate, and what happens when incrementality measurement finally arrives at the radio dial. Spoiler: advertisers are going to be surprised.

Q: Tell us about yourself and your role at iHeartMedia.

I'm a 30-year veteran in the media business, with the last 25 at iHeartMedia. I'm the Executive Vice President of Business Development, where I oversee some of the top partnerships across the enterprise and specialize in performance partnerships across many verticals. Our team works with top retail, tech, gaming, and many other performance verticals.

Q: What portion of ad spend across iHeart is performance-driven vs. brand-driven - and how has that shifted?

It's hard to draw a clean line between brand and performance spend. We work with many partners who want brand focus but also want to measure performance. iHeartMedia sits in a unique position here. Partners tap into iHeart for an all-in audio strategy - using broadcast radio for massive scale, and podcast, streaming audio, CTV, and other digital products to round out their performance campaigns. Our broadcast assets drive brand conversations every day while also helping performance across all other channels. iHeartMedia reaches 9 out of 10 Americans every month. As the #1 media company in the U.S., we have a monthly reach of 278 million with our broadcast radio assets alone - more than Facebook and Google in the U.S. Regardless of which of our platforms we're using to benefit partners - broadcast, podcast, digital streaming, live events, social, influencers, and more - the impact is real.

Q: Our own data shows podcasts as the #1 fastest-growing medium. What's driving that, in your view?

Podcasting builds on people's love of audio. You can listen on your own, and you can listen while doing other things - exercising, cooking, driving - times when it's impossible or inconvenient to watch video. That's a big reason why time spent listening to podcasts has been increasing +21% annually since 2016. On the sales front, our iHeart Audience Network is the largest podcast sales network in the U.S., reaching about 50% of all podcast listeners monthly - bigger than the next three largest networks combined (NPR, Acast, Libsyn). iHeart also has an advantage in podcasting that no one else can match: we use our broadcast radio assets, and the loyalty our listeners have to our on-air personalities, to promote our podcast platform. Radio is a perfect complement to podcasting. Podcasting is, in essence, radio on demand. And because we have the leading broadcast radio presence in America - operating 24/7 with a reach of almost 90% of the American population - we have the scale and skills to keep building our podcast leadership position.

Q: Is radio structurally in decline - or has the industry just been under-measuring its impact?

Broadcast radio is the last true reach medium - and it has more listeners today than it did 10 years ago. Very few, if any, media can make that claim. Per Edison Media Research, AM/FM broadcast radio is the #1 most listened-to ad-supported audio for every age group and in every location in the U.S. Nine out of 10 Americans listen to iHeart broadcast radio every month - more reach than the biggest broadcast TV network at 43% and the biggest cable network at 28%, and far larger than ad-enabled Spotify at 21% and ad-enabled Pandora at 14%. iHeart is the #1 media company in the U.S. with a monthly reach of 278M with our broadcast radio assets alone - more than Google, Facebook, and all TV networks. And iHeartMedia broadcast radio generates more time spent than TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, or ad-enabled Spotify per Nielsen and Comscore. So no - radio isn't in decline. It's been under-measured.

Q: If incrementality measurement becomes standard, what would surprise advertisers most about audio?

Incrementality continues to come up with our partners. We have great tools to measure the impact of audio on a partner's campaign using pixel-based measurement. Most of our partners coming from an exclusively digital marketing background find that at some point their ability to scale becomes limited. Once those advertisers tap into the scale of our broadcast and digital audio platform, they immediately begin to see the volume of net new customers increase dramatically. We love adding incrementality measurement to our campaigns - because we know our broadcast radio scale helps drive measurable results.

Q: What's the best way to measure radio and podcasts?

The best way is to use multiple sources to provide meaningful data that informs future expansion opportunities and campaign optimizations in real time. iHeartMedia is a leader in audio attribution because we don't grade our own work. We partner with top attribution providers like Magellan AI, InMarket, Claritas, INCRMNTAL, and more.

Q: If you were a DTC advertiser today - when would you introduce audio into your marketing mix?

It should be part of your media mix from the beginning. 31% of consumers' time with media is spent with audio. iHeartMedia helps brands scale to new consumers who aren't yet aware of their product or service - and as I mentioned, broadcast radio helps drive performance across all other channels. That's why I'd say all brands should include audio as early as possible. For smaller brands, align your top-performing markets with a more localized approach to the DMA, then scale up as the brand grows toward a national strategy. And for established brands who feel like they've plateaued in digital and social only - audio should be a priority right now, if they want to reach new consumers.

 

About iHeartMedia

iHeartMedia, Inc. [Nasdaq: IHRT] is the leading audio media company in America, with nine out of ten Americans listening to iHeart broadcast radio every month. iHeart's broadcast radio assets alone have a larger audience in the U.S. than any other media outlet and over four times the ad-enabled audience of the largest digital-only audio service. iHeart is the largest podcast publisher according to both Podtrac and Triton, with more downloads than the next two podcast publishers combined. The company has the most recognizable live events across all genres of music, the number one social footprint among audio players, the highest-reach and most engaged influencers, and is the only fully integrated audio ad tech solution across broadcast, streaming, and podcasts. Visit iHeartMedia.com for more company information.

For our partners outside of the US who might be interested learning more about running a campaign for your brand, reach out to our local team at nir@1degree.io