TargetSpot, the largest Digital Audio advertising network, today released the results of its “Attitudes Towards Digital Audio Advertising” Study.  Conducted by Parks Associates, this report unveils key new insights about what drives response and engagement in Digital Audio advertising, and further illustrates the effectiveness of the platform for connecting with consumers. Key findings include the importance of perceived value to the listener, proper targeting and customized messaging in order to maximize impact.

Perceived Value is Key
Digital Audio listeners already derive additional value from their listening experience through the interactive elements that the medium provides.  The same expectation applies to Digital Audio advertising:  the majority of listeners don’t mind ads if they think they will receive something in return.  59% of Digital Audio listeners like to get coupons, special offers or discounts; 55% don’t mind ads as long as they have free access to favorite stations, and 37 % are willing to “like” an ad in order to receive discounts or special promotions for the product/service.

Listeners are also happy to receive branded stations and playlists from advertisers because they value the content.  In fact, 34% said they are more likely to remember an advertiser if the media player has the advertiser’s logo or design, 30% said that branded stations improved their perception of the sponsoring advertiser and 27% said they were more inclined to buy products from the sponsoring brand.

Mobile devices provide another platform for advertisers to reach a receptive and ever-increasing Digital Audio audience.  27% of Digital Audio listeners do not mind getting ads on their mobile device for products/services they are interested in and the same percentage does not mind being targeted based on their physical location.

Proper Targeting Helps Drive Response
Digital Audio listeners are highly accepting of targeted advertising: 65% are comfortable receiving ads based on their personal profiles and 70% are comfortable receiving ads based on their Internet Radio usage and/or content preference.  Additionally, listeners to multiple Internet Radio stations are 65% more comfortable being targeted based on their profile and 52% more comfortable being targeted based on their usage and content preferences than are single-site listeners.

Targeted advertising content resonates with Digital Audio listeners because it speaks directly to specific audiences and appeals to their individual interests. Correctly targeting the listener is critical, as is the creative messaging, since 35% of consumers who responded to a Digital Audio ad believe they were personally targeted.  Additionally, Internet Radio listeners who listen across multiple Internet Radio sites are even more likely to feel ads are specifically speaking to them compared to single-site listeners.  Nearly 39% of respondents to Internet Radio ads who listen to multiple stations daily believe they are being targeted by ads, versus 21% of those who listen to only one Internet Radio station.

High Engagement Levels Coupled with Perceived Value Leads to Significant Recall and Response
Digital Audio advertising effectiveness metrics indicate that recall and response are high and increasing year over year. 58% of Internet Radio listeners recall having seen or heard an Internet Radio ad in the last 30 days, up 12% from last year.  Of those who recalled an Internet Radio ad, 44% responded to it in some way, up 10% from last year.

And, since one way Digital Audio users maintain a connection to their listening experience is by changing stations, it correlates that multi-site listeners are even more responsive to advertising: 66% recall seeing or hearing an Internet Radio ad, and of these, 52% responded to it in some way — 18% more than single-site listeners.

Relevance and proximity are key drivers of response.  52% of listeners who do not normally click on ads say that a relevant ad might lead them to visit an advertiser’s web site later.  30% are more likely to respond to an audio ad if there is an accompanying display ad on the web page.

Internet Radio Listeners are More Tolerant of Digital Audio Ads than Broadcast AM/FM Audience
Personally relevant ads appeal to digital audio listeners and drive high response rates.  However, even when digital audio listeners do not perceive ads to be particularly pertinent to them, they are more accepting of them and less likely to stop listening than are listeners to traditional Broadcast AM/FM Radio.  26% of Broadcast AM/FM listeners stopped listening because they did not find an ad personally relevant, compared to only 20% of Internet Radio listeners.

“More than half of Internet Radio listeners are shopping or researching future purchases while listening, and 60% are social networking. Therefore, the effects of properly messaging to this engaged and influential audience are profound” said Eyal Goldwerger, Chief Executive Officer of TargetSpot. “Marketers need to take Digital Audio listeners’ viewpoints on advertising into account and harness the power of this fast-growing listenership to drive their objectives forward.  We hope that our research can help marketers better understand the best practices in Digital Audio advertising that lead to high-impact results.”

To receive a free, detailed synopsis of the research, download TargetSpot’s Attitudes Towards Digital Audio Advertising white paper from: http://www.targetspot.com/research/.

About the Research
TargetSpot Digital Audio Benchmark and Trend Study, 2012
Research based on an online survey of Internet Radio listeners in the United States (U.S.).  The study fielded January 7, 2012 through January 17, 2012.  The sample population includes 1,000 adult U.S. Internet Radio listeners in broadband households who listen to the medium once a month to daily.

About TargetSpot
TargetSpot is the largest Digital Audio advertising network.TargetSpot connects top national brands, regional, and local advertisers to highly engaged internet and mobile audiences. Advertisers work with TargetSpot’s team or use its self-service platform to create rich media campaigns delivering high-impact audio, display and pre-roll video advertising across thousands of online properties. TargetSpot advertisers can target consumers by demographics, listening preferences, and geography down to zip code level; while benefitting from real time reporting and analytics. TargetSpot has more than 85 distribution partners, including CBS RADIO, ABC News Radio, Univision, Entercom, Live 365, and Slacker. TargetSpotis based in New York City. For more information, please visit www.targetspot.com.

About Park Associates
Parks Associates is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital for companies ranging from Fortune 500 to small start-ups through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company’s expertise includes digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security. Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webcasts, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, and Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer.

Contact:
PenVine for TargetSpot
Jennifer Schenberg
917-445-4454
[email protected]

Or
Melanie Berger
850-567-0082
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