Spotify has already changed the way we consume music and audio content. It’s easier than ever to listen to your favorite music and podcasts while you’re on the go. Marketers are aware of the changing consumer habits and they want to make sure that they stay ahead of the curve. Spotify brand marketing is a growing trend that allows brands to go where their audience is.
With more than 217 million users, Spotify turns out to be a very appealing platform for marketers who want to embrace the power of audio streaming to promote their campaigns.
The rise of Spotify as a digital marketing channel
Brands face a constant challenge of trying to reach their consumers via the most effective channels. Social media and search marketing can be effective but there are also other opportunities that arise along with the latest trends.
Music streaming and Spotify have gradually become one of the hidden treasures that can strengthen your digital strategy.
What makes Spotify an effective channel?
- Audience insights: The ability to dive into deep audience insights makes Spotify a very appealing channel for marketers who are struggling to understand their audience. The more people stream audio, the easier it becomes to explore their habits and interests.
- Reaching an engaged audience: Spotify users are exploring a new way of staying productive. It is estimated that 64% of Americans aged 15-38 listen to Spotify while multitasking. In fact, they believe that that audio makes them even more productive.
- A new form of storytelling: Digital channels are changing and it’s important for marketers to stay ahead of the curve. Audio storytelling and campaigns are very appealing nowadays as they allow users to multitask with brands telling their story in a more captivating way.
- Redefining personalization: Streaming intelligence allows marketers and digital strategists to redefine personalization. Digital campaigns are more effective when delivered in the right context and Spotify content can help brands understand the impact of their messaging.
- The rise of music streaming and podcasts: Music streaming and podcasts are on the rise as a new way to consume content. There are more than 144 million people in the US already listening to podcasts in the US. And 60% of podcast listeners look up a product or service after hearing an ad. The fact that the audio streaming market is not saturated yet can lead to a great advertising opportunity for brands.
Adding Spotify to your marketing strategy
Spotify is an interesting addition to your marketing strategy as it allows you to explore different content formats. It’s a useful way to reach an engaged audience with the audio being the starting point but also expanding to video and display opportunities.
Brands can promote their message in different ways:
- Audio ads
- Video ads
- Display ads
- Sponsored playlists
- Brand podcasts
- Organic playlists
Spotify for Creatives can help marketers understand streaming intelligence in order to come up with innovative ways to deliver their message.
When it comes to audience intelligence, Spotify marketing has two strong points that you can use through Ad Studio:
- Interest targeting: if you want to reach people based on their interests, interest targeting can help you deliver the content to people based on the topics and activities they are passionate about. It becomes easier for marketers to send the right message to the right audience based on the users’ listening preferences.
- Real-time context targeting: Streaming intelligence becomes even more interesting with the option to target people based on the activities and the times of the day they’re consuming content. For example, you can reach people when they are waking up, studying, or working out. It’s a great way for marketers to increase the chances of success based on the psychology of the users and the moment that they are more willing to pay attention to a branded message.
Examples of successful campaigns
Pepsi and audio personalization
Pepsi wanted to increase consideration of PepsiMax and they used audio to target people during the summer months. They’ve decided to customize 650 audio spots to target people aged 18-49 based on different summer events.
The audio ads were personalized and every user listened to a tailored message based on the event, the location and the timing.
The campaign ended up in very positive results, seeing an increase of 21% in brand consideration and 155% of brand recall.
Unilever and video takeover
Unilever wanted to improve awareness in Germany for their AXE Gold Products so they used Spotify’s video takeover ad experiences and sponsored sessions. The concept was to allow their target audience to listen to 30 minutes of ad-free music provided that they watch a brand video. The display focused on the messaging “stay gold” to improve the recall among men aged 16 to 29.
The campaign saw a 168% ad recall lift, increased brand awareness of 14% and 75% of the target audience thought that the AXE Gold ads were relevant to them.
Reviewing your digital strategy
When planning a Spotify marketing strategy, it’s important to understand the different approach of this channel compared to others. Audio streaming along with Spotify’s advertising opportunities bring out flexibility in creative campaigns.
It is also useful to consider though the listeners’ consuming habits and how they could potentially react to the messaging if it’s not personalized or contextually relevant.
What we can learn from successful Spotify campaigns is the importance to deliver the right message to the right audience. Spotify ads can feel intrusive for the wrong audience but they can bring great success when making the most of the channel.