Masterclass – SoundCloud: Play with Music, Empower Fandom, Supercharge Your Brand’s Journey

Frank Kretzschmar, Senior Business Development Director, EU Supply at AdsWizz, and Rohit Agarwal, Chief Product Officer at SoundCloud, discussed the future of audio advertising and outlined how brands can collaborate with both entities to elevate their marketing strategies. 

The Power of the SoundCloud and AdsWizz Partnership

SoundCloud’s ecosystem is vast and inclusive, boasting millions of artists and hundreds of millions of tracks where authentic connections are forged between artists and fans. Through innovative features like commenting on tracks and direct messaging, SoundCloud offers a unique interactive experience that goes beyond passive listening.

AdsWizz partnered with SoundCloud to provide brands with advanced advertising solutions. This union enables advertisers and brands to reach and engage SoundCloud listeners through robust targeting and innovative ad formats.

                                                  Frank Kretzschmar

Case Studies in Audio Advertising

QSR Case Study: ShakeMe Ads

A global fast-food brand sought to increase awareness and engagement for its mobile rewards app in Switzerland. Using AdsWizz’s ShakeMe ad format, they launched motion-activated ads across various publishers, including SoundCloud, to reach different linguistic regions. These ads leveraged users’ physical interactions with their devices, creating a more engaging and memorable experience, uniquely capturing the audience’s attention and serving as a real-time conversion metric.

The results were impressive: over 10,000 interactions and a 92% listen-through rate, with a higher interaction rate on SoundCloud than on other platforms.

Voice Ads Case Study: Lagardère Publicité News & Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Tourisme

Lagardère Publicité News and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Tourisme sought innovative ways to engage users with voice assistants and smart speakers through interactive voice ads. These ads allowed listeners to interact via voice commands, taking personalization to the next level by creating a natural and engaging dialogue between the brand and the audience.

The campaign generated 250,000 impressions in two months, achieving a 97% listener-through rate.

AI Music Beds Case Study: Dunkin’ Donuts, Tito’s Vodka, and Cox

Using AdsWizz’s Sympaphonic Ad technology, these brands created dynamic music sounds that matched the listener’s context. This technology enhances the ad experience by creating contextual music backgrounds that match the listener’s environment, ensuring a seamless transition from content to ad and maintaining a cohesive and immersive listening experience.

The outcome was significant: a 95% decrease in production time, 238% higher engagement, and 5x greater efficiency compared to standard audio tactics.

   
                                                                         Rohit Agarwal     

SoundCloud Insights

Global Reach and Diversity

SoundCloud’s global community is diverse, comprising creators and fans worldwide. This diversity enriches the platform, making it a fertile ground for emerging music trends and cultural movements.

Opportunities for Brands

Brands have a unique opportunity to connect with Gen Z and other influential groups on SoundCloud. By participating in the community, brands can engage with fans and creators, creating meaningful interactions that extend beyond traditional advertising.

Interactive Features

Features like track commenting and direct messaging allow for real-time feedback and communication between artists and fans. These interactions help artists refine their craft and build a loyal fanbase.

Artist Spotlight: Macon

The final treat of this masterclass was an interview with Macon, the most streamed electronic music artist on SoundCloud in 2023. His journey underscores the platform’s role in artist discovery and growth. Macon emphasized the importance of direct feedback from fans through comments, which helps him understand what resonates with his audience and refine his music accordingly. Additionally, insights from SoundCloud’s fan analytics revealed significant fan bases in countries like Australia and the UK, leading to successful tours and collaborations.

  Aimi Knowling (right) sat down with Bianca Stanescu (center) and Ionut Buha (left) for an interview.

Podcast Interview – Live from OMR 2024!

In between sessions and our MasterClass with SoundCloud, I also had the pleasure to sit down with Bianca Stanescu, Director, Product Marketing at AdsWizz, and Ionut Buha, Product Manager for AudioGo & AudioMatic. This session provided an inside look at AdsWizz’s latest developments, strategies, and future plans.

Day One Reflections: Embracing Audio in the Digital Era

Bianca and Ionut expressed their enthusiasm for the event, underscoring the increasing significance of audio in the marketing mix. They discussed how digital tools enhance customer experiences and emphasized audio’s increasingly strategic and measurable role. The first day at OMR showcased the vibrant energy in audio marketing, reaffirming AdsWizz’s influential presence and innovative contributions.

Key Takeaways: AI and Innovation at the Forefront

Both speakers stressed the significance of AI in transforming the industry. Bianca pointed out that AI, once a buzzword, is now a foundational element of digital tools. AdsWizz has long integrated machine learning and AI for forecasting and contextual targeting capabilities. Ionut added that the industry’s current focus on AI and contextual targeting validates AdsWizz’s efforts and motivates the team to push further.

Future Directions: Dynamic Creatives and Programmatic Audio

Ionut unveiled AdsWizz’s focus on Dynamic Creatives and Synthetic Voice Ads that offer novel and advanced capabilities to demand partners and publishers.

On the podcast front, Bianca announced the launch of the Simplecast Professional Tier, which gives podcasters greater transparency and control over listener experience and monetization by combining the power of Simplecast’s content management tools with AdsWizz’s monetization technology. AdsWizz has also enhanced its Programmatic Guaranteed solutions that boost efficiency and provide a seamless campaign management experience.

Roadmap and Second Half of 2024: Automation and Cookieless Future

AdsWizz is dedicated to leveraging automation and AI to streamline processes for agencies and customers. Bianca and Ionut emphasized the company’s open approach, strengthening partnerships with demand-side platforms (DSPs) and first-party data providers while preparing for a cookieless future. Ionut reinforced this commitment, highlighting ongoing innovation and a focus on customer-centric advancements.

Moving Ahead

OMR 2024 was a highly impactful venue for AdsWizz to showcase our innovative audio technologies and strategic partnerships (i.e., SoundCloud). As we move into the second half of 2024, AdsWizz remains steadfast in our commitment to advancing audio technology, enhancing efficiency, and preparing for a cookieless future.

Did you miss us at the event? Contact us today to learn more about our offerings or to schedule a meeting with our team.

by Aimi Knowling, Senior Manager, Sales Marketing

The post OMR 2024 Recap appeared first on AdsWizz.

One of the most innovative ways for brands to engage audiences is through the widespread consumer adoption of voice assistants.

• 62% of Americans 18+ use a voice assistant on any device, including smart speakers, smartphones, in-car systems, and more.
• 57% of US voice command users use voice commands daily. 
• This year (2022), it’s estimated that 142 million people in the US (42.1%) will use a voice assistant. By 2026, more than half of internet users in the US will utilize a voice assistant.

Voice ads can transform how brands interact with people. Carefully crafted to immerse qualified leads, voice ads lift ad engagement and attention by delivering brand content to the right audience with more immersive yet organic interactions.

So, What Are Voice Ads?

Voice ads are an interactive ad format that facilitates engagement with your audience by starting a conversation they would use to interact with their digital assistant or smart speaker.

A voice ad includes a portion that prompts the listener to utter a particular reply to trigger a specific action (e.g., “Want to find out more about our offer? Say ‘Yes’ after the beep to visit our website”). If a listener says any predefined set of words/phrases during a time interval (the silence period) after the beep, one of four actions will be triggered visit a website, buy a coupon, call a phone number, or play the second part of the Voice Ad.

Voice ads make it possible to engage in a direct conversation with the listener and to target messages according to several criteria, such as time of day, weather, and geographical area. This format creates a memorable experience for listeners and conveys an effective way for advertisers to address multiple advertising objectives.

Voice interaction is gaining more traction and is incorporated into the programmatic audio space. When a digital dialogue starts, a genuine individual relationship with the listeners allows them to choose what transpires next, be it an audio message with more info or a redirect to an offer’s landing page.

What are the Benefits of Voice Ads for Publishers?

Improve eCPM and Revenue

Increase eCPM by attracting more advertisers and brands with innovative ad experiences that shorten the path to conversion.

Safeguard the Listener Experience

Create a positive, personalized user listening experience, improving engagement and attention factors.

Measure and Optimize on a Single Platform

Monetize, measure, and optimize innovative ads on a unified platform with real-time reporting and forecasting.

What Are Some Best Practices for Me and Advertising Partners?

Build a Clear Opening Statement and Concrete Call-To-Action For Audio Creative

A compelling voice ad opens on a theme that grabs the listener’s attention, introduces the problem, presents the solution, and ends with an irresistible call-to-action.

Prepare Listeners to Interact With Their Phones or Watches

Create expectations and do not deliver the entire creative until the listener’s interest has been confirmed (once they say “yes”). The listener controls the delivery of the voice ad or whether the ad will come to a trimmed stop.

Craft Your Voice Ads Campaign With Mobile Audiences in Mind

Voice ads enhance audio ad interactivity and target audiences who interact with their mobile and wearable devices. Making creatives and call-to-action mobile-specific is critical to using the right tools.

Keep In Mind the Extended Configurable Listening Response Time and Input Words or Phrases

Listeners can start replying within the configurable response time window upon hearing a “beep” sound. The creative can contain a “beep” sound and a silence period (Fixed listening window) or not.

Trigger Call-To-Actions on the Supported Mobile Devices

Voice ad interactions with mobile devices depend on the actions the listener can take as a result of a voice reply. Multiple words or phrases can be configured, separated by commas, and any of them will trigger the action if uttered. 

Use the “Place a Call” Action Thoughtfully

If a campaign guides listeners toward placing a call, keep in mind the ring will not be automatically set. The phone/watch voice reply will lead to a prefill of the number, and listeners will have the option to call or cancel. 

Improve Interaction Rates, Engagement, and Attention Factors

Whether publishers want to reach listeners on their favorite players, voice ads deliver the right messages to the right audiences with persuasive and relevant conversations through advanced tools and tech that enrich the audio experience. 

• Click here if you are an AdsWizz partner and want to learn more about voice ads.
  
• Visit the Contact Us page if you are not an AdsWizz partner and want to get in touch with us.
  

by Daniel Einhorn, Senior Manager, Content Marketing

The post Voice Ads, a Primer for Publishers appeared first on AdsWizz.