Advertisers should use more than 3 channels in their media buying mix for the most effective return on investment in their ad campaigns.

A recent study by the Interactive Marketing Bureau (IAB) urged brands to “be bold” and look beyond the crowded, easy to place “lower funnel” of website advertising, to include less cluttered channels, including audio. For better outcomes advertisers should consider ROI, not just “channel performance” for their advertising mix, the study recommended.

With the increasing range of audio channels available, there is scope for more ad spend on podcasts, music streaming and live to air radio streaming, as well as emerging opportunities via smart speakers.

In 2023, PWC reported that the world wide media advertising spend was $23.7 billion. 4.7% of that was on audio (Radio advertising delivered on terrestrial and internet radio plus advertising delivered through podcasts) and an additional 1.1% was spent on advertising in music streaming services. Music streaming services are largely subscription based, with only their free tier carrying advertising.

“There is a strong case to be made for a combined multi-channel approach to drive campaign effectiveness, as ROI increases by up to 35% where multiple channels are run in tandem,” says the study, which uses a range of data sources, including PWC’s Entertainment & Media Outlook, Kantar’s Marketing Effectiveness Playbook, Nielsen Annual Marketing Report and others.

Kantar has found that “42% of campaign performance comes from synergies, that is the additive campaign effects attributable to people being exposed to ads in more than one channel.”

Nielsen data reveals that “channels may be strong for only one objective, [so] a cross-media approach that understands the correlation between channels and outcomes is critical in media planning” for both sales and brand building.”

The study also recommends consistent advertising if your aim is to build a brand. “Nielsen has found that it takes three to five years of solid and consistent brand-building effort to recover from extended periods of not advertising.”

Advertisers should also consider where the ad is placed. “An ad’s environment has a dramatic impact on how people react to the ad.” Those who work in audio know that engaged audiences are likely to pay more attention to ads when they are have chosen to listen to compelling audio content.

It is not just audio, credible, responsible news environments are also effective at selling advertising if they are trusted information suppliers.  “Credible news media environments demonstrated strong attributes (timely, connected and trustworthy) that can do some of the heavy lifting for advertising messaging by supplying these ready-made attributes in the minds of consumers.”

The quality of the creative is also important, but it must be tailored to each medium. Integrated campaigns across various media increase “memory encoding” if they are done well.

“Neuroscience data proves Memory Encoding (an input metric) can often be 15-20% stronger when multi-channel creative uses the right Iconic Trigger within creative… Small, subtle increases in creative inputs (Memory Encoding) often become very large effects in ROI terms. This is why creative is often quoted as a huge factor in ROI terms and why distinctive creative assets are so important to multi- channel architecture. When thinking multi-channel, think of the crucial role of ‘creative glue’.”

Campaigns that get this right average 57% better brand performance than those that are not well integrated and customised, says the report.

“When marketers create a unified strategy that ties together campaigns from multiple media channels, it creates opportunities for more impactful messages and greater brand effectiveness and ROI,” the study concludes. This research is consistent with Mark Ritson’s ‘Ultimate Sidekick’ analysis of radio advertising and also the earlier CRA research that ‘radio and internet advertising just click.’

Nielsen Research into combined campaigns show that just placing Brand only advertising is not as effective as other channels, but that radio is highly effective for Sales advertising. Combining both Brand and Sales Ad Campaigns on radio is above average for effectiveness. The most effective single channels for brand building are social media, digital display ads on websites and linear tv.

The study also explores the effectiveness of advertising in podcasts, with an example showing that funny segments get more engagement, as do the parts of a true crime podcast that make the listener try to figure out who is the killer.

“IAB’s Crime Pays study “found that the unique attributes of the podcast audience and the neuro-state of podcast content is powerfully transferred to the advertising placed in it. Ad creative that matches the mood, mindset and motivations of different podcast genre listeners can reinforce brand memorability to impact consumer decision-making and change behaviour. Second-by-second measurement of neuro memory encoding, comparing the same ad creative placed in both a True Crime podcast and an Entertainment podcast, shows different branding moments that are likely to impact future behaviour.”

What can marketers do to elevate their brand through multi-channel advertising excellence?

• Don’t wait out tough economic conditions by continuing heavily skewed investment towards performance channels, it’s time to rebalance budget across the funnel.
• Figure out the right mix for end-to-end advertising messaging, balancing conversion-focused initiatives with long-term, brand building needs.
• Work out the right mix that optimises ROI and brand benefits from multi- channel campaigns, rather than concentrating investment in one or few channels.
• Use the tools available to understand how audiences engage with media, audience overlaps and unduplicated reach and how to drive incremental reach cost efficiently.
• Match ad creative to the ‘neurostate’ of the surrounding environment to optimise effectiveness and leverage the psychological attributes of an environment.
• Develop creative that is integrated and customised to each channel to enable exposures across media to work together in an additive fashion to provide a true media multiplier effect.
• Measure the holistic impact of all advertising investment across channels by integrating and combining tried and tested methods and metrics.

The full IAB study, which includes case studies, is available here