It's Time Marketers Hear the Truth About Audio

Misconceptions about audio could leave brands missing out on a valuable medium

May. 2025: Tammy Greenberg SVP Business Development, RAB

Audio consumption has seen significant growth in recent years due to an expanding landscape. With consumers turning to audio for the convenience that it provides - allowing them to multitask - and the plethora of content to suit all moods and needs, it may be no surprise that WARC reports audio has grown significantly faster than media consumption overall, across demographics. However, there is a significant gap in the investments marketers allocate to audio versus other media. WARC projected that, by 2024, audio would account for 24.5 percent of all ad-supported media consumption but only 8.4 percent of ad investments. The disparity between engagement with audio and investment in audio is profound.

The ad-supported audio industry is comprised of broadcast AM/FM radio, digital audio/streaming, and podcasts, with broadcast radio accounting for 68 percent of time spent in a typical hour, according to an analysis of Edison Research "2024 Share of Ear" data by iHeartMedia. Yet broadcast radio garners just 4.6 percent of ad investment, per WARC.

While radio is the clear audio industry leader, misperceptions about the medium are pervasive among the marketing and advertising community, and that is preventing brands not currently using radio from experiencing the results it can provide to their bottom line.

The truth behind listening and engagement begins here:

1. Radio Listeners Pay Close Attention

The most prevalent misbelief about radio is that no one listens anymore. In August 2024, Advertiser Perceptions asked media agencies and advertisers what percentage of Americans they thought AM/FM radio reaches in a typical week. The response: 46 percent. The reality, according to Nielsen Audio RADAR data from December 2024, is 80 percent - a far cry from the perception. This correlates with an ongoing RAB Audio Pulse Poll, where ANA client-side marketer members have been asked how important reach is to their brand media strategies. Ninety-nine percent indicate "important" or "very important," but only 31 percent are aware that broadcast radio is America's No. 1-reaching medium that can fulfill reach goals.

Audio is also the medium that garners the most attention. Not only does audio achieve a 128 percent stronger score than television in Dentsu's 2023 "Attention Economy Study," as reported in Ad Age, but AM/FM radio is eight times more cost effective than TV and 11 times more cost efficient than Dentsu's all-media "attention cost per thousand" benchmark.

2. Radio Listening Measurement Is Held to the Strictest Standards

With more media options available to consumers than ever before, content consumption is increasingly fragmented. Consumers swipe, snip, chat, view, and listen for shorter periods of time than they ever have before. Measurement of digital media has adapted to reflect today's consumer behavior while broadcast radio has been held to a higher standard. For example, on social sites such as TikTok, Snapchat, and X (formerly Twitter), an impression requires the user to see or hear just two seconds of an ad with at least 50 percent of it in view; on broadcast radio the Nielsen standard for years was five minutes within a 15-minute window.

Nielsen Audio in January 2025 revised the listening qualifier in its 48 electronically measured markets to a three-minute listening occasion (the average length of a song). Though still a higher standard than all other media, most especially digital, this is a positive shift for audio and for radio. On average, Nielsen Audio projects the impact will be a one-time 24 percent increase in listening audience and impressions as it creates a new benchmark.

The benefits and opportunities that this measurement change brings to marketers will strengthen radio's performance in media mix models and attribution measurement through its increased data granularity. The change opens insight-driven targeting opportunities across dayparts and genres, which will help marketers further engage desired, highly attentive audiences at the right place and time.

3. Radio Drives Outcomes Across Platforms

While some marketers may question audio's effectiveness, citing its perceived weakness in delivering campaign KPIs due in part to its fragmented nature, concrete evidence is created every day by the radio industry. As WARC reports, the medium delivers the attributes that brands need most: high levels of reach, attention, targetability, and full-funnel impact.

The attribution solutions of audio measurement providers have come a long way. Naturally, methodologies vary by platform, with each requiring an approach suited to the form in which advertising content is delivered, a point on which providers of attribution methodology concur in the RAB's 2023 Audio Attribution report. Marketers have come to rely on the embedded pixel that has the capability to collect information and follow a consumer from exposure to action. Marketers are also aware that multimedia exposure significantly impacts the purchase journey, and actions can't be isolated or fully attributed as a straight line. By combining pixel tracking with systems from companies such as Claritas, Veritone, and ArtsAI, brands can now match audio ad exposure to online and in-store conversion.

The bottom line is that radio is a full-funnel solution. As demonstrated across industries through a series of Nielsen Commspoint Influence Reports, radio delivers even greater impact when part of a total audio plan. In fact, a multitude of RAB-owned case studies show radio is an amplifier of other media and can drive significant ROI.

4. Listeners Can See the Brand with Radio

There is a widespread belief in marketing that visual assets are essential to effective communication. The root of the perception, according to John Fix, a 27-year veteran of Procter & Gamble, is in how marketers presume consumers absorb information. In a 2024 blog post for Westwood One, Fix writes: "Brands are afraid that audio may not create awareness for new products because there is a belief that it is hard to talk about a product that consumers have not seen. The fear is that awareness may not translate to identifying the product at the point of sale." In his post, Fix offers practical steps that marketers can take to use audio effectively in product promotion. In summary, he writes: "Audio can help your brand become 'easy to mind, easy to find.'"

Audio best practices stress the importance of branding and conveying the benefit of the product. This framework lays out how to make the brand physically identifiable and appealing to consumers.

But new technologies are helping to push audio beyond the "theater of the mind." For example, audio advertising technology company Quu can help advertisers bring companion visuals to their AM/FM ads in the listener's vehicle. In fact, through a partnership between Quu and GeoBroadcast Solutions, advertisers can target in-dash visuals to a specific location based on where the vehicle is driving. According to Westwood One, two-thirds of heavy AM/FM radio listeners say they are likely to take advantage of sales and deals displayed on the radio display, and case studies for brands that are using Quu technology show positive results in awareness, engagement, and purchase intent, Westwood One reports.

For Marketers, It's Time to Tune In

From broadcast to podcast, audio commands the consumer's attention. It is a highly measurable medium, one that can reliably pour consumers and prospects through a brand's funnel - in conjunction with other media or on its own - and can adapt to the technology of the day. With misperceptions about the medium turned on their ear, the value audio can bring to a brand's marketing mix should ring loud and clear.

The time is now to question perceptions and explore what audio can do to drive bottom-line results.

The RAB is a partner in the ANA Thought Leadership Program.

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