When there is a big sales period coming, businesses with small marketing budgets need a strategy that packs a punch but keeps a low cost per acquisition. In this situation, are social media and digital audio the best channels? The statistics would suggest so.

The top two activities people do on their mobile are listening and accessing social media. So, by combining these in marketing plans, businesses increase the chance of positive return.

Why social media and digital audio

Social media is a strong promotional channel because of its reach, appeal, and simplicity; but standing out is difficult. Not only is it crowded with similar businesses targeting similar people, but users are also disengaged and scrolling fast. When digital audio is layered with social. it is addressing these weaknesses and amplifying the campaign. Social and audio will increase the number of memorable occurrences a brand has in a customer's day and opportunities for a sale. And importantly, cost-per-acquisition remains low.

How audio amplifies social

Digital audio includes podcasts, music streaming, and digital radio – all booming formats, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials. Its amplifying effect is a result of less ad clutter, very low ad-skipping, and high audience engagement. This is important because it's the opposite of social media. When we consider podcasts, in particular, consumers are selecting shows based on passions and interests. This increases focused engagement which enhances recall of ads. Spotify states that 81% of listeners have taken action after hearing audio ads during a podcast.

How social supplements digital audio ads

Social media is low cost and has incredible targeting and measurement – a staple in every marketing strategy to build brand affinity and drive sales. On the other hand, audio ad recall is the highest of any channel, more than social, TV, and digital; a Super Listeners 2020 study found that 86% of those surveyed recalled ads they heard on a podcast. This means customer recalls a brand when they see a social post, significantly increasing the likelihood of grabbing attention and triggering a pause for consideration.

How to build a social and audio media plan

• Targeting: With both media, advertisers can target the same people on social and audio. We suggest using social follower analytics and tools to discover customers' interests and use that for contextual genre targeting across audio networks, e.g. technology podcasts, true crime podcasts, etc. There are thousands of podcasts and music genres to pinpoint. But we stress the Goldilocks principle applies here: narrow your audience enough but not too much.
• Launch: Either go live with social and audio at the same time or staggered. A staggered approach will give businesses a good picture of performance with one media vs two. Launching social and audio together will give maximum reach and impact during the campaign period. Audio will work effectively for pre-sale awareness activities too. We suggest not using them in silos. 
• Tracking: Review the analytics as a complete campaign, and social and audio separately – that way, future activity is easier to plan and approve. Audio attribution modeling precisely tracks all relevant actions taken after being exposed to an audio ad. To get this data, ensure your audio partner uses tracking pixels.
• CTA: Consider including social handles in the audio ad creative as the call-to-action or prominently on the landing page. With audio, advertisers will be increasing search numbers helping to boost awareness of the brand as well as capitalizing on listeners' trust in the audio medium.

A simple marketing plan that works

Digital audio is hugely popular and growing day by day; but in the world of advertising, it's new enough (relatively speaking) to be surprisingly underused. A 2021 study by WARC found consumers are spending 31% of their media time with audio, but 25% of brands miss audio off their plan entirely, and those that use it are only allocating 8.8% of their media budget. Brands should seize this chance to dominate a media where competitors aren't. By diversifying the social strategy with audio advertisers can tap into the best way to create a buzz, spark interest, and stand out from the crowd – making each marketing dollar do much more.