30 June, 2021

Spotify Audience Network Expands To Australia, UK And Canada

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By B&T Magazine

Following a successful US launch of the Spotify Audience Network in April, Spotify is taking its audio-first advertising marketplace on the road. The network will now be available to advertisers and Megaphone publishers in Australia, Canada and the UK as of 29 June.

Within three months of launch, nearly 60 per cent of Spotify’s US podcast advertiser base is advertising with the Spotify Audience Network with advertisers like Volkswagen and Saks having taken advantage of this new offering.

The company introduced the Spotify Audience Network at Stream On in February.

The Spotify Audience Network is an audio-first advertising marketplace that makes it possible for advertisers of all sizes to connect with listeners across a broad range of content on- and off-Spotify, including Spotify Originals & Exclusives and content from third-party Megaphone publishers.

With the Spotify Audience Network, advertisers have a broad range of easy-to-use, audience-based targeting tools including demographic targeting, geographic targeting, and even audience segment targeting. Advertisers can reach highly engaged, targeted audiences within podcasts both on- and off-Spotify.

Today, the network includes the audiences listening to podcasts from its four studios (Spotify Studios, The Ringer, Gimlet, Parcast) and leading third-party podcast publishers like ViacomCBS and the Wall Street Journal. Local publishers part of the network include Girlboss (CA) and adelicious (UK).

Since the April launch of the Spotify Audience Network, the company has been able to extend the reach and scale of marketers’ Spotify campaigns with the addition of Megaphone publisher content.

Kimberly Gardiner, SVP of Marketing at Volkswagen said: “Podcasts have been on our radar for some time, however, the lack of audience targeting has largely restricted us from investing in the space. We are excited to have recently partnered with Spotify to launch our first podcast advertising campaign ever, leveraging the Spotify Audience Network to drive awareness and consideration for our first electric vehicle, the Volkswagen ID.4.”

Of note for Podcast Publishers, Megaphone podcast publishers who opt in to the network have seen meaningful improvement in their ability to monetize. Opted-in podcast publishers have seen fill rates increase by over +10 per cent, CPMs increase by over +40 per cent, while the number of unique advertisers in their content is increasing, with some publishers seeing that number double.

Cathy Csukas, CEO of AdLarge Media, added: “It is paramount to us that the advertising in our podcast networks complements the content, providing an optimal listening journey and user experience while also generating revenue. The Spotify Audience Network has truly been additive to our usual monetization efforts, helping to boost revenue across all our shows in our podcast ad sales network while serving quality ads at scale that maintain our podcast listening standard.”

As the company explores how to make podcast advertising easier to buy, evolving the podcast ad experience, and working with podcast publishers and creators to improve their monetization — there will be more updates to come.

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