Audio is by no means a novelty. But with the rise in popularity of podcasts, online music streams, and voice-activated technology, it looks like it’s going to be THE channel everyone talks about this year. 

According to The Drum, we can expect several audio trends marketers should watch for:

  • Radio has seen a huge comeback, hitting a revenue record in the UK last year. It presents lots of opportunities for advertisers and should be considered as a strong element of the overall marketing strategy.
  • Podcasts have been all the rage lately, the listening rates rising. But what’s more, according to research, 76% of listeners have followed up on an ad, and revenues from programmatic ads have seen a huge increase.
  • Streaming services keep growing with nearly 200 million people tuning in to Spotify every month, half of them listening to ads in the free version. Other services like Soundcloud or Pandora offer private programmatic ad marketplaces, allowing advertisers to reach precisely defined targets.
  • Voice-activated technology has been considered the most important trend this year, with still a lot to come. Smart speaker sales are continuously rising, and ComScore’s research predicts that by 2020, the voice will make up 50% of the online search volume.

To learn more about the trends, read this article on The Drum.