TargetSpot Survey Focuses On The Digital Audio Market

New Survey

TARGETSPOT has released the results of its annual "Digital Audio Benchmark and Trend Study." Conducted by PARKS ASSOCIATES, this year's report unveils key new insights about the rapidly growing Digital Audio market, and further illustrates the increasing effectiveness of the platform for brand advertisers to reach and engage audiences. Key findings include the growing role of connected devices in facilitating listening, the increase in social interactions while listening, and gains in advertising recall and response rates among Digital Audio consumers.

Digital Audio Use: A Firmly Established Medium With A Valuable Audience

The survey found "Internet Radio listenership has reached 42% of adult U.S. broadband households, an increase of 8% versus 2011, and this audience is highly desirable. Half are married, 42% are households with children and 64% own their own homes. The Internet Radio listening audience's purchasing power is also on the rise, with 22% having a household income of $100K+, a 29% increase since last year."

"Digital Audio listeners are also highly engaged," noted the report. "80% listen one to three hours per day and 40% listen 1-2 hours per session. Additionally, most listeners change stations multiple times a day to remain connected to their content. This year's data reveals not only that 75% of listeners change stations on the same Internet Radio service at least once a day, but also that nearly two-thirds of listeners change to different Internet Radio websites at least once a day."

"The Interactive Advertising Bureau is excited about TARGETSPOT's 'Digital Audio Benchmark and Trend Study' as it provides extremely valuable insight into consumers' interaction with a medium that is growing at an explosive rate and one which is increasingly important to marketers," said INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING BUREAU VP MICHAEL THEODORE. "These listeners are highly engaged, increasingly social, connected at home, at the gym, in car, and they respond to advertising."

Connected Devices Drive Increased Listening

Connected devices such as tablets and smartphones are facilitating access to content and leading to increased listening. TARGETSPOT's research shows an 87% year-over-year increase in tablet ownership and a 22% jump in ownership of smartphones among Internet Radio listeners. The survey wrote, "Conversely, computer ownership remained flat and basic mobile phone ownership declined. Consumers also showed that they are device-agnostic, wanting access to their Digital Audio content via the most convenient delivery option. As a result they are spending more time listening across multiple devices. Compared to last year, 48% of Digital Audio listeners spend more time listening on their tablets, 44% spend more time listening on computers and 38% spend more time listening on mobile phones."

The research further shows the use of new devices such as connected TVs and in-car Internet Radio players is on the rise and that these are important market segments to watch moving forward. More than one-third of Internet Radio listeners regularly tune in to Digital Audio on a connected TV device and 14% listen on an in-car Internet Radio player.

Of those that have in-car Internet Radio access, more than half (54%) use an Internet Radio player that is built in to the car's audio system and one-third use a portable Internet Radio player with apps built into the device. Additionally, 15% manually connect a smartphone or tablet into the car's device outlet.

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