November 16, 2023

Your Creative Cheat Codes

By Audacy Insights Team

Fast-Track Your Audio Ad Wins With These Five Creative Tips

Even the most creative advertisers need a little boost sometimes. And when it comes to Audio ads, where you can score the most listeners and the highest engagement, creativity counts.

When you’re ready to ramp up your game—and who isn’t?!—check out these tips from Audacy’s commercial production pros to help develop creative that drives the best performance.

Great ads are built like the perfect puzzle.

When it comes to ad length, :30s are one of the most popular ad options. They’re long enough to hold interest, and not long enough to become background noise. And it’s built on just three pillars: the hook, the pitch, and the call to action.

DISSECTING A 30-SECOND AD

THE HOOK

How do you grab attention? With a question! Or a claim, or anything that makes the listener want to stay and hear more. And when it comes to brand mentions, promote yourself early and often.

THE PITCH

Keep the momentum going with a focus on innovation, savings, or whatever makes your message worth hearing—and your brand worth buying.

CALL TO ACTION

Ask for the sale, the web or in-person visit, the phone call—then make it easy for the listener to make it happen.

Mention your brand
in the first :03 – :05

–

4+ brand mentions

When ads contain four or more brand mentions, purchase intent rises by 4%.

Sound design is on point.

Go ahead—get your DJ groove on, and queue up the perfect song for your ad. But don’t stop there. Take your Audio storytelling further layered sound design—think people laughing, cars racing, waves crashing—that resonate emotionally and connect listeners with your message.

This ad invites you to mentally whisk yourself to a beach in Los Cabos—and actively consider booking your next visit.

Winning ads put us in a good mood.

Introduce upbeat voices. Tell a story with a happy ending. Offer comic relief. Make ‘em laugh. That’s how you use your Audio ad to go beyond grabbing attention to create strong emotional connections and drive higher ad recall and purchase intent.

Ad assets recently tested found:

50%

The top 50% of assets with the highest relevance score on average scored 15% higher on intent

50%

The top 50% of assets with the highest likability score on average scored 12% higher on intent

50%

The top 50%of assets with the highest score for trustworthiness scored 4.6% higher on intent

Source: Veritonic Analysis, 2022

Sonic branding FTW.

It’s all in the details. Sound logos, brand anthems, and taglines may feel secondary, but these elements of sonic branding comprise a primary driver of how your listeners feel about your brand, and how they decide if they’re going to buy from your brand. So keep them consistent and consistently interesting.

A word to the wise: Your message matters.

What you say, and how you say it, matters. Here are some best practices in production and script creation.

Voiceover. Work the crowd by having your own small crowd—of voices. It’s not about a male voice or a female voice—in Audio ads, a dialogue among multiple voices, regardless of gender, works best to hold attention. Bonus—it also increases recall by 10%.
Creative rotation. One good Audio ad is good, but having two to four creatives in your Audio arsenal gives you significantly more opportunities to connect with your audience in ways that matter to them.
Personalization. Go where your audience is, whether that’s mentioning their town or playing the music that’s their jam.
Platform. Radio ads should capture distracted listeners’ attention—but podcast ads should simply blend in with the hosts and stories engaged listeners love.

Want to know more about how to level up your Audio advertising? Check out our latest State of Audio guide.