Audio reaches the masses and drives conversions — whether that’s a visit to an advertiser website or an online purchase. Advertisers and agencies will tell you a lot of thought goes into designing campaigns that will drive the strongest result. And at Audacy, we field a good number of questions around the best ways to maximize audio campaigns — from selecting the best creative, considering endorsements, determining spot length and target audience. Yet, the number one question we hear from advertisers is this: ‘What will work best for my goals – digital audio or over-the-air (OTA) radio?’ Audacy’s recent study now has a clear-cut answer – BOTH.

Advertisers fully invested in audio have long understood that there’s an amplification effect when they deploy a comprehensive audio plan. While there’s some overlap between OTA radio listeners and streaming audiences, there’s a clear extension in reach when both digital and OTA campaigns are ‘turned on’.

Specifically looking into web visitations, this study revealed that digital audio campaign performance was significantly stronger when digital audio was coupled with OTA, relative to when it ran by itself. And the results were consistent across campaigns from multiple industries including home services, ecommerce and financial services.

Purchase is the most critical KPI we track for our advertisers. Brands integrated into Audacy’s attribution platform get to see in near real time how much of their ad-exposed audience completes a purchase. Our study uncovered that multi-channel audio campaigns deliver a stunning average of 55% increase in sales performance. DTC campaigns for supplements exceeded this average with 62% increase in sales conversions. Luxury brands with high average order values also enjoyed 50% increase in sales conversion when we combined digital audio with OTA.

“What we’re seeing is that digital audio campaigns are working harder when broadcast radio is turned on – across the board – whether the goals are web visitation or sales. This highlights the advantage for brands and agencies that implement a multi-channel ‘total audio’ strategy.”  —  Sergei Peysakhov, Sr. Director, Measurement & Insights, Audacy

With data-driven leaders in audio, who have advanced attribution and measurement capabilities, there is more information than ever to inform media decisions. Armed with insights on audio’s amplifying effect, there’s no longer a need for the audio tactic trade-off. For brands and agencies, total audio attribution presents a significant opportunity. Do not just carve out which slice of the overall media budget will go to audio, and stop there. Develop an audio-first strategy. Your existing ad budget will work harder and go further by combining broadcast radio with digital audio.