Why Advertise With Spotify?
Advertising with Spotify is quick and simple for everyone regardless of experience. Spotify has 406 million monthly active users, 406 million people globally listen to Spotify every month.
- 53% of listeners pay more attention to ads on Spotify rather than on the radio.
- 61% of listeners discover new brands and products on Spotify
- Over 60% of listeners say Spotify audio ads help them discover new brands and products.
With this mega audience provided at your fingertips, this means Spotify Ads can enable you to reach more than just your main target audience. There are many ways Spotify Ads can target users, from targeting fans of specific genres of music or podcasts to only targeting specific users who use in-car play and many more.
Spotify Ads Platform
Spotify is considered a self-serve advertising platform. They have a unique simple UI to navigate. This makes it easy for businesses to share their message with millions of listeners globally with not much experience. But you need a minimum of £250 per ad to be able to run campaigns and you must be VAT registered to be eligible to run these ads.
Audio ads are played between songs with a clickable button/image on the device.
On the other hand you have video ads and these can be played between songs or offered as a sponsored session of 30 minutes ad-free play after watching your ad. Image overlays are shown as a clickable ad when users return to the Spotify app for maximum impact.
The Different Spotify Ad Formats
Spotify adverts are split into 4 different formats.
- Audio Ads
- Video Ads
- Podcast Ads
- Custom Experiences
Each format is unique and can make a huge difference in the outcome of your campaign.
Spotify Audio Ads
“Reach active listeners on any device, in any environment, throughout the day. Audio ads are served between songs while there are no distractions — which means listeners are focused on what you have to say.”
Spotify Audio Ads make it easy for you to reach your target audience with personal ads. Because of Spotify’s machine learning algorithm, they are able to gain an in-depth understanding of their listeners, allowing them to help advertisers create ads that enhance the experience rather than interrupt It. Researchers found ads that are played at the right time have a greater impact on listeners. 75% of Spotify listeners say that they remember ads better when they are played between two songs they love.
Audio Ads also allows advertisers to upload their own unique audio but if you don’t have one you are happy with Spotify can make one for you! It’s obviously better to create your own but it is a big help if you want to get the ball rolling.
Spotify Video Ads
“Tap into industry-leading viewability. Video ads are only delivered during a listening session when the user is actively browsing through the catalogue to discover music and podcasts. Which means your ad is guaranteed to be seen and heard.”
Most platforms offer video ads, the default for these are to remain muted unless the user taps the video to enable sound (such as Instagram and Facebook), Spotify Video Ads are different because listeners are engaging while their sound is playing, offering a unique opportunity for your message to be seen and heard without interruption.
That means, there’s no need to restrict your message and rely on visuals or subtitles within the video. You may think people don’t watch videos on Spotify so how is this useful? BUT Spotify only shows a video ad when the user is in what Spotify calls “in-focus” (looking at the app).
Another form of video ad Spotify provides are called Takeover Ads. These ads include a banner with a custom call-to-action button to help engagement. Spotify Takeover ads are delivered during a listening session where users are actively browsing through the catalogue to discover podcasts and music.
Spotify Podcast Ads
“Tell your brand story to millions of free and premium listeners. Podcast ads drive meaningful engagement for advertisers — from brand-building to direct response objectives. And now, it’s easier than ever to get started.”
Spotify Takeover ads are delivered during a listening session where users are actively browsing through the catalogue to discover podcasts and music. But they can be a lot more engaging with listeners as users have an 81% engagement rate on average since January 2022.
They work by displaying a visual ad in the Spotify app when the audio ad begins to play. The cards can be customised very much like audio ads, along with headings and a CTA (call-to-action) button. This is also spotify’s way of making the experience more interactive.
Spotify Custom Experiences
“Looking for something a little more bespoke? Want to make something unique to your brand? Custom ad formats offer brands something that little more special.”
This is the final section we will look into and this is definitely more unique out of all the Spotify Ad formats, Custom experience ads have their own formats and we can briefly look at those now.
Overlay Ads
Your brand can reach more people with ads designed for better viewing. Overlay ads appear when users return to the Spotify app, providing greater brand exposure. The immersive display unit is clickable and drives traffic to your website or app.
Homepage Takeover
The Homepage Takeover ads allows brands to showcase their message on Spotify’s Desktop Homepage for 24 hours. It is a clickable image and supports rich media, allowing brands to add interactive elements to further engage users.
Leaderboard
The Leaderboard ads are clickable and only shown when the Spotify app is visible. This kind of ad is similar to the Overlay ads and is another channel to boost your campaign’s reach. Please note that your Spotify Ad will only be shown for 30 seconds.
Conclusion
Spotify is a rich platform with loads of potential to target users based on location, what kind of app they use, who they listen to, what genre they listen to and what podcast they listen to. It gets really deep and specific to ensure your ad is being shown to the right people, spotify is one of the best companies for knowing their users interests so this AI applies to the advertisements shown as well.
Overall advertising on Spotify is a great way to get your message on a premium platform at either a local, national or international level. It can open up a massive audience opportunity to grow your brand and reach new potential conversions. There is a minimum spend of £250 per campaign and you need to be VAT registered which can be a pain for smaller businesses and creators, musicians and more. Here at Optimyzd, we want to help make our clients business thrive so we are now offering Spotify Advertising services so smaller businesses and clients can have the opportunity to advertise on such a huge platform.
If you have any questions regarding Spotify Ads please do not hesitate to get in touch.
