The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Australia's Audio State of the Nation Report has revealed that 90% of agencies utilised audio advertising in 2023, with 83% including streaming digital audio advertising as a significant or regular part of their activity.

According to the findings, around two thirds of agencies plan to increase their investment in digital audio advertising over the coming year, including streaming audio (61%) and podcasts (64%). Sophisticated targeting and personalisation, standardised measures of incremental reach, attribution, cross-platform effectiveness, and improving programmatic supply were identified as the greatest opportunities for audio digital advertising growth. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to generate content and ads was also an area of interest.

The report, a collaborative industry project supported by 15 different media and tech companies, as well as industry body Commercial Radio & Audio, collected 219 survey responses from the advertising buy-side including media, creative and digital agencies, agency trading desks and brands/companies that buy advertising in December 2023.

IAB Australia CEO, Gai Leroy, said: "Over the last 12 months, digital audio and podcasting has been one of the fastest growing areas of the digital advertising ecosystem and the results in the latest Audio Advertising State of the Nation Report indicate that this will continue throughout 2024. With buyers appreciating the complementary nature of audio with other digital opportunities, we are likely to see digital being increasingly included in omni-channel campaigns and welcoming a range of new advertisers to the power of audio advertising."

Brand building was the dominant campaign objective for media agencies using digital audio advertising (87% using streaming audio and 80% using podcast advertising for brand awareness). Fewer buyers use audio advertising for lower funnel activities such as increasing sales or conversions (33% for streaming and 30% for podcast).

Audience attention and engagement was seen to be the key driver for audio investment (62%), followed by incremental reach (52%) and ability to complement other media (50%). Eight in ten media agencies commonly buy digital audio advertising in combination with other media, most often with other digital display advertising (including digital video).

IAB Audio Council co-chair and Triton Digital's Director of Marketing Development (APAC), Richard Palmer, said: "There's no doubt the future sounds good for audio digital with most advertisers now consistently considering digital audio advertising to reach highly engaged audiences. I look forward to the IAB Audio Council's continued collaboration to help the industry make the most of these opportunities in creative, privacy compliant and effective ways."