Spotify has become one of the most popular music apps with over 381 million monthly active users. This makes it a great platform for brands to reach millions of people around the world. If you are looking to attract customers in a unique and personal way, try Spotify ads.
You may not think of Spotify as one of your primary options for advertising, but you can think of it as an updated alternative to a traditional channel like radio since it has now become an effective app for streaming music and podcasts.
This article will inform you about everything you need to know about advertising in Spotify including the 3 important reasons why you should create them, the 4 common ad types you can create, and 5 great examples of successful Spotify ad campaigns.
3 Important Reasons Why You Should Create Spotify Ads
1. Spotify boasts a large number of monthly active listeners.
When you advertise with Spotify, you will be able to reach not just the people in your specific area or country, but even all of the millions of users around the world.
Spotify currently has around 381 million users right now which means that there are 381 million people in the world that listen on Spotify at least once every month.
Because of this high number of people you can communicate with, you will have a great chance to convert them into potential customers when you decide to create your own Spotify ads.
2. Users on Spotify Free expect ads and do not mind listening to them.
Spotify users are divided into two main categories which are Spotify Free users and Spotify Premium users. For users that are on a premium subscription, they get the benefit of higher sound quality, offline listening, and an ad-free experience.
This means that the Spotify free users who will receive your ads already expect them because they know that having a free subscription means that they will have to receive ads.
Knowing this is a great advantage because you are assured that these people who will see and listen to your ads will be more receptive than the usual consumer.
It also helps that nearly 60% of listeners say that they pay more attention to ads that they hear on Spotify than on the radio.
3. Spotify gives you effective tools to measure the performance of your Spotify ads.
Another compelling reason you should create Spotify ads is that Spotify provides you with an effective platform that tracks and measures your ads on their app which is called Ad Studio.
When you use Spotify’s Ad Studio, you can have access to real-time reporting of all of your ads. These reports will include a summary of your ad campaign like your target audience, budget, and start and end dates.
It also gives you detailed metrics like ad delivery metrics which show ads served, reach frequency, and completion rates as well as performance metrics like clicks, click-through rates, and quartile completion rates.
4 Common Ad Types That You Can Create on Spotify
1. Audio Ads
Audio ads are the most common and the most popular ads in Spotify which give you the opportunity to reach active listeners in any type of environment throughout the day.
Spotify Free listeners get these ads in between songs and will never show up in the middle of a song. This means that you are assured of attentive and focused listeners when your ad plays.
What makes these ads effective is that they will always be delivered at the right moments where Spotify thinks that the listeners are at their most receptive.
According to Spotify, 75% of listeners have an easier time remembering ads when the ads are aware of the moment or setting.
2. Video Ads
While the video ads you may make on other platforms are designed to accommodate muted viewing, most listeners on Spotify will be able to watch your video ads with sound on.
This makes Spotify ads even more valuable because your target customers will be able to hear and understand what your message is without any subtitles.
The two types of video ads you can create on Spotify right now are Video Takeover Ads and Sponsored Sessions.
Video Takeover Ads run when Spotify users go through music catalogues and are viewing the screen directly so these ads will only be shown when the screen is in view.
Sponsored Sessions are video ads that users can view which allows them to unlock 30 minutes of ad-free listening.
3. Display Ads
The display ads that you can have for Spotify are similar to the display ads that you can see on other websites and platforms which are often delivered by Google Ads.
Your display ad on Spotify will be shown for 30 seconds and will usually be seen at the top of the Spotify browser. Spotify also makes sure not to overlay any of your display ads over other advertising.
When someone clicks on your display ad, it will take them through to the landing page of your choice which could be your product page, social media accounts, or your eCommerce website.
4. Sponsored Playlists
Sponsoring any of the popular playlists on Spotify can be a great way for you to maximise your brand awareness. These ads will run on both the desktop and the mobile versions of Spotify.
You would want to integrate your brand seamlessly to these playlists by making the playlist as natural as possible. Carefully choose a list of songs that your target customers love so they can positively associate these with your brand.
Need to create a Spotify ad? Check our services here
5 Great Examples of Successful Spotify Ad Campaigns
1. Google
Google partnered with Spotify to promote their new B2B show called the Think With Google Podcast which targeted engaged audiences of business-focused listeners.
Google’s team made use of Spotify’s audio and display ads to introduce the new podcast and push listeners to stream it on the app.
They were able to get a 17 percentage point increase in awareness of the podcast and a 16 percentage point increase in recall for their ads on Spotify.
You can learn more about this campaign here: Google gets their B2B podcast heard by tuned-in business listeners.
2. Adidas
Adidas wanted to promote their Nite Jogger shoes on Spotify by building a campaign that reflected the night just like their shoes did.
Spotify and Adidas created a custom digital experience with entertaining data visualisations to their listeners. Each visualisation is unique to a user’s listening habits on Spotify.
There were over 150,000 nocturnal playlists created for nighttime runners and the custom Nite Jogger experience saw nine million unique users.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvzdpMpgz_w
You can learn more about this campaign here: Streaming the night with Adidas.
3. LinkedIn
LinkedIn wanted to promote their online video course offering called LinkedIn Learning to business professionals on Spotify that are in between the ages of 21-45.
LinkedIn’s campaign had aspirational ads which encouraged audiences to stay motivated amid a constantly changing working world. It featured videos with an optimistic tone and an upbeat copy which positively encouraged listeners.
LinkedIn was able to get a 19 percentage point lift in recall of their Spotify ads and also saw a 10 percentage point increase in awareness of LinkedIn Learning.
You can learn more about this campaign here: LinkedIn inspires listeners to boost skills and achieve professional goals.
4. Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut wanted to attract new customers while still engaging with their current customers like parents, soccer fans, and gaming enthusiasts. They wanted to stay top-of-mind for specific moments like game days and when gamers need a quick meal.
Since Pizza Hut acknowledges that a lot of their target audience is also on Spotify, they created attention-grabbing audio ads that simulated the noise of a game day crowd and delivered their messaging of value deals and delivery via voiceover of a professional sportscaster.
This campaign was able to give Pizza Hut a click-through rate of 0.23% from sports fans and a huge 0.57% click-through rate from parents and gamers which is significantly higher than the usual CTR benchmark of 0.06%.
You can learn more about this campaign here: Pizza Hut serves up game-day hype with immersive audio.
5. Samsung
Samsung wanted to give tech-savvy mothers the best Mother’s Day and also drive awareness and consideration of their devices for families that are shopping for gifts.
Samsung’s “Mom First” campaign aimed to drive awareness and consideration which ensured that Samsung products like smartphones, watches, and earbuds were top-of-mind gifts for mothers on Mother’s Day. They created targeted audio ads to reach important segments like husbands, gift givers, and adults with children.
Samsung was able to receive a 9 percentage point increase in Samsung gift consideration and there was also an increase of people who are proud to own a Samsung device by 8 percentage points.
You can learn more about this campaign here: Samsung dials up Mother’s Day gift consideration for the whole family.
Hopefully, knowing all of this information about Spotify Ads will inspire you to create your own ads on Spotify. If you need any help in creating video ads and display ads, then our team at VideoBlast can help you out. With VideoBlast, you can have access to custom visual content and videos that are made especially for your business.