The digital age has allowed businesses to thrive like never before. It has allowed for new and innovative ways for business owners to market their business. In the past 10 years, more businesses are jumping onto the digital wagon. Who can blame them? Taking your marketing digitally allows you to reach customers that you never would’ve been able to traditionally. The reach that marketing campaigns such as email marketing, PPC, display advertising, and more have brought on a new age of marketing.
The ever-evolving digital landscape has given businesses a wealth of platforms to choose from when it comes to advertising. The most popular platforms to advertise on being social media ones. There is a recent platform that is beginning to accept ads and has everyone asking – is it worth it? That platform, of course, being Spotify. Business owners are questioning whether investing in Spotify ads is worth the money and time. Today, we’re going to give you a look at Spotify pros and cons to see if it’s right for your advertising strategy.
Pros
Access to a Large Audience
One of the greatest benefits of advertising on Spotify is the large amount of users on the platform. The more users a platform has, the better it is for you. This means the potential audience you can reach is increased as well. More audience members mean a higher rate of conversions.
Furthermore, according to a report by Statista, Spotify managed to increase its user base to well over 381 million active users in the 3rd quarter of 2021. This number has risen in recent years. 83 million of these users are premium subscribers. Which mean they do not pay for ads. However, there are over 250 million that are free users.
This large and free user base is what you will want to focus your advertising efforts on. Spotify can be a good advertising channel due to this. It is one of the most popular digital radio platforms out there. If you can harness the power of Spotify’s audience, you’ll be ahead of the competition.
Free Users Have to Listen to Ads
As previously mentioned, free Spotify users have to listen to your ads play while they’re using this platform. They do not have the option to skip ads. This means that as long as they are listening to their favorite songs and podcasts, you can prime access them. This is a fantastic situation to be in.
The reason that this is such a great advantage for your business is plain to see. Other mobile apps or websites allow users to scroll past your ads or hit the “Skip Ad” button after five seconds. Spotify is great for that constant stream of exposure to your ads. In addition, It can lead to fantastic brand recognition.
Multitasking
Spotify allows for users to simultaneously use other apps or browse the internet without having to close itself out. No interruptions to Spotify are a great advantage for your business to utilize for several reasons. One of these reasons is that users can enjoy their other tasks. In addition, Spotify will keep playing music and so will your audio ads.
This is fantastic because other apps such as YouTube will pause or close out when users move away from the app. YouTube may be the most popular option in the world when it comes to streaming music. However, this is a big disadvantage because of its ability to multitask. Spotify users spend an average of 25 hours a month on the platform. That’s a lot of time for your ads to reach potential customers.
Cons
Limited Potential for Geotargeting
If your business relies heavily on local customers, this may not be the best platform to advertise on. Unfortunately, Spotify doesn’t offer detailed local targeting. Their alternative to this is for advertisers to try different targeting methods.
These targeting methods are rather limited. Spotify has you group your audiences by by country, state, region or designated market area (DMA). The thing to remember here is that businesses with a wide variety of products may find themselves struggling on targeting.
Conversions can be Rare for Certain Verticals
If you are a business that has multiple stages before finalizing purchases, Spotify may not work for you. The more involved your checkout process is, the less likely your customers will convert from your audio ads. This is because Spotify users listen to this streaming content while driving, working out, cooking, showering, and more.
The bottom line is that it just won’t be convenient for them to listen to your ad and follow all the steps involved in your offer while they’re multitasking. If it takes more than a minute or two, then they’re gone. However, branding awareness campaigns are going to be a better alternative for you rather than trying to engage them in direct sales.
Ads Studio Can be Limited
Spotify Ads Studio is their platform for businesses to create their own ads. It’s great to use if you’re a small business or are just testing out digital radio advertising for the first time. However, there are drawbacks to this ad platform.
The first thing to take note of is that you cannot create custom audiences from CRM data or an import. This isn’t favorable for businesses that know their audiences and have specific metrics they want to track. Furthermore, you can’t reach premium Spotify users.
As stated earlier, these users pay for the ability to skip your ads. Finally, if you are not an approved advertiser, clearly promoting the artist(s) or an event in which they are performing, you can’t target fans of specific artists.
Conclusion
Spotify has had a lot of ups and downs when it comes to advertising. However, its unique features, and wide variety of price points, could make it a viable platform for businesses to utilize. The important thing is to way the benefits and downsides that Spotify offers with your business’ advertising strategy to see if it’s a fit. If you need any help or need any of the services we discussed today, visit us at: https://anytimedigitalmarketing.com/ to see how we can help you to grow your business.
