Digital audio is one of the most engaging and rapidly growing formats in today’s media landscape. Yet, when it comes to ad spend, it remains significantly underrepresented. Despite reaching over 80% of Americans monthly, digital audio commands less than 3% of digital ad budgets.
Why the disconnect? The latest guide from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) sheds light on the issue and offers a practical path forward.
Why Audio Deserves a Bigger Slice of the Budget
Marketers have long known that audio advertising—whether it’s podcasts, streaming platforms, or digital radio—drives results. However, when building Media Mix Models (MMM) to evaluate marketing effectiveness, audio is often overlooked or its value underestimated. That’s mainly because of one issue: inconsistent and incomplete data.
What’s Inside the IAB’s New Guide
To help marketers unlock the full potential of digital audio, the IAB has published a beginner-friendly resource:
“Measuring Digital Audio in Media Mix Models (MMM)”
This guide helps advertisers, agencies, and publishers:
- Understand why MMM inclusion is crucial for audio
- Identify common data gaps that hinder investment
- Standardise input formats across creative, media type, audience, and geography
- Learn how to structure and deliver data to ensure audio is correctly accounted for
- Move beyond anecdotal wins to quantifiable business outcomes
The goal is simple: help audio advertising earn its rightful place in the marketing mix by making it measurable, accountable, and comparable to other channels.
Why This Matters for AdTonos and the Industry
At AdTonos, we’re passionate about helping brands tap into the power of audio—and we believe proper measurement is key to unlocking even greater impact.
As the industry continues to evolve, clear standards and consistent data inputs will empower marketers to make smarter decisions and allocate budget to audio with greater confidence.
Ready to see how audio can be better represented in your next MMM? Download the Guide.
Join the IAB Working Group to help define the future of audio measurement in MMM here.
