For musicians, bands, record labels and publishers, audio ads provide a fairly obvious fit for reaching existing fans, and engaging new ones. Simply put, they are powerfully impactful. Add games into that mix, and the potential is phenomenal.

At AudioMob, that’s something we’ve seen first hand. Working with Warner Music Group to serve our unique audio ad format to promote one of their artists within mobile games has given us reliable data that demonstrates just how significant that impact can be. In Warner’s case, using AudioMob’s audio ads to promote Joel Corry’s recent single saw a relative 1000%+ increase in CTR when compared to results delivered through banner ads alone. We’ll return to the nuance behind that statistic later in this article. Before that, let’s consider the basics.

The reason audio ads work well for musicians is, of course, about sound. From teasing a new album to sharing a forthcoming single, audio ads deliver the product itself - or a taste of it - directly to consumers. Rather than tell you how great a new track might be, an audio ad lets listeners hear it for themselves. And as the game and music mediums enjoy a cultural and commercial crossover that is reshaping the way both sectors engage with fans - see last year’s Travis Scott gig in Fortnite that attracted 12 million players - audio ads placed in mobile titles provide a perfect blend of audiences, artforms, branding, reach and impact.

In case you’re not familiar with how our audio ads for games work, you can read an accessible overview here.

FOCUS AND SCALE
2.5 billion people globally are now understood to play mobile games. But audience size alone isn’t the only opportunity here. Audio ads that can be placed in games can be precisely targeted. If your rising artist needs reach, audio ads in games provide that capably. But if you’re keen to target a particular demographic in a particular location, we can do that too.

When Warner Music Group deployed the AudioMob format, they went with the latter. The longstanding music industry powerhouse was looking to promote the Corry single Head & Heart, featuring MNEK. And they had a very specific demographic in mind; those based in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Miami regions that fall in the 18-to-20, 21-to-29 and 30-to-39-year-old age brackets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRuOOxF-ENQ

Our ad technology can in fact target users based on many factors, including location, age, gender, mobile device and network, the content of the host app, and particular days and times. And that’s true whether a brand wants to focus on a broad criteria (perhaps a whole country) or a narrow field (such as a single post or zip code).

Having made their targeting choices, Warner opted to use our ‘audio banner ads’ format, which sees audio ads complimented by a small interactive visual element displayed on screen without interfering with gameplay. A click on that element pointed US mobile users to a landing page for the single, featuring streaming links.

INSIDE THE 1000% RELATIVE CTR LIFT
From the inception of our company we’ve always believed our approach to mobile ads could deliver results that capably trump established in-game advertising options. Actually seeing it happen - bringing Corry and his brand a significant amount of attention - has been remarkably rewarding. For Warner, meanwhile, it’s provided something a little more concrete than a good feeling - data that speaks to the success of their audio ad campaign.

The audio banners used to promote Corry’s single enjoyed a click-through rate of 3.19%. Considering that traditional visual-only banners tend to attract 0.01%-to-0.3% click-throughs, 3.19% is toweringly high. The bounce rate of users leaving the landing page website without further interaction, meanwhile, was encouragingly low at 0.3%. Using AudioMob also gave Warner useful feedback on where potential audiences lie, seeing that  casual mobile games like Wordscapes delivered the best results.

So, even if we consider the higher end of a typical banner ads potential, we can see that 1000%+ increase in click-throughs - or 1063.33%, if you want the precise figure. The opportunity in in-game audio ads for those in the music sector is clearly monumental.

Serving musical artists and their industry has always been at the front of our minds. We’re a team with a lifelong passion not just for games, but for music, and even its production. The coming together of music and games is part of the DNA of our company, our team and our technology.

So if you’d like to speak to us to about how our in-game audio ads can help with the next music project you’re involved in - whether you’re an artist, label executive, agent, marketer or anyone else - please do get in touch via contact@audiomob.io