Pandora focuses on shorter ads and more personalisation

Music streaming service Pandora announced three advertising formats to help marketers target users better, and explained how ads of varying lengths can work together to help them meet their goals.

The company said Short Form Audio, four to ten second audio spots; Dynamic Audio, tailored to listeners based on Pandora’s data; and Sequential Audio, which tell a brand’s story through sequentially targeted adverts, will allow advertisers “to take their personalisation strategy to the next level”.

Pandora also conducted a study and found ten second adverts play a crucial role “in priming the audience and piquing interest” while 30 second ads “drives the conversion home”. It added “while shorter spot length is proving to pack a punch, we can’t ignore the importance of the creative message itself…varying lengths can actually work in tandem to meet advertiser goals”.

Pandora’s update will mean marketers can heavily personalise audio adverts in real-time based on data including gender, age, location, weather and the genre of music they’re listening to. The new technology “strings together pieces of an audio ad – in a matter of seconds – to get a particular message just right for each listener”.

“We’re purposefully releasing these three capabilities at the same time because we truly believe they can work together to bring about powerful results. We’re excited to lead the personalisation of audio conversation and help advance advertiser goals in the most optimal way possible,” the company said.

At the end of Q1, Pandora’s paid user base stood at 5.6 million, a fraction of rivals Spotify and Apple Music. Last week, it allowed its premium users to share songs, albums, stations and playlists on Snapchat via music cards. Contacts who view the story or chat can listen to music on demand through Pandora. Non-premium users will have to view a 30-second ad to listen to 30 minutes of music.

Source: Mobile World Live

  Advertising, App, Digital, Marketing, Mobile, music, Pandora, Personalised Ads, Short Form Audio, Streaming