Spotify or Pandora: Will AdsWizz Renew Pandora's Charm?

If you've been living under a rock, we'll get you up to speed: streaming audio is massively popular, and it's a great way to reach consumers where they're at. This naturally leads clients to ask which platform is best for their advertising needs.

One of the primary benefits of advertising via streaming audio is the ability to target extremely specific audiences. If you're looking to reach a narrowly defined target, using the right channels is crucial. It's also important to ensure you make enough impressions on your narrow target to deliver results. That's why we usually recommend condensing your spend to the top one or two streaming platforms, rather than spreading it more thinly and failing to reach the right people.

So which service is your best bet? Pandora, which was one of the first in the streaming audio space, continues to lead in terms of market share, but Spotify is gaining ground in second place. At this point, we'd recommend sticking with one of these two options.

But while Pandora's growth has been minimal in recent years, it recently took a major step toward the future by purchasing AdsWizz. The digital audio advertising firm combines data and automation to deliver ads. Once Pandora integrates its features, users will be able to purchase ads across major audio platforms (including Spotify). On top of that, Pandora will be able to deploy sequential messages across platforms, allowing advertisers to target a user with display, video and then with personalized audio ads.

It's just the beginning for targeted audio ads, and with increased popularity and competition, your ad options will grow. For example, Google is launching YouTube Music, a direct competitor in the space, and the platform will obviously feature video as well. That could push video options to the forefront on other channels, or at least make it a stronger consideration.

Just as the way we consume media is ever-changing, so are the options for delivering ads to your audience. In a changing industry, we recognize the need to constantly monitor and evaluate options to make sure we're getting the best results for our clients.

If you have questions about purchasing media on audio streaming platforms or elsewhere, we're here to help. Reach out to Laura Gould at lgould@z-comm.com.