How can advertisers take advantage of the latest evolution within the audio landscape? A range of industry experts share their insights.

The audio space has always been valuable to advertisers: audio is immersive and memorable, providing listeners an experience which goes beyond a screen. Reaching listeners in moments which visual media can’t, it’s a flexible format offering unique opportunities.  

Despite the medium’s ability to reach consumers in moments of high-attention away from a screen, we’re seeing significant change here as audio increasingly converges with video. 

YouTube has played a major role in this convergence as the popularity of podcasts has grown rapidly on the platform. A year ago, the video giant revealed that it had become the leading platform for podcast consumption in the US, overtaking major players in the space such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Ironically, podcasts are no longer just about audio.  

As the audio space evolves, opportunities expand for advertisers. Developments in AI have opened new doors, allowing mass personalisation, smarter targeting, and more measurable performance. 

Meanwhile, dynamic ad insertion has allowed advertisers to incorporate real-time targeted ads, replacing static ‘baked-in’ ads to deliver personalised, up-to-date campaigns.  

Similarly, thanks to dynamic creative optimisation (DCO), ads have been able to dynamically change in real time based on factors such as listener location, time of day, and weather. This would allow a retail brand to automatically update store location, price and call to action, for example, tailoring ad variations to the listener’s current environment.  

Elsewhere, the rising use of smart speakers is also allowing the audio format to become more directly transactional. Largely driven by retail platforms such as Amazon, users can add items to cart via smart speaker, turning awareness into a measurable conversion within the same ecosystem. 

We asked a few industry experts what they make of the changes occurring within the world of audio. What are the latest innovations in audience and targeting, and how can advertisers reap the benefits? 

Combining the power of attention, intimacy, and repetition with measurable impact  

Audio has become a full-funnel, outcome-driven medium. It combines the power of attention, intimacy and repetition with measurable impact across the entire customer journey – from brand lift and consideration to store visits and conversions. Unlike many saturated channels, audio captures the moments when people are truly listening, focused and receptive.

At the same time, the audio landscape is undergoing a structural shift. Hybrid formats are rapidly becoming the norm as audio, podcasts and vodcasts increasingly overlap, while listening platforms continue to fragment. This creates both scale and complexity: more content themes appearing in multiple contexts, more signals, but also more operational friction for advertisers.

Navigating this complexity creates space for innovation; Audion’s Audion AI applies AI-driven intelligence to connect fragmented platforms, analyse listening contexts in real time, and underpin highly precise targeting to deliver on performance-focused metrics. The result: smarter media choices, more relevant activations, and outcomes that have not previously been achievable with audio.

Elie Kauffmann, Head of Sales, EMEA, Audion 

Audio is opening up to a broader set of advertisers, faster campaigns, and more creative experimentation

Audio advertising is rapidly diversifying. More brands are leaning into audio, driven by consumer demand and years of historic underinvestment. That shift is exciting, not just because budgets are moving, but because audio is becoming truly accessible at scale. By simplifying production and removing friction, we’re opening audio up to a broader set of advertisers, faster campaigns, and more creative experimentation.

Audio is instinctive, the way humans communicate. It tells stories, creates images, and builds aspiration without needing a screen. Brands should most certainly start thinking about what their brand sounds like, because we’re entering a world where advertising is increasingly audio-first and screen-second.

Audio measurement has come a long way. We can now leverage targeting to close the loop, optimising not just media, but creative. With AI-powered solutions, audio creative can become reactive to performance, iterating in-flight and creating an intelligent creative layer embedded directly into media.

Silke Zetzsche, VP Global Commercial Partnerships, Agency & Adtech, AudioStack

A deeper focus on how creative aligns with targeting is emerging

The audio landscape is evolving quickly as streaming and cloud technologies reshape how people discover and consume content. Algorithms now curate highly personalised listening experiences across music and podcasts, and that same data-driven foundation has transformed advertising. Digital audio offers precise targeting based on demographics, location, interests, and listening behaviour, helping brands reduce wasted spend and improve return on investment.

What’s emerging now is a deeper focus on how creative aligns with that targeting. Because audio is often consumed through headphones, it creates a uniquely personal environment. That means relevance matters. The ability to intelligently decide which message to deliver to which audience, and to adjust based on performance signals, is becoming critical. As digital audio buying becomes more sophisticated, advertisers need infrastructure that connects audience data, media activation, and creative decisioning seamlessly. Done well, this turns audio into a scalable, measurable, and performance-driven channel rather than just an extension of traditional radio.

Charel MacIntosh, Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships, Clinch 

Audio is now an agentic-AI driven ecosystem 

The audio landscape is no longer a sidekick to visual media; in 2026, it has become a channel brands can build around. Audio advertising has evolved into an agentic AI-driven ecosystem where messages adapt in real time to a listener’s mood, context, and environment, transforming ads into responsive, data-informed experiences.

For advertisers, audio delivers high-impact intimacy. It drives 32% higher short-term profit ROI than the all-media average while bypassing “scroll-blindness” during screen-free moments like driving or exercising. With attention less fragmented, engagement becomes more personal and memorable.

Innovation in targeting is accelerating this momentum. Brands are leveraging first-party data across connected cars and CTV, aligning messaging with real-time triggers such as weather or activity. 

For publishers, self-serve technology automates creative vetting and billing, unlocking efficient monetisation of the long tail. The result is scalable growth, stronger direct relationships, and a more profitable, performance-driven audio ecosystem.

Johan Liljelund, CIO & Executive VP, DanAds 

Cementing audio as a vital, results-oriented medium 

With the global audio ad market valued at an estimated $38 billion (£29 billion) and programmatic adoption nearing 30%, and rising, the sector is ripe for growth and consolidation.

The recent launch of the Spotify Ad Exchange exemplifies this shift, as direct integration enables buyers to bid on premium audio and podcast inventory within a single interface. Meanwhile, emerging tools such as AI-driven segmentation, contextual targeting, dynamic creative optimisation, and addressable audio audiences help advertisers reach audiences more efficiently. 

Delivering strong engagement and recall, when integrated into omnichannel campaigns, audio acts as a performance multiplier. With 85% of listeners looking at screens during their audio sessions, brands have a clear opportunity to reinforce messaging across video, DOOH and display in real time. This sequential, cross-channel engagement captures moments other channels might miss by themselves and cements audio’s role as a vital, results-oriented medium.

Vicky Foster, VP, Global Commercial Partnerships, Adform 

The shift towards RTB 

With new audio environments such as audio-first apps as well as a steady increase in audio search, the audio environment is rapidly advancing. As a result, there has been significant growth in the audio inventory available.

As the audio channel matures, we've noticed a gradual increase in audio’s programmatic adoption at Limelight. Previously, audio inventory was traded only using traditional tag-based setups but we’re now noticing a slow shift towards real-time bidding (RTB), signalling that audio is catching up with wider digital industry standards.

This means that not only can buyers achieve more scale, they can also target relevant audiences, with richer datasets and advanced audience segmentation. With RTB, buyers can access detailed bidstream data in real-time, further layering it with third-party data enrichment companies for advanced precision.

A cross-channel media strategy with audio in the mix is sure to become an accountable and performance-driven strategy.

Daniel Nelson, Director of Customer Success, Limelight 

Attention and authenticity 

Audio has officially stepped into the spotlight. The landscape is shifting from broad, one-size-fits-all spots to data-powered, context-aware messaging. Streaming, podcasts, digital radio, and smart speakers are giving advertisers more addressability, better measurement, and creative flexibility. In short: audio has gone from analogue vibes to algorithmic precision.

The real benefit? Attention and authenticity. Audio is consumed in personal moments, through headphones, throughout the day – making it a uniquely immersive and trusted space. For advertisers, that means high receptivity, strong recall, and the ability to build emotional connection at scale. (Azerion’s Meaningful Connections research ranked audio as the most receptive medium after cinema; when people listen, they really listen.)

Targeting and refining audiences are benefiting from rapid innovation. AI-powered DCO, real-time data triggers (location, weather, behaviour), and first-party insights allow brands to serve contextually relevant messages across the customer journey. Add in community driven environments like podcasts, and you’ve got the perfect balance of precision, performance, and genuine engagement.

Roxanne Harley, Head of Growth, Azerion

Scaling audio with programmatic curation 

Audio as a channel has a real opportunity to capture a larger share of budgets that have traditionally gone to display, video, and CTV. When audio is packaged with the right audiences, strong contextual alignment, and reliable identity signals, it becomes easier to measure and compare performance across channels. That makes it far more competitive in modern media plans.

For advertisers, the biggest benefits are attention and relevance. Audio is personal and often consumed in focused moments like commuting or working out. Listened through attributed conversions have been undervalued for years, yet they are often among the most incremental because the message lands in a low distraction environment. With better packaging and clearer measurement, that value is becoming easier to prove.

Cedric Peillet, Founder & CEO, Curated.Media