Radiocentre Study Finds Audio Drives Higher Campaign ROI.

There’s more good news for radio advertisers by way of a just released study from Radiocentre, the industry body and trade association for commercial radio in the UK. The “Sound Profits” report, which includes analysis from WPP Media, shows that moving some of their budget from search and social to audio media increases ROI.

“Audio amplifies search and social performance, driving stronger results without increasing campaign budgets,” Radiocentre says, noting the research shows that “brands could increase campaign profit without increasing overall campaign spend, by reallocating a portion of media budgets from search and social into audio.”

The study finds that moving 10% of the search budget to audio boosts ROI by 8%, while moving 20% increases it by 16%, and moving 10% of the social budget to audio increases ROI by 11%, while moving 20% increases it by 21%.

These results follow the same pattern as those from Radiocentre’s recent “High Gain Audio” study, which showed audio can lift an ad campaign’s ROI by 9.1% when audio is allocated 25% of the budget.

Additionally, results from Radiocentre’s survey of 6,000 adults, in conjunction with research company Differentology, found that people can be cautious about clicking on online ads because they may not completely trust or recognize the brand.

“This research showed how audio can help consumers overcome this confidence barrier by building familiarity, trust and credibility,” the release says. “This priming effect means consumers can feel more confident to click on social ads or paid-for links in search results, with audio acting as a catalyst that helps those channels work harder.”

“While the case for audio’s contribution to ROI is well established, a key question remains: where should the investment come from to deliver the greatest incremental impact? With search and social commanding 70% of UK ad spend, testing the effects of shifting a portion of those budgets into audio provided a compelling opportunity,” Radiocentre Head of Insight Donna Burns says. “The findings from ‘Sound Profits’ show that better results don’t necessarily require bigger budgets. By reallocating a small share of search and social spend to audio, brands can unlock significant profit growth at no extra cost.”