Targetspot Beta-Testing Self-Serve Digital Audio Ad Platform For Small Businesses.

Targetspot is getting into the self-serve audio ad business. The digital audio ad tech company has launched a private beta version of Passport Audio Manager, a new platform designed to help small and medium businesses manage their digital audio campaigns.

The company says the demand side platform allows brands and agencies, especially small and medium-sized companies, to tap into the power of sound and the growth of digital audio consumption. The self-serve platform allows marketers to create, plan, manage, optimize, track and report digital audio ad campaigns.

It’s getting started with a handful of strategic partners, including New York-based agency Fifteen Degrees. “We are looking to gather opinions and feedback first in North America as we prepare for a full-scale global launch in early 2022,” Eric van der Haegen, Strategic Partner Development Director at Targetspot, said in a release.

Targetspot, one of the original digital audio ad networks, is part of Brussels-based AudioValley. As of the second quarter it accounted for 91% of AudioValley’s business. Targetspot had several months of record growth during the second quarter in the U.S. market and, at mid-year, it reported its ad revenue in the U.S. was up 72% compared to the first half of 2020.

Director of Client Services Richard Clarke says Passport Audio Manager will be a “game changer” for its business. “With Targetspot’s buying platform we are able to build targeted campaigns and reach a precise audience market by market, having total buying control and comprehensive tracking and reporting,” he said in the announcement. “The platform is so easy to use, with a dashboard providing full, easy control for us and campaign analytics quickly.”

Dominick Milano, the former Triton Digital exec who since 2019 has been working for Targetspot as Senior VP/Sales & Business Development North America, says the new product will allow the company to customize its offering to the market “This is a unique opportunity for brands, typically those not connected to an audio DSP, to manage their own campaigns and add digital audio to their mix, with a tool as simple and familiar as Google Ad or Facebook Ads Manager,” Milano said.