The advertising effectiveness company System1 is expanding into audio ad testing. It will now allow brands to test their podcast, online audio and broadcast radio ads to predict the spot’s short-and long-term impact among listeners on its Test Your Ad platform. It measures a listener’s emotional responses to creative and assigns ads a star rating, from one to 5.9 stars, based on their ability to drive market share growth.
“Radio continues to be a wide-reaching channel, and podcast and music streaming apps are attracting an increasing number of listeners,” said System1 CEO Jon Evans. “Test Your Ad Audio gives advertisers a quick and clear way to understand whether their messaging will support brand building and get guidance to improve audio ads,” he said in the announcement.
Test Your Ad enables uploads in mp3 format to test commercials in draft or finished formats. Users can test ads among the general population and custom samples to gain insights from specific target audiences. In addition to an overall star rating, the ad test reports include a metric that shows what the platform thinks will be the commercial’s short-term sales potential and another rating that measures brand recognition. The cost of testing an audio ad ranges from $3,750 to $6,750 per spot. The platform already offers video and display ad capabilities.
“We’re thrilled to add yet another ad format to our Test Your Ad platform that brands and agencies can leverage to enhance the commercial impact of their creative,” Evans said. “Now, testing is available for video, image-based and audio ads, offering a one-stop-shop for creative effectiveness testing and insights.”
What has attracted System1 to audio are the growing revenue numbers as WARC predicts global podcast ad spend reached $2.6 billion in 2022.