The Sound Effect: Digital Audio Delivers Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Media fragmentation and evolving audience habits have made media planning more complex—and the pressure is on to prove performance. As brands prioritize measurable returns on ad spend, digital audio belongs at the top of the list. It’s the perfect channel to reach consumers anywhere, anytime and prove impact.

Let’s dive into why streaming music and podcast campaigns are such strong ROAS drivers. And then we’ll show you how digital audio delivers across industries with some recent case studies.

Do digital audio ads deliver ROAS for advertisers?

Yes. Digital audio drives ROAS because it delivers highly attentive audiences, precise targeting, always-on reach, incremental scale, and measurable amplification across media channels.

High attention and low competition

Unlike cluttered visual channels, audio reaches consumers when they're listening—not scrolling—driving stronger attention, recall, consideration, and downstream conversions. And audio drives 50% more attention across video, TV, social, and display. 1

Precise audience targeting

Digital audio uses first- and third-party data, behavioral data, and contextual signals to reach high-value audiences, reducing wasted impressions and focusing spend on consumers most likely to convert.

Reaching consumers throughout the purchase journey

Audio is a part of the routine, reaching consumers all day long—in the car, at work, during workouts, and while running errands—when many other channels can't. And when in-person and online shopping peak, so does audio listening, getting advertisers closer to the point of sale. 2

Incremental reach beyond saturated channels

Digital audio unlocks incremental reach beyond social, display, and linear TV, helping brands fight media fragmentation and reach more consumers while improving media efficiency and campaign results.

With SiriusXM Media, brands can add up to:

• 30 pts in incremental reach to AM/FM 3

• 43 pts to linear TV 3

• 50 pts to CTV 3

• 38 pts to social media 3

Cross-channel amplification

Digital audio amplifies the rest of your media mix, building brand familiarity, driving consideration, and inspiring action to deliver higher click-through rates, conversions, and ROAS across channels.

Case studies prove SiriusXM Media campaigns drive ROAS

Don’t take our word for it. Check out these case studies that prove digital audio’s power to drive return on ad spend for brands.

Digital audio delivers 39x ROAS for a QSR coffee brand

A QSR coffee advertiser achieves strong behavioral lifts with streaming music and podcast ads, outperforming vertical benchmarks.

The challenge. The brand wanted to drive behavioral transaction, sale, and visit lifts.

The solution. SiriusXM Media designed an omnichannel digital audio campaign to help the QSR brand reach its goals. The campaign targeted coffee shoppers and frequent shop visitors ages 18–54 and included:

• Streaming Everywhere Audio

• Streaming Select Mobile Audio

• Sponsored Access Video Plus

• YouTube Non-Skippable Video

• Custom Solutions Sponsored Station

• Podcast Show integrations

The results. The campaign outperformed Foursquare benchmarks for the QSR vertical in behavioral transaction lift, sales lift, and visit lift, and achieved 8x incremental ROAS on incremental sales lift. 4

• 39x ROAS on attributed sales 4

• 24% behavioral transaction lift 4

• 24% behavioral sales lift 4

• 33% behavioral visit lift 4

Streaming audio and podcasts drive $9.11 ROAS for a cleaning brand

A cross-platform digital audio campaign unlocks strong ROAS gains for a household cleaning advertiser.

The challenge. The brand wanted to generate incremental sales, drive sales lift, and achieve ROAS.

The solution. We developed a streaming music and podcast campaign, using advanced targeting to reach adults 18 and over who are cleaning product shoppers, non-brand buyers, and parents of children ages 0-17. The product mix included:

• Streaming Everywhere

• Streaming Select Mobile Display

• Podcast Show Host reads

• Podcast Show SmartLess

The results. In addition to strong ROAS, the campaign delivered a notable 2.96% sales lift for the total cleaning portfolio. 5

• $9.11 ROAS for the total cleaning portfolio 5

• +5.2M incremental sales ROAS for the total cleaning portfolio 5

A beverage brand achieves $5.94 ROAS with digital audio

Combining streaming music ads with podcast ads drove powerful ROAS and sales gains for a beverage advertiser.

The challenge. This CPG brand wanted to generate sales lift, incremental sales, and strong ROAS.

The solution. The SiriusXM Media campaign leveraged music and podcast listening environments, using a blend of first- and third-party targeting to connect with foodies, social media influencers, concert and festival goers, cooking and dinner party enthusiasts, and multicultural consumers via:

• Streaming Select Mobile Audio

• Streaming Everywhere Audio

• Mobile Welcome Interstitial Banner

• Podcast Select Audio

• Podcast Show Personal Experience

The results. The brand’s digital audio ads drove +2.63% sales lift and $5.94 ROAS for the total campaign. 6

• +3.13% sales lift among the general market 6

• $8.83 ROAS among the general market 6

• +3.17% sales lift among multicultural audiences 6

• $5.73 ROAS among multicultural audiences 6

A political advertiser sees 297% ROAS with streaming audio and podcasts

A cross-channel campaign for a political fundraising advertiser sees strong gains in ROAS.

The challenge. The fundraiser wanted to drive lifts in ROAS, donations, and website conversions.

The solution. The SiriusXM Media team developed a campaign targeting Democrat adult listeners age 35 and up through:

• Streaming Select Mobile Audio

• Streaming Select Mobile Display

• Podcast Select

The results. This political campaign drove donations and a strong 297% ROAS for the advertiser. 7

Get return on ad spend and more with SiriusXM Media

And there you have it: When you partner with ua, digital audio campaigns can deliver ROAS and so much more.

We did it for them. We can do it for you. Let’s talk.

Check out more ROAS case studies