The Sound Effect: Streaming Audio Drives Notable Sales Lifts

Music. It’s a passion for almost everyone, and the songs, albums, and artists people love are integral to who they are. And streaming platforms get audiences more in touch with both the medium and themselves.

With Pandora and SoundCloud, music no longer has to be owned to be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. And audiences aren’t at the mercy of AM/FM programming or mainstream appeal to find what motivates and inspires them.

That’s powerful, right? Yet many brands underinvest because they don’t see streaming audio as a performance channel.

Does streaming audio actually drive sales?

Yes. But many advertisers still think of audio as an upper-funnel, awareness channel. In reality, streaming audio reaches scaled, logged-in audiences in intimate, engaging environments—delivering high attention when screens are off.

It works for lower-funnel marketing because it reaches people when they’re tuned in. Ads appear in focused, low-distraction moments—and feel more relevant by matching mood or context. That makes people more likely to pay attention and act.

It’s also a precision channel. Streaming platforms use numerous data points to serve ads when people are most receptive. Brands can hit high-intent audiences at the right moment, which is exactly what lower-funnel campaigns need.

How does streaming audio help brands reach lower-funnel objectives?

High attention to boost recall. Streaming audio isn’t background noise. Listeners opt into content based on who they are, what they’re doing, where they are, and their mood—so they’re invested. Digital audio ads have a 49% greater impact on memory than AM/FM ads and 36% better than TV ads. 1

Message frequency to reinforce retention. Streaming audio is portable and convenient. Over eight in 10 Americans ages 12 and up listen to digital audio, 2 and 75% of listening is music. 3 Listeners spend over four hours a day with the medium—creating frequent opportunities to reach them. 3

Emotional connection to increase affinity. Music sets tone and enhances moments. Pandora listeners use it to improve moods (77%), relax (75%), and get motivated (59%)—making it a strong environment for brands. 4

Precise targeting to drive consideration. Streaming audio goes beyond awareness. Advertisers can target by demo, geo, context, time of day, and more to move consumers through the funnel and drive sales.

Easy access to get brands close to point of sale. When audio listening peaks, so does on- and offline shopping—letting brands reach consumers when they’re ready to buy.

Case studies prove streaming audio campaigns drive sales

Don’t just take our word for it. Check out these case studies and lower-funnel results.

Sales uplift and aROAS for food brands

We worked with Kroger Precision Marketing to measure lower-funnel effectiveness for streaming audio campaigns run through its retail media network. The complete study evaluated 43 food, beverage, pet, and HBC campaigns, showing an average of $10.30 aROAS driven by SiriusXM streaming audio campaigns. 5

The challenge

Drilling down to the 19 campaigns for food advertisers, the objective was to reach new households, recruit new brand buyers, increase visit lift, and drive sales lifts.

The solution

The product and solution mix for these campaigns included:

• Products: Streaming Select mobile audio and web placements across Pandora and SoundCloud on the SiriusXM Streaming Network

• Audience targeting: Apply advanced Kroger first-party audiences informed by purchase behaviors and geo-targeting to connect with audio streamers ages 18 and up

• High-impact creative: Ads with contextually relevant themes, sound effects, and subject matter that resonates with listeners with our in-house creative agency

The results

Across the campaigns for food brands in this study, we saw delicious results driven by streaming audio ads: 6

• +25% sales uplift

• +25% household penetration uplift

• +26% visit uplift

Incremental conversions for an insurance advertiser

The challenge

An insurance advertiser was looking to increase quote conversions with established adults. The brand decided to leverage streaming audio to drive incremental lifts.

The solution

The campaign included various ad creatives with unique brand messaging, contextually relevant themes, and distinguished sound effects to resonate with listeners and inspire action.

The product and solution mix included:

• Products: Streaming Select placements across Pandora and SoundCloud

• Targeting: Listeners ages 25-54 across key geographic areas and markets

The results

The campaign met the brand’s objectives with serious impact. 7

• +50% monthly incremental lift

• +233K total incremental conversions

Double-digit sales lift and millions in sales for a QSR advertiser

The challenge

A QSR brand was looking to attract more consumers to its locations while promoting a new menu item. With tight competition, the brand turned to the power and ubiquity of audio to not only attract attention but inspire action.

The solution

The campaign was designed to meet the brand’s objectives: increase store visits and drive incremental sales lifts.

The product and solution mix included:

• Products: Placements across Pandora and SoundCloud

• Targeting: Adults 18-54, burger enthusiasts, QSR visitors, ordering enthusiasts in key geographic areas and markets

• High-impact creatives: Ads developed to generate awareness of the QSR advertiser’s new burger, inspire purchase intent, and drive listeners to visit physical locations

The results

The campaign’s impact was nothing short of mouthwatering. 8

• 20M impressions

• $4.4M in sales driven by the SiriusXM Streaming Network Campaign

• $1.2M incremental sales lift

• 44% incremental sales lift

Drive sales lift with SiriusXM Media

And there you have it—when you combine streaming audio with SiriusXM Media, you get lower-funnel impact.

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

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