As the online and mobile market grows, so do avenues for advertising. Pandora, a music streaming service, offers a number of features to keep listeners happy and connected to their service.
However, as advertisers and marketers, you can use these features to effectively target your audience.
Pandora Features
Pandora plays music for users based on his or her preferences in musical artists. For example, if the user likes Led Zeppelin, they create a “Led Zeppelin” playlist and then Pandora will conclude that the listener wants to listen to classic rock. It will then take this information and play similar artists from that genre. The idea is that the listener will get a variety of music at their fingertips based on their favorite genres and artists.
The playlist is further enhanced by a feature that allows the user to provide positive or negative feedback about each song that the service selects. The system’s algorithm will take that feedback into account when selecting future songs.
These features allow Pandora to fine tune each user’s playlist in an attempt to become the “perfect” radio station.
With 81 million active listeners and almost 5 million subscribers, Pandora is an excellent option in delivering ads to a very specific, highly targeted market.
Types of Ads
Pandora is not limited to audio ads as you can run banner and video ads as well. The software can actually determine when the user is interacting with the screen. “This isn’t a difficult feat of engineering in and of itself, but the fact that the company leaders thought it important to determine when users are looking at the screen is a testament to Pandora’s efforts to monetize every aspect of its service.”
Audio
Audio ads expose listeners to your brand. If the user is listening to Pandora’s free service, then he or she can not skip these ads, giving you the opportunity to expose your brand to millions of listeners. And because ads are not allowed to run more than four minutes per hour, listeners will find them less invasive than regular radio.
Banners
Banner ads can help you engage your target market. Since listener are required to input their age, gender and zip code upon signing up for the service, marketers can have access to this information, making it easier to engage the types of listeners that will be interested in their brand. With banners, you have the advantage of creative interesting promotions, offer coupons and other relevant incentives to get potential customers to interact with your website or call center.
Video
There is still an opportunity for video ads as people look at their phones from time to time when Pandora is playing. However, it is advised to keep these ads brief, around 15 seconds. If you choose this options, make these ads entertaining and fresh to keep listeners engaged.
Other Facts
Ignite Visibility suggests creating a landing page so that you can track your traffic and click-throughs from the ads. “That way, you’ll know how many people are responding to your Pandora ads and how many of them are becoming paying customers. Use standard Google Analytics URL tagging on that page make sure you associate it with a Pandora campaign.”
Also, ” you need to make sure that you have a solution that tracks and attributes installs to the right partner. Tracking and attribution are complicated, but a deep understanding of how to get it right is crucial for your success,” according to Pandora for Brands.
Advertising on Pandora is affordable for both large and small companies. It costs less than buying a spot with a local radio station. There are approximately seven display ads per hour and two and a half audio ads per hour.
As you can seem between millions of subscribers and its targeting and ad capabilities, Pandora is a great option for your brand.
For more information, or how to get your brand set up with Pandora marketing, don’t hesitate to get in contact with us here at Media Partners Worldwide! Send us an email or give us a call! (562) 439-3900
We would love to help your business grow.
Therefore, every marketer should be making this generation a priority. As a millennial myself, born in 1990, I can attest to understanding our habits, likes, and dislikes. We may be particular and at time unconventional but we are still loyal to brands we love.
According to a Forbes.com and Elite Daily (the voice of Generation Y) 
However, there are still millions of people out there who find this free resource invaluable. Don’t overlook these consumers, as radio is affordable and working for many agencies.
Here is a little cheat sheet on how to successfully advertise your business or product via radio.
Because the power of radio relies so heavily on the quality of the copy, it is in your best interest to find a writer who recognizes this medium and understands how to target your specific audience.
Here are some tips for writing ads that will work and generate sales.
1. When Hiring a Writer
The best writers are those with broadcast experience. Radio relies on skill and salesmanship so you need someone who has an understanding of direct response marketing. You also need to be willing to spend some money, as good writers aren’t cheap.
When hiring a writer, remember to let them write. Good writers will listen to you, but they will also do what is necessary to create the best ad to sell your product. Don’t get in their way and take over the project. Let them do what you hired them for.
2. Timing
Most radio spots are broken up into 30 second or 60 second segments. 60 seconds gives you twice the amount of time to get listeners attention. 30 seconds are usually good for well known products or a simply offer. We typically advocate for a 60 second commercial, as you need to mention the phone number or call to action, such as go to your website, at least three times. A 30 second advertisement is usually too short to include everything you need.
3. Call Now!
Since the main focus of direct response advertisement is to make the phone ring with inquiries, everything in the spot should prompt the listener to pick up the phone and call. Offer free consultations, free information or limited time offers to instill a sense of urgency in the customer. You want them to ACT NOW.
4. Selling Comes First
When you only have 60 seconds to work with, every single second counts. Get the listeners attention, make an offer and generate a response. That is your objective. A good way to test if your ad is concise enough, remove the product from the copy. If you still have a complete concept, then your ad isn’t selling. The product, website, offer, phone number or selling idea should make up the entire spot.
5. Know Your Audience
This is key in any form of advertising. With radio, you have two options: Talk Radio and Music Radio.
With Talk Radio, your audience is ready to listen. Catching the listeners attention or blending into the surrounding talk are two ways to infiltrate talk radio. You want to encourage further listening.
With music radio, your ad will be an interruption. Your spot must peak the listeners interest before they can change the station.
6. Choose a Creative Format
There isn’t a set way to write a radio ad, however, here are a few creative formats that have been proven to work and get your listeners calling.
Straight Announcer- With a clear, straightforward copy and a strong, direct voice, nothing could be simpler for your ad. The announcer should speak as if addressing one single person. Asking questions such as “Have you ever…?” or “Wouldn’t you like…?” helps create a personal connection with the listener and makes the ad feel less like a lecture. With the right voice, this effortless approach can pull listeners in quickly.
Dialog – A typical example of this type of format, involves two people conversing with one another. One person is excited about a product or service and wants to share this information with the other person, who knows nothing about it. That person asks questions, while the other relays the information, thus divulging your product or services main information. If you have voices that match your demographic, speaking in a believable way, then this ad will come across as a testimony or referral, which is great for business.
Person on the Street– Asking real people what they think of your product is a great attention grabber. Get the person you are talking to on the street to describe how the product worked in their own words, or how it benefited them. Ask if they would recommended this product to others. Listeners will hear real people giving their true opinions and this will act as a testimony to your product. You can take this one step further by having the person on the street address the audience directly. Add in a celebrity endorsement or an experts opinion works great as well.
Vignette– This creative format, starts off with a short life scene exhibiting a problem. Then it cuts to the announcer who will describe your product as the solution. Time permitting, the life scene will continue, this time to show how your product has made their life easier. Make sure to return to the announcer to end the spot with a call to action and your 800 number.
7. Establish name identification early and often
Give the name of your company, service or product early in the spot. Since you only have 60 seconds, you want to establish everything your listener needs to know about your business as quickly and efficiently as possible. Repeat this information at least three times throughout the ad.
8. Use a memorable or relevant 800 number
Most radio isn’t interactive, like podcasts and apps like Pandora where you can click to call or purchase right from your phone. Most listeners are in the car or at work when they hear your ad. Therefore, they need to be able to remember your phone number if a phone isn’t within their reach. A special 800 number relevant to your product, is very helpful.
9. Call to Action
Answer the question that listeners might have: “What do you want me to do right now?” Of course, you want them to call! Don’t be subtle about it either. For example, the announcer could say, “For a free brochure on how to get rid of extra weight fast, call 1-800-LOSE-FAT.”
10. Limited Time Offers
People respond well to limited time offers. It provokes a sense of urgency and urges a call to action. People don’t like to miss out on good deals. Establishing a deadline forces an immediate response.
I hope you found these tips for writing radio advertisements helpful! For more information, call us at 
By David Alpern
Rick Dees, The Real Don Steele, Don Imus, Cousin Brucie, Kevin & Bean, Scott Shannon….these are all larger than life personalities that busted through the radio over the years and became huge radio sensations and thus ratings monsters. Comparing that to the non-interrupted music flow that comes from Amazon Music, Rhapsody, Spotify, Songza, and others is not truly a fair comparison. One is full of life and the other is full of efficiency. Some services like Slacker try to inject pre-recorded announcers, which is a nice effort, but does not even begin to approach the presence that a “jock” brings to a station.
That is why the re-emergence of cultivated content is a refreshing trend. As Wired Magazine reported last month in “
shed with personality and localization, two tenants that have not been as possible with the jukebox oriented nature of most of the current online streaming services. With the right amount of artistic cultivation (and Apple’s decision that we referenced earlier on this blog to recruit several high profile BBC Radio 1 talent is a good source of that) Tim Cook and Apple may have a very strong radio product about to be shared with the world.
Moreover, with Spotify having demonstrated the ability to recruit a critical mass of paying subscribers (25% of its total US audience), Apple’s new radio streaming service should be able to leverage the buzz that comes with anything Apple does. That buzz may help propel the new Apple Radio into a prominent position in the online streaming marketplace, which is rapidly becoming the new radio home for a hungry music, culture, and personality craving audience.]]> 