Back To School

Back-to-school is a major moment for retail marketers, and to make the most of that opportunity, they need to question where exactly consumer attention is focussed while shopping decisions are being made.

The answer, increasingly, is audio.

SiriusXM Media found that 9 in 10 consumers listen to audio at some point during their back-to-class shopping journey, with shopping and listening both peaking between 8am and 5pm.

Think about what that means.

Audio can be there when someone is researching what to buy, waiting in the pickup line, commuting, working, and most crucially, driving to the store.

In fact, SiriusXM Media reports that 77% of parents listen to audio while driving to and from back-to-class shopping.

That proximity to purchase matters. But so does attention.

Audacy's data shows 80% of parents listen to AM/FM every week and 57% engage with streaming AM/FM or podcasts monthly — compared with 43% who qualify as heavy video streamers and just 24% as heavy social media users. Audio provides a consistent and reliable touchpoint that other channels can struggle to match.

There’s evidence that those messages stick, too. Research cited by AdTonos found 60% of consumers remember audio and podcast ads more than billboards seen on those trips.

Podcasts play a particularly strong role: 58% of consumers in the research said they prefer podcast ads for back-to-school shopping, with discounts, free shipping and BOGO offers helping drive purchases.

For marketers, the lesson is bigger than simply adding audio to the media plan. Back-to-school is a compressed period of researching, negotiating, commuting, comparing and buying. Parents are looking for value. Kids are influencing the list. College students are making their own decisions.

That gives brands an opportunity to be useful and memorable at precisely the moments decisions are being made — not by shouting louder, but by showing up in the right context with the right message.