Less Is More: Fewer Words In Ad Copy Improves Effectiveness

A major new study finds the lower the audio word count per minute the greater the brand standout, which in turn increases campaign web response. 

This week's blog from the Westwood One Audio Active Group®  Highlights two major findings:

• Eliminating 10 words of audio copy increases the Creative Standout score by 1%. Creative Standout is achieved when consumers say “this ad stands out” and rate an ad with an 8, 9, or 10 on a one to ten standout scale.
• Eliminating 10 words of audio copy increases web traffic by 0.25%. Creative Standout in audio advertising is strongly linked to ad response via website visits. For each 1% rise in audio ad Creative Standout, website response rate increases by 0.25%.

How the study was conducted

Several firms collaborated to produce this first of its kind study that examined thousands of campaigns.

Audiotrack is a UK audio distribution service that sends ads from creative agencies to audio publishers. Audiotrack delivers audio ads to all UK and Republic of Ireland radio stations, digital streaming, and podcast platforms.

Colourtext, a leading media analysis firm, examined over 10,000 campaigns that aired between 2019 and 2021. Activity included 615 national brands across 22 advertiser categories. Audiotrack text-transcribed approximately 70% of these advertisements.

Major finding: Word density (expressed as words per minute) has a major impact on the effectiveness of audio ads

Key takeaways:

• Eliminating 10 words of audio copy increases the Creative Standout score by 1%. Creative Standout is achieved when consumers say “this ad stands out” and rate an ad with an 8, 9, or 10 on a one to ten standout scale.
• Eliminating 10 words of audio copy increases web traffic by 0.25%. Creative Standout in audio advertising is strongly linked to ad response via website visits. For each 1% rise in Creative Standout achieved by an audio ad, website response rate increases by 0.25%.
• Kantar Millward Brown: The fewer the messages, the greater the recall. An ad with four messages will have message recall of only 24% to 43% of ads with just one message. The more messages an ad attempts to communicate, the lower the lower the likelihood of a single message being communicated.
• Chris Smith’s audio creative best practice: Less is more. Be single-minded. Say one thing. A radio spot is not a hotel. You don’t have to fill all the space.