People spend over 2 hours every day listening to music, podcasts, and audiobooks.¹ But the way Candians consume audio content continues to evolve. It’s now the norm for people to listen through digital platforms—platforms like Spotify.² And, for the first time, digital audio is outpacing broadcast radio in time spent.³ This shift away from traditional radio creates opportunities for small and medium businesses (SMBs) to reach younger customers, target audiences with greater precision, and save time and money with accessible creative tools.

Spotify reaches more than 40% of the Canadian population every week.⁴ But advertising on Spotify isn’t just for big brands with huge media budgets. Here are three ways SMBs can tap into the benefits of digital audio with Spotify Ad Studio, our self-serve ad channel.

1. Connect with younger, digitally savvy customers.

According to research from eMarketer, nearly 64% of internet users in Canada listen to digital audio regularly.⁵ And more than 90% of Gen Zs and 77% of millennials make up the most regular listeners.⁶ If your goal is to engage and build awareness among people in these age ranges, digital audio isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s an essential media channel for your business to connect with these audiences.

You can connect with younger, more diverse listeners on Spotify. More than 75% of ad-supported Spotify listeners in Canada are under 35 years old.⁷

2. Target local listeners with precision.

As a small business advertiser, you probably want to build awareness and get your message heard by customers in specific areas, like your local community. Guess what? You can reach local listeners with digital audio ads efficiently and effectively. Ad Studio’s audience targeting capabilities make it easy for SMBs to reach new and potential customers in specific areas with the help of postal-code location targeting.

If you use radio to reach local listeners, we’ve got even more good news. You can add incremental reach to your regional radio plans with Spotify—we deliver nearly 20% additional unique weekly reach across all Canadian. markets.⁸ Plus, with Ad Studio, you have more control over targeting than you do with radio. So your message reaches who you want to reach precisely, with no media dollars wasted.

3. Save time and money with digital audio creative.

When it comes to the creative potential of digital audio, the only limit is your imagination. With audio, small businesses can bring messages to life in ways that would be far too expensive (or impossible) to make into video ads. You don't need to have a massive budget or fancy equipment to produce compelling digital audio ads.

Ad Studio offers free tools and services to advertisers because, well, we get it. As an SMB marketer, your time is a valuable resource, and every dollar you spend has to count. That's why we made it easy for you to re-use radio spots or create net-new audio ads for Spotify, right on the platform. The free audio ad creative services in Ad Studio work just as quickly as you need them to—in as little as 24 hours, we'll record and mix your custom 15- or 30-second audio ad.

But don’t just take our word for it.

Check out what other small business advertisers had to say about digital audio and working with Spotify Ad Studio.

“The DSA team has used Spotify Ad Studio for several years and we’ve enjoyed watching the platform evolve. Our clients like hearing and seeing their ads in Spotify’s premium audio environment—and we like the strong reach and accurate audience estimating that the platform offers. Knowing our placements will be brand safe and that costs are predictable helps us plan better campaigns.”

– Zac Goodman, DSA Media