NuVoodoo by the Numbers for Hip Hop and Urban AC: Boosting Listening Occasions Among Ratings-Prone Listeners Through Strategic Advertising

In our previous exploration of contest preferences among Hip Hop and Urban AC listeners from NuVoodoo’s recent Ratings Prospects Study, we uncovered optimal strategies for structuring contests and activating Urban format radio listeners to tune in across more occasions. But even the most enticing contest falls flat if it doesn’t reach the right audience. That’s where strategic advertising comes into play.

It’s a fact: Hip Hop and Urban AC listeners who are most likely to participate in ratings surveys are far more engaged with advertising than the average listener. These individuals aren’t just passively consuming media; they’re actively seeking out information and engaging with brands across various platforms. This presents a golden opportunity for stations to connect with a receptive audience and drive meaningful results.

In our quest to understand the advertising landscape for Urban music radio fans, we embarked on a comprehensive exploration of commercial consumption across nearly two dozen channels. We examined where listeners encounter advertising and how frequently they truly pay attention. To gauge their level of engagement, we employed a six-point scale, with “often” and “always” responses indicating a high level of receptiveness to advertising on a particular channel.

Ad Platforms That Demand Attention

Several advertising powerhouses stand out when it comes to capturing the attention of Urban music fans who are most likely to participate in ratings:

• Video-sharing apps like YouTube, Daily Motion, Vimeo, etc.: These platforms — especially YouTube — command regular attention from 72% of Hip Hop and 74% of Urban AC ratings prospects. This is drastically higher than the 33% we see in our total sample and even the solid 48% ad engagement in our total format-agnostic RPS Yes segment.
• Smartphone apps: With 64% of Hip Hop and 70% of Urban AC ratings prospects paying attention to ads on smartphone apps, in-app advertising offers a direct line to a highly engaged mobile audience.
• Text messages sent to your phone: Despite the potential for intrusiveness, text message advertising captures the frequent attention of 67% of Hip Hop and 66% of Urban AC ratings prospects.
• Facebook: This social media giant captures the attention of 69% of Hip Hop ratings prospects. TikTok and Instagram are especially potent with younger segments of Urban radio ratings prospects.
• Digital audio apps (YouTube Music, Spotify, SiriusXM, etc.): These platforms command the attention of 66% of Urban AC ratings prospects. Radio stations won’t find easy access to Spotify or Pandora for ratings-driven campaigns because of restrictive ad policies there.
• Emails from companies: Email marketing remains relevant for Urban AC listeners, with 67% of ratings prospects paying attention to emails from companies.
• The Google ecosystem: This includes Search, Gmail, YouTube, and its vast display and video networks. 87% of Urban Adult and 69% of Hip Hop format RPS “Yes” listeners pay attention to advertising served by Google.

The Rise of Ad-Supported Streaming TV and Movies

One channel that’s absolutely exploding in the advertising landscape is ad-supported streaming TV and movies on platforms like Hulu, Prime Video, and Peacock. In 2023 alone, U.S. adults spent almost an hour every day with ad-supported OTT video services.

A whopping 68% of Hip Hop and 67% of Urban AC “Yes” respondents are paying attention to ads on these platforms, compared to just 28% of the total sample. Even better, 58% of Hip Hop “Yes” respondents and 52% of Urban AC “Yes” respondents are spending four or more hours each week watching this way. For Hip Hop, total reach is even more impressive – 87% of “Yes” respondents are watching for at least an hour every week.

Unlike other formats where viewers mostly watch on their connected TVs, Urban music fans are split almost 50/50 between mobile devices and connected TVs. This is great news for advertisers because mobile OTT impressions are much cheaper.

Less Effective Channels

While it’s essential to focus on the advertising powerhouses that resonate with Hip Hop and Urban AC listeners, it’s equally crucial to identify the less effective channels where precious marketing dollars might be wasted.

Our data reveals several areas where engagement is comparatively low across both formats:

• Podcasts, even when the host endorses the thing advertised: While podcasts hold some appeal, host-endorsed ads seem to fall flat with these listeners, capturing the attention of just 51% of Hip Hop and 47% of Urban AC ratings prospects.
• Phone calls from businesses in your area: Unsolicited phone calls are clearly a turn-off, with nearly 6 in 10 Urban AC ratings prospects avoiding these intrusive marketing strategies.
• Snapchat: This platform fails to capture significant attention, with just 45% of Hip Hop and 41% of Urban AC ratings prospects engaging with ads.
• Twitter/X: Similar to Snapchat, Twitter ads struggle to resonate, with only 43% of Hip Hop and 41% of Urban AC ratings prospects paying attention.
• Billboards and other signs: 40% of Urban AC ratings prospects are engaging with messaging billboards and signs frequently.

These findings suggest that allocating significant marketing dollars to these channels might not yield the desired return on investment. Instead, focusing on the powerhouses identified earlier – YouTube, social media platforms, mobile apps, and ad-supported streaming TV – is likely to generate greater engagement and drive stronger results.

Frequency is Key

In addition to advertising attention, message frequency is critical to marketing success. How often ratings prospects are exposed per dollar invested is a critical factor when optimizing campaign performance. So NuVoodoo measured how often “RPS Yes” Urban format listeners use various digital apps. Here are the platforms that respondents say they use every day or more often.

These are the digital apps that drive chronic daily use at a frequency of four times or even more often every day.

The top platforms represent prime real estate for reaching our Urban “RPS Yes” listeners, as their frequent usage ensures repeated exposure to our message. However, it’s crucial to recognize the nuances within these format groups. While platforms like TikTok and Instagram might perform exceptionally well with younger listeners (under 35), their overall reach within the broader “RPS Yes” audience may be more limited. Conversely, Facebook, while still a strong contender, might see less frequent usage among younger demographics.

YouTube stands out as a universal ad platform, drawing users from the broadest demographics of any channel tested. Its widespread appeal makes it a strong contender for reaching a diverse audience. Google, with its multifaceted presence in users’ digital lives, includes YouTube (along with its vast network of mobile and traditional sites and apps, and G-Mail) in its universal reach potential and offers a multitude of advertising opportunities.

YouTube’s effectiveness, in particular, extends far beyond its impressive reach and frequency numbers. This platform offers a unique blend of features that make it an ideal channel for engaging our Urban music fans and maximizing marketing impact.

Key Advantages:

• Pay-for-Performance Model: YouTube’s advertising model allows us to pay only when our target audience engages with our ads, ensuring cost-efficiency and maximizing our return on investment.
• Contextual Targeting: We can strategically place our ads alongside videos from core Urban format artists, ensuring our message reaches a highly receptive and engaged audience.
• Creative Flexibility: YouTube allows us to leverage a mix of video and other creative assets in AI-optimized P-Max campaigns, delivering dynamic and engaging experiences that resonate with our target audience.
• Custom Affinity Audiences: We can create custom affinity audiences based on digital traffic modeling, ensuring your message reaches those most likely to participate in ratings surveys.  It’s important to note, however, this type of data modeling is not a shortcut to reaching and influencing actual panelists or diary keepers, but simply those who exude similar behavioral characteristics or share in-common household attributes.
• Customer Match & Lookalikes: YouTube allows us to leverage first-party customer data (like email lists and website visitors) to create highly targeted campaigns. We can also generate lookalike audiences based on this data, expanding our reach to new listeners who share similar characteristics to our most valuable customers
• Brand Building and Direct Response: YouTube seamlessly blends brand building and direct response capabilities, allowing us to cultivate brand awareness while simultaneously driving specific actions, such as contest entries or website visits.
• Cost-Effective Connected TV Exposure: YouTube’s presence extends far beyond the confines of smartphones and computers. With the rise of OTT apps and the ability to Chromecast from mobile devices, YouTube content is increasingly making its way onto the big screen in living rooms. This expanded reach further amplifies YouTube’s potential as an advertising powerhouse, allowing us to connect with our Urban music fans in a more immersive and impactful way.

NuVoodoo doesn’t just provide data; we provide solutions. We combine our primary research with vast media trading experience to activate the most effective advertising channels, including YouTube, and connect with those elusive Urban music fans who drive ratings. With Nielsen’s 2025 shift in quarter-hour measurement standards, generating new Time Spent Listening occasions is more critical than ever. Let us help you turn this data into action and maximize your impact in the Urban market. Contact us at tellmemore@nuvoodoo.com to learn more.

Coming Soon: Urban Format Insights Part 3 – Decoding the Ratings Inclined Urban Radio Listener

In the final installment of this series, we’ll go beyond contests and advertising to explore the core drivers of listener engagement. We’ll delve into tune-out catalysts, programming preferences, and the key brand attributes that keep ratings-attuned Urban format listeners connected to radio and their favorite stations. Stay tuned for more insights to up your programming and marketing game.