New research from Ipsos and the Canadian Marketing Association shows that both audio marketing and agency partnerships are more important to marketing executives than they have been in recent years.

The annual Digital Marketing Pulse survey polls executives at marketers and agencies to explore the state of digital marketing strategies and tools in Canada.

Marketer usage of digital audio has been low in past years, despite 54% of Canadians saying they are willing to receive digital advertising through audio streaming apps in separate Ipsos research. This year, however, use of digital audio advertising increased from 24% to 33% for agencies and from 17% to 29% for marketers. The growth of Spotify, Apple Music and podcasting – as well as their advertising capabilities and audience networks – are contributing to the growth.

Just 28% marketers said they’d increased their reliance on agency partnerships in the 2020 edition of the survey, falling to 25% the following year. This year, 42% of marketers say they’ve increased their reliance on their agency.

These relationships are not necessarily the same model as in the past, the report points out. There are many partnerships now that are hybrid models that involve marketers taking specific tasks in-house and relying on agencies for others. At the same time, some marketers are outsourcing certain tactics or elements as a way to access innovation and specialization that is not available in-house.

“The realignment of the brand-agency collaboration, and the variety of approaches to this, reflect how marketers are embracing new ways to reach consumers in a landscape that is increasingly dynamic and complex,” said Alison Simpson, president and CEO of the Canadian Marketing Association. “The revitalized relationships between marketers and external agencies reverses a pandemic-era trend and signals a broader strategic shift.”