From terrestrial radio to streaming, podcasting, and beyond, audio is in a state of constant motion, with people experiencing aural evolution in real time. In 2026, the landscape will continue to evolve as immersive technologies, video integration, and artificial intelligence shape the airwaves. What’s in store for next year, and what should advertisers, agencies, listeners, and talent do to prepare?

1. A Stronger Relationship Between Audio and Video

In 2024, Spotify included over 300,000 video podcasts in its massive library – 100,000 more than the year before. With top podcasts like Smartless, The MeidasTouch Podcast, and Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend maintaining active video content on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts, video has officially entered the chat.

Over 40% of podcast listeners expressed the desire to actively watch video podcasts rather than just listen—a growing trend that’s prompting platforms en masse to respond. In early 2026, Netflix will begin offering a curated slate of video podcasts from Spotify and its studio network in hopes of starting a “new chapter of podcasting” for the converging A/V audience. 

This fusion not only broadens reach but deepens connection by giving listeners (and viewers) multiple ways to experience the same content. 

2. All Eyes (and Ears) on A.I.

From content creation to ad optimization, artificial intelligence is burrowing into every corner of the audio industry. AI-driven tools are now scripting, editing, and even voicing podcasts (though not always with remarkable precision), while machine learning models are enhancing audience targeting and campaign performance in real time. For advertisers, this means a potential for greater efficiency and personalization, but there is still a risk of alienating audiences by relying on the authentic human emotions and experiences that AI cannot replicate.

3. The Rise of Personalized Listening

As audience expectations evolve, personalization has become the new baseline for engagement. Listeners now expect audio experiences that reflect their preferences, moods, and routines…and platforms are taking note. From curated playlists that shift with time of day to dynamically inserted podcast ads that adjust based on context and behavior, personalization is transforming how people connect with sound. For advertisers and agencies, this technology offers valuable data-driven insights that, when combined with a robust programmatic ad campaign, can reach audiences once out of the scope of listenership. 

The SMI team is looking forward to advances in emerging technologies, particularly Dynamic Creative Optimization and Dynamic Ad Insertion. According to SMI’s Media Assistant, Emily Holtzclaw, “Digital listening is still growing and programmatic advertising offers our clients customized audiences, real-time optimizations, and scalability.”

4. Advertising Ecosystems

As we head into 2026, podcast shows will continue to offer more than just ad reads. Shows and hosts will be offering more opportunities on their social media feeds, live events, and paid subscriber content. Steve Mondor of SMI’s Podcast Operations puts it clearly: “Podcasts won’t be just shows—they’ll be a pivotal part of multi-platform media brands. The line between a podcast and branded content will blur.” 

Listeners (and viewers) can expect to see creators and brands alike expanding into video, newsletters, books, courses, live events—and perhaps more snack installations like the elevated experience SMI helped to execute on behalf of IQBAR at the DearMedia IRL in-person event!

5. Radio Still Reigns

Even as digital audio continues to rise, traditional radio remains a cornerstone of the media mix. AM/FM still reaches more than 80% of U.S. adults each week, according to Nielsen, offering scale, trust, and consistency that few platforms can match. But it’s also evolving: hybrid digital models, interactive companion apps, and dynamic ad delivery are helping radio bridge the gap between broadcast and streaming. In 2026, radio’s greatest strength may lie in its adaptability by blending the familiarity of the dial with the precision of data-driven delivery. For advertisers, it’s a reminder that while technology transforms, the human desire for connection, innovation, and entertainment remains constant and timeless. 

At Strategic Media Inc., we help brands translate these innovations into real campaign impact by leveraging creative prowess and performance-driven strategies to deliver richer, more resonant experiences for listeners.

As digital tracking tools become increasingly limited by platform changes and privacy regulations, marketers are only getting a partial view of their customers.

Knowing where your customers first encounter your brand is critical to understanding—and improving—your marketing strategy. The “How Did You Hear About Us?” (HDYHAU) survey is an incredibly easy and effective way to gather zero-party data directly from your audience. These surveys capture valuable, self-reported insights about where and how your message is breaking through, making them a vital complement to traditional attribution models. 

HDYHAU surveys can help both agencies and brands make intelligent, better informed decisions based on real-world insights directly from their audience. Below are five reasons why HDYHAU surveys are worth their weight in gold. 

1. They Give You Insight Into What Attribution Can’t See

While attribution software can easily track clicks and conversions, it’s still somewhat limited to what’s trackable. Unable to follow the “dark social” web traffic that comes from group chats, podcasts, or across platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels (where links are often lost or not clicked at all), HDYHAU surveys fill in those blind spots. 

“The customer journey, particularly for offline media, is not linear,” says Senior Media Strategist Alex Foster, “Strategic Media relies heavily on adherence to our CTAs [calls-to-action] to optimize media and creative buys, but it is important to consider the multiple touchpoints consumers have with a brand before taking action.”

By asking customers directly how they discovered your brand, marketers gain visibility into offline and untrackable channels that traditional analytics often miss.

2. They Help You Validate and Optimize Marketing Spend

HDYHAU surveys provide a simple way to test your marketing assumptions. 

By collecting and analyzing responses over time, brands can identify meaningful trends to help guide budget decisions. If you’re investing heavily in Instagram ads and customers cite podcasts as their discovery source, it might signal the need to reallocate spend. 

On the other hand, if “a friend told me” or “heard about you from someone I know” consistently appears, it may be time to formalize and invest in a referral program.

A 12-month study by Recast found a 90% measurement gap between software-based attribution and self-reported customer data—especially from dark social sources—underscoring how HDYHAU surveys surface the impact of untracked channels.

3. They’re a Goldmine for Qualitative Data

A free-form HDYHAU field can surface unexpected gems. These candid responses reveal authentic customer journeys and highlight channels that may otherwise go unnoticed, providing invaluable qualitative insights beyond standard metrics.

“Read about your product in a Reddit thread about low-sugar snacks.”

“Heard your founder on the Huberman Lab podcast.”

“Got a sample at the farmer’s market.”

These insights offer context that raw data can’t provide, helping you uncover not just where traffic is coming from, but which channels are earning trust and fueling word-of-mouth growth.

4. They’re Quick, Inexpensive, and Easy to Implement

Unlike elaborate multi-touch attribution tools or A/B tests, HDYHAU surveys are low-lift and high-impact. You can add them to your checkout flow, email sign-up form, or post-purchase survey. You can keep them open-ended or provide users with a dropdown menu that includes “Other” as an option. And when you start reviewing those responses regularly? That’s when the magic happens.

Once brands know where their customers actually hear about them, reallocating spend becomes straightforward. Summit Partners recounts a B2B tech client that discovered, via HDYHAU, that 30% of conversions came from YouTube, although analytics showed just 5%. This insight alone reshaped their content strategy.

5. They Let Customers Speak for Themselves

Customer insights often defy expectations. While you may invest heavily in platforms like video or social media, HDYHAU surveys may reveal that a significant portion of your audience first learned about your brand through podcasts or radio broadcasts.

A well-executed PR campaign might be supplemented or even surpassed by the influence of customer reviews or online community discussions.

“HDYHAU surveys help us to measure the broader impact of our advertising beyond directly attributable traffic and sales, says Foster, “So if a customer first heard about the brand on Radio but circumvented our CTA, the survey is a useful tool for capturing the credit.”

By directly soliciting this information, HDYHAU surveys eliminate assumptions and provide a clear, firsthand understanding of the channels and touchpoints that introduce your brand to potential customers.

It’s 2025. We’re all familiar with the rush of instant gratification. In fact, we have come to expect it. Perhaps rely on it. We have access to the world in our pocket. Streaming stories, news, and opinions in our ears. Endless scrolling. 

But back in the early aughts, as the vision of Strategic Media was percolating in the mind of Jeff Small, there was another avenue to that hit of dopamine.  

“We used to buy media on Rush Limbaugh for a weight loss product that we were working with, and the call center was in South Portland. So at the time we knew the spot was going to drop, we’d drive down there, walk into the call center, and just listen to the phones light up. On a bad day it could be 400 calls, and on a good day it could be a thousand. There was something so satisfying about that.” 

Now that’s instant gratification! 

Many things have changed over the last twenty five years. Particularly in the advertising industry. You can still hear the numbers of a toll-free call-to-action on the air, but they are few and far between; replaced by vanity URLS and promo codes. Getting credit for your success has changed as well. With call centers replaced by dashboards and mail orders replaced by Apple Pay. 

Strategic Media has changed as well. Since its beginning, in June 2000, CEO and founder Jeff Small has kept his eye on the ever-changing landscape of this business and has responded to it with sheer determination. For over twenty five years, alongside his employees (many of whom have been with him since almost the beginning) he has built one of the best audio advertising agencies in the country.  

Hard work, compassion, commitment. These are the qualities that transcend fleeting trends or popular opinions of the day. As a man unafraid to work harder than anyone else, Jeff brought a fight for the underdog mentality to SMI and has created a work culture driven by purpose, growth, and integrity—with no room for complacency. As a parent, he has learned to approach obstacles with creativity and a willingness to listen and learn. Taking these skills into his business, he has fostered mutual respect and an effective cohesion across teams—an approach that garnered great success, particularly in the last few years. 

The team at SMI is a collective of deep expertise and relentless perseverance that knows how to give back and have fun. Jeff’s leadership is built upon the philosophy that a job or a career is a big commitment, and so we owe it to ourselves to find meaning and joy in it so that we may bring our best selves into the office and into our work everyday.

Strategic Media is officially celebrating its 25th anniversary on June 20th as a successful business within an industry that has evolved immensely over that time. So I wanted to sit down with Jeff to see if he could predict the future as well as he could “light up the phones.”

What’s going to happen in the next 25 years?
I am anticipating the ongoing shift into the way people consume audio. I think it will continue to look different. And I think that technology will continue to alter the way that people do a lot of different things, but when we’re talking about consuming advertising, even 10 years ago, we didn’t know podcasts would move more predominantly to video, right? And we know that that’s changing more rapidly than anything. As people talk about podcasts, if you’re not talking about video at the same time, then you clearly haven’t listened, or watched many podcasts.

Is there a prominent perception in regard to audio advertising that has changed or persisted over the last 25 years?
I’d say that in the last 10 years I get the question, “People still listen to the radio!?” The idea that radio is dead? That is a common misconception. It’s a common thing that I hear from people when I tell them what I do. And obviously the answer is a resounding yes. People still listen to radio. 

There’s always conversation about which technology, tools, or channels will replace what we are familiar with, but maybe that’s not the best question?
Right, because people continue to change the definition and narrative of what constitutes a channel or medium. If you think about meta, you’re thinking social media posts and pictures, but how much of what gets delivered to you is video, right? You think about TV, and people will quickly say, well, nobody watches TV anymore. They’re streaming whatever they’re going to watch. However, TV stations and different outlets have altered their strategy and how they deliver their content. Just like radio stations have altered how they deliver their content. And it’s working. Everything is an evolution. 

And so if you ask what’s going to happen in the next 25 years? It’s going to evolve. And as a business, you also have to evolve to meet the demand of the consumer. That’s a moving target, yes, but with 25 years of experience, here at SMI we’re confident that we have the understanding of how to adjust our strategy so that we can still reach the people that are buying our customers’ products and services. 

How has the notion of purpose shaped SMI and how will it shape its future?
We’re doing the best work that we’ve done in 25 years because there is a collective understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish on a daily basis. And I know this because on a weekly or biweekly basis, every team is making sure they are aligned with their team purpose. If not, then we’re going to speak up, address it, and get back on track. We can do that because everyone feels safe enough within their teams and within the company to do so. And because of that, I believe everyone feels their work is more meaningful and rewarding. 

I’d like to ask you about your legacy of leadership—do you think about it?
I think as you get into the 25 years plus of running a business, you have to. It’s certainly on my mind. I think, okay, what are the people that I am working with now, when they go to their next job—or they continue to work here, and I’m at my next step—what are they going to say that they learned from Jeff Small? Was I a good person to work for? Was I fair? Was I someone who challenged them to push past any limitations and see that they could be better than the day before? Right now, those are the questions I’m asking myself. 

That’s what’s most important to me as an individual. Outside of that, it’s just about doing the best work we can, which allows us to say with unequivocal confidence that we truly are the best audio agency for any client to come to. That we have a group of individuals with the desire to help them crush their marketing goals, make them look good, and make their jobs easier. 

Oh, and at the end of the day, let’s have fun doing it!