The US small business audience is both large and fragmented. According to the SBA’s 2025 profile, there are more than 36 million small businesses nationwide, including nearly 30 million operating without employees and another 5.7 million with fewer than 20 employees.

For one insurance brand, helping small business owners research and purchase commercial insurance meant reaching them throughout a complex buying journey. That required precise targeting and sustained engagement as they evaluated their coverage options.

After a successful three-month pilot campaign, the brand and its agency expanded their audio strategy in 2026 with five times the budget, more granular audience targeting, and a broader mix of streaming audio and podcast inventory.

Working with AdsWizz, the brand and its agency launched an audio campaign targeting small business owners and decision-makers with one to four employees across streaming audio, podcast, and premium publisher inventory.

As performance data became available, the team refined the podcast strategy by segmenting audiences into three groups: general small business owners, hospitality businesses, and tradespeople, including construction and project management professionals.

To optimize campaign performance, AudioPixel connected audio exposure to website conversions, allowing the team to retarget non-converters, suppress converted users, and shift budget toward the highest-performing channels. A Lucid brand lift study complemented the attribution data by measuring brand awareness and consideration, giving the team insight into both lower-funnel performance and overall brand impact.

Together, AudioPixel attribution and the Lucid brand lift study showed how the campaign influenced both conversions and brand perception.

Campaign Performance

From January through May 2026, the campaign delivered 60 million audio impressions across streaming and podcast publishers while achieving a 98.2% listen-through rate and an average monthly frequency of 4.4.

Adults ages 45-54 generated the highest impression volume at 29 million impressions while also producing the strongest unique conversion rates for both landing page visits and quote requests.

Brand Lift

The Lucid brand lift study showed a 6.2% lift in brand awareness and a 5.4% lift in brand consideration. Among audiences actively shopping for small business insurance, brand consideration increased by 7.7%, demonstrating particularly strong performance among high-intent consumers.

Optimization Insights

AudioPixel attribution revealed that streaming audio publishers outperformed podcast publishers in unique visit rates for both the landing page and quote request page. These findings identified the highest-performing channels, giving the team a stronger foundation for future media planning and optimization.