Smartly integrates Spotify Ads Manager for cross-channel campaigns

Smartly announced September 3, 2025, its integration with Spotify Ads Manager, enabling advertisers to manage audio, display, and video campaigns directly through its AI-powered platform alongside other major digital channels. The partnership combines Spotify's engaged listener base with Smartly's automated creative production and cross-channel measurement capabilities.

According to the announcement, advertisers will build Spotify-compatible ad formats in minutes using generative AI tools and intelligent templates. The integration allows social media assets to be repurposed for audio campaigns with AI-guided budget allocations and unified measurement across channels.

"Advertising is at its best when creativity, media, and intelligence work in harmony to reach people in the moments that matter," said KMac, Chief Commercial Officer at Smartly. "Spotify commands consumer attention, and together we're turning that attention into foresight, personalization, and outcomes."

The partnership addresses growing demand for streamlined multi-platform campaign management. Marketing teams historically faced operational challenges with manual trafficking, creative rework, and siloed reporting when managing campaigns across multiple channels. Smartly's integrations with other platforms have demonstrated significant efficiency gains for advertisers managing high-volume campaigns.

Spotify's advertising expansion momentum

Spotify has pursued aggressive advertising technology expansion throughout 2025. The platform launched programmatic ad capabilities in April and expanded automated podcast buying to 170 million listeners across 12 markets in July.

According to Spotify data cited in the announcement, the platform provides 22% more reach than social channels and 27% more than traditional television. Pairing audio and video campaigns versus audio-only approaches drives a 35% lift in purchase intent, converting attention into measurable action.

Per Sandell, VP of Product at Spotify, emphasized the strategic importance of simplified campaign creation. "Through Smartly's AI-powered creative, automation, and measurement capabilities, advertisers will be able to plan, build, and optimize their Spotify campaigns entirely within Smartly's workflow," Sandell stated.

However, Spotify's advertising business has faced execution challenges. The platform reported declining ad revenues in Q2 2025, with ad-supported revenue falling 1% year-over-year to €453 million despite growing 433 million ad-supported monthly active users.

Cross-channel automation becomes industry standard

The Smartly-Spotify partnership reflects broader industry trends toward unified campaign management platforms. Major advertising technology companies have prioritized cross-platform automation to address fragmented digital advertising landscapes.

Smartly supports over 700 brands and manages $6 billion in ad spend globally through partnerships with Amazon, Google, Meta, Pinterest, Reddit, Snap, and TikTok. The company has demonstrated PwC-validated results including 5.5x return on ad spend and 42 minutes saved per hour.

Recent developments in AI-powered advertising automation have accelerated platform adoption. Google's Display & Video 360 reported 60% cost reduction through enhanced automation technology. Meta's generative AI advancesdemonstrated 22% return on ad spend improvements for Advantage+ campaigns.

The integration arrives as advertisers diversify channel strategies beyond traditional social and television advertising. Audio streaming platforms offer incremental reach opportunities, particularly for reaching younger demographics where traditional media consumption patterns have shifted significantly.

Technical implementation and measurement capabilities

The Spotify Ads Manager integration provides comprehensive campaign creation tools within Smartly's existing interface. Users can generate creative assets using AI-powered templates and modular editing systems without platform-switching requirements.

Creative automation addresses scalability challenges for advertisers managing diverse format requirements across multiple platforms. Smartly's creative capabilities enable clients to produce over 150 million creative variants monthly through automated tools.

Cross-platform reporting dashboards consolidate Spotify performance data with results from other advertising channels managed through Smartly. This unified measurement approach addresses attribution challenges in multi-channel campaign assessment.

The platform's optimization algorithms operate across channels in real-time, enabling budget reallocation based on performance data. According to company data, full-funnel performance optimization has demonstrated up to 38% reduction in cost per action for advertisers utilizing creative automation capabilities.

Industry context and competitive landscape

Audio advertising represents a growing segment within digital advertising portfolios. Spotify's Q1 2025 results showed 8% ad revenue growth driven by automated buying tools, with over 10,000 advertisers utilizing new automation features.

The platform's user authentication provides targeting advantages compared to cookie-based systems used in traditional programmatic advertising. Logged-in user data enables deterministic audience identification rather than probabilistic matching, potentially improving campaign attribution and frequency management.

Connected television and audio streaming continue gaining advertising investment as traditional linear television viewership declines. Industry analysis indicates CTV consistently delivers exceptional results, prompting increased spending across digital video formats.

Spotify's positioning at the intersection of content, context, and culture provides unique advertising environments. The platform's recommendation algorithms and playlist curation create contextual advertising opportunities beyond demographic targeting approaches.

Implementation timeline and availability

The Spotify Ads Manager integration will become available to all Smartly customers in coming weeks. No specific rollout timeline was provided in the September 3 announcement.

Smartly ranked as leader in The Forrester Wave for Creative Advertising Technologies. The platform unifies creative and media production to optimize campaigns across channels while maintaining strategic partnerships with major media platforms.

Spotify reported 696 million users including 276 million subscribers across more than 180 markets. The platform offers access to over 100 million tracks, nearly 7 million podcast titles, and 350,000 audiobooks.

The partnership represents Smartly's continued expansion of automated advertising capabilities following recent integrations with Reddit and other major platforms. Industry momentum toward AI-powered marketing automation has accelerated adoption of unified campaign management systems.

Timeline

• January 2023: Smartly.io sells majority stake to Providence Equity Partners for €200 million investment
• March 2022: Smartly.io launches budget visualizer and dynamic local inventory ads for retail automation
• April 6, 2025: Spotify launches programmatic ad exchange and AI-powered creative tools
• April 29, 2025: Spotify's ad revenue climbs 8% as automation tools transform platform
• May 22, 2025: Reddit launches Dynamic Product Ads with Smartly integration
• June 30, 2025: Reddit launches full Smartly integration for automated campaign management
• July 11, 2025: Spotify expands automated podcast buying to 170 million listeners
• August 3, 2025: Spotify advertising faces challenge as Q2 revenue drops 1% year-over-year
• September 3, 2025: Smartly announces Spotify Ads Manager integration

PPC Land explains

AI-Powered Automation: Artificial intelligence systems that automatically manage advertising campaigns without constant human intervention. These systems analyze performance data, optimize targeting, adjust budgets, and create creative assets in real-time. AI-powered automation has become essential for managing complex multi-platform campaigns, with platforms like Smartly demonstrating significant efficiency gains through automated workflows that can save advertisers 42 minutes per hour while improving campaign performance.

Cross-Channel Measurement: The ability to track and analyze advertising performance across multiple platforms and media channels within a unified dashboard. This approach addresses the historical challenge of siloed reporting where advertisers struggled to understand how campaigns on different platforms contributed to overall business objectives. Cross-channel measurement enables budget optimization based on comprehensive performance data rather than platform-specific metrics.

Programmatic Advertising: Automated buying and selling of advertising inventory through technology platforms using real-time bidding mechanisms. This approach streamlines ad purchasing compared to traditional direct sales relationships, enabling greater targeting precision and campaign optimization. Spotify's adoption of programmatic capabilities through its Ad Exchange represents a fundamental shift toward algorithmic purchasing systems that can scale more efficiently than manual processes.

Creative Automation: Technology-driven systems that generate, test, and optimize advertising creative assets at scale using artificial intelligence and machine learning. Creative automation addresses production bottlenecks by enabling rapid generation of multiple creative variants tailored to different audiences, formats, and platforms. Smartly's clients produce over 150 million creative variants monthly through automated tools, demonstrating the scalability potential of these systems.

Connected TV (CTV): Internet-enabled televisions that allow viewers to access streaming services and digital content beyond traditional broadcast programming. CTV advertising has emerged as a significant growth area as viewership shifts from linear television to streaming platforms. Industry analysis indicates CTV consistently delivers exceptional results, with buyers expecting 47% of CTV inventory to become programmatically biddable, representing substantial growth opportunities for automated advertising platforms.

Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): A marketing metric that measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising campaigns. ROAS serves as a key performance indicator for campaign effectiveness and budget allocation decisions. Smartly has demonstrated PwC-validated results including 5.5x ROAS, while specific implementations have shown improvements such as Reddit's Dynamic Product Ads driving 400% higher incremental ROAS compared to other social platforms.

Monthly Active Users (MAUs): The total number of unique users who engage with a platform within a 30-day period, serving as a key indicator of reach and potential advertising audience. Spotify's ad-supported MAUs grew 10% year-over-year to 433 million users, demonstrating the platform's expanding advertising inventory despite revenue challenges. This metric helps advertisers understand the scale of potential audience reach across different platforms.

Audio Advertising: Marketing messages delivered through sound-based media including streaming platforms, podcasts, and digital radio. Audio advertising offers unique engagement opportunities as listeners often consume content during activities where visual attention is unavailable. Spotify's data indicates audio and video campaign combinations drive 35% higher purchase intent compared to audio-only approaches, highlighting the format's effectiveness for driving consumer action.

Generative AI: Artificial intelligence systems capable of creating new content including text, images, audio, and video based on prompts or existing data. In advertising contexts, generative AI enables rapid creative production without traditional design resources or extensive production timelines. The technology addresses scalability challenges for advertisers managing diverse creative requirements across multiple platforms and audience segments.

Budget Optimization: Automated systems that allocate advertising spend across campaigns, platforms, and audience segments to maximize performance objectives such as conversions or return on investment. These systems analyze real-time performance data to redistribute budgets toward highest-performing elements while reducing spend on underperforming components. Cross-campaign budget optimization enables advertisers to pool resources and allow algorithms to determine optimal allocation strategies rather than manual budget management approaches.

Summary

Who: Smartly, the AI-powered advertising platform, partnered with Spotify to integrate Ads Manager capabilities. Key executives include KMac, Chief Commercial Officer at Smartly, and Per Sandell, VP of Product at Spotify.

What: An integration allowing advertisers to run Spotify audio, display, and video campaigns directly through Smartly's platform alongside other digital channels. The partnership combines AI-powered creative automation with cross-channel measurement and budget optimization.

When: The partnership was announced September 3, 2025, with integration becoming available to all Smartly customers in the coming weeks.

Where: The integration operates within Smartly's existing platform interface, serving global advertisers across Spotify's 180+ markets reaching 696 million users including 276 million subscribers.

Why: The partnership addresses operational challenges in multi-platform campaign management including manual trafficking, creative rework, and siloed reporting. It aims to unify creativity, media, and intelligence to reach audiences more effectively while providing incremental reach beyond social and traditional television advertising.