• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, June 11, 2015

As part of the partnership, iHeartMedia is investing in Unified. The size of the investment was not disclosed.

The relationship will give iHeartMedia access to analytics and targeting based on data from Unified’s Social Operating Platform, while Unified will be able to add aggregated data about iHeartMedia’s audiences to its database.

The integration of Unified’s social data will give iHeartMedia advertisers enhanced capabilities for identifying audience segments, measuring the impact of advertising, and understanding attribution for digital ads.

Data from Unified’s SOP will be combined with iHeartMedia’s audience intelligence, as well as advertising clients’ own propriety data to allow more precise targeting of consumers through broadcast radio, digital, mobile and live events, on-demand entertainment and information services.

The broadcast giant has been embracing digital technology to enable marketers to deliver ads in new and more efficient ways. Back in April, iHeartMedia announced plans to launch a programmatic ad platform for its broadcast radio stations, which will allow advertisers and agencies to programmatically purchase ads across iHeartMedia’s 850-plus radio stations.

According to iHeartMedia, ad buyers using the programmatic service will be able to target broadcast radio ads to specific audiences, such as “music-basic psychographic groups,” or tailor ads based on real-time trends, such as “weather and traffic patterns, purchase behavior and other environmental, population and consumer trends.”

Last year, iHeartMedia partnered with AdsWizz to develop new techniques for insertion of targeted audio ads in live broadcast radio streams. The system, developed with HTTP Live Streaming, enables advertisers to target listeners based on their user profiles, listening preferences, location, demographic and psychographic criteria and devices.