Pay attention: Why podcasting is winning the effectiveness battle

By Tom Roach, Creative & Strategy Lead, Australia & New Zealand

It seems simple enough: advertising that captures consumer attention is more effective. But, in a world flooded with advertising messages, what are people paying attention to?

One Australian company campaigning for the media and advertising industries to re-evaluate attention — and how it impacts business results — is Amplified Intelligence. Founder and CEO Dr Karen Nelson-Field recently launched a first-of-its-kind study, alongside authors Rob Brittain and Peter Field, examining attention as a key driver of mental availability — and why this is so important for brand growth.

And the study proved that not all media impressions are created equal.

As Dr Nelson-Field puts it: “Platforms that inherently deliver higher levels of attention drive more mental availability uplift. You can’t change the reality of human attention paid to different platforms, it is a functional reality of each platform.”

This is where podcasting comes in. It’s a unique, intimate environment where the vast majority of listening is done alone, via headphones. That means there’s more attention paid to creators’ content — and to the ads within it.

Podcasts deliver attentive audiences

According to Acast’s own Sounds Smart study, 78% of Australian listeners say podcasts provide content they want to dedicate their attention to. 77% say podcasts give them a break from other media, while 68% say they provide content they can connect with emotionally.

The level of attention podcasts attract is even more impressive when you compare it to another, more traditional audio medium: radio. In our research, respondents said radio is more likely than podcasts to be listened to as “background noise”, while podcast listeners are more likely than radio listeners to actively try to reduce distractions before hitting ‘play’.

Podcast advertising has even been shown to have higher levels of attention than TV and digital video.

A clear space for attention

Podcasts also tend to have a lower ad load than similar mediums, so there’s far less clutter — and less chance of listeners becoming bored or frustrated. At Acast, we recommend a maximum of three ad breaks per episode, at an average of around three minutes per hour of podcast content.

Ad breaks usually focus on a single brand, too, which means no brand needs to fight for their message to be heard. And, with sponsorships, trusted podcast hosts talk about your brand — allowing you to connect with a relevant audience in an environment that has already captured their attention.

Attention equals mental availability, which equals effectiveness and business impact. With podcasts commanding greater attention than almost any other media channel — and with listener numbers growing exponentially — podcasting’s position in the media mix has never been more important.

Acast hosts more than 30,000 podcasts with approximately 300 million listens every month, all around the world. If you’re interested in working with Acast and our in-house Creative team to capture listeners’ attention for your brand, get in touch at sales.apac@acast.com.