Who Are You Going to Reach?
Harness the Power of Digital Audio: Part 2
Welcome to part two of our guide to buying podcasts. If you missed it, make sure to check out part one first.
All caught up? Here we’re going to break down listening trends, podcasts’ inclination for building ad-friendly environments, and identifying what makes the audience unique.
As attention spans become more fragmented, there is one place where brands can still reach an unduplicated audience that’s increasingly unreachable by traditional media — podcasts. Half of U.S.households, as studied by Nielsen, are currently home to fans of at least one podcast. In addition to the steady growth in awareness and listening over the past few years, listeners are becoming more diverse. In just 12 months, non-white listeners have grown 20%, up to 36% in 2017.
A better ad experience:
- 83% agree the host is authentic and natural in delivering the ads
- 78% don’t mind the ads because they know sponsors support the podcast.
- Over half (57%) of the podcast ads tested outperformed video pre-roll in driving purchase intent lift
They’re paying attention:
- 55% pay more attention to ads on podcasts vs. ads on other mediums
- Two-thirds of listeners 18–49 have acted on ads they heard in a podcast either by researching a product or service or by actually purchasing something they first heard about in an episode
- 74% of our pod listeners are likely to purchase a product from their favorite host
So who’s listening:
- Millennials heart podcasts: about 4 in 10 listeners (44%) are 18–34
- They’re technologically active: 81% of podcast subscribers listen on mobile devices and 48% follow brands on social media
- They have disposable income: 75% make $75K or more, over 30% make $100K or more
- Pod fans are an ambitious bunch: nearly 60% have college or grad-level education, 75% are employed
- And speaking of work: Podcast listening peaks during the workweek, and prevails during work hours over music
The audience you’re going to reach simply comes down to the content you buy. Want vegan urban moms or farmers in the Midwest? There’s a podcast targeting those audiences. The combination of targetability and the receptivity to advertising is what makes podcasts work.
