What do analytic platforms show? Globally the podcast market is 250m, 25% market growth. However, there is a podcast world outside the US. Podcast discovery was made easy on Apple due to podcasts being available on the home screen. In the rest of the world it isn’t so clear cut as Android is more prevalent. Podcast listening in 2016 saw massive growth – UK, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden. Advertisers are also coming to this new digital media. Brands are interested in podcasting due to the highly engaged audiences – 46% male and 52% female. They are young 75% 18-44, affluent, really engaged, and 77% support podcast advertising.
In a new study listeners listen mostly at home, in the car and at work. 40% of people buy after hearing about products and services on a podcast for European audiences (in the US this figure is 60%).
For podcast advertising there are live reads – these are premium sales and tell an authentic story however you need to find the right voice for these ads. Another issue is about tracking the audience analytics, in the US they use promo codes and or a vanity URL which is repeated through the podcast. Spot advertising and branded content are also used within in podcasts.
There are some areas which need to be considered; How do podcasts get into media strategies in agencies, how do podcasters keep their voice, how do podcasters keep diversity of population and language – this is a challenge in Europe and what are the analytics and distribution methods.
The big question is how do advertisers know that people are listening to a podcast? Apple are going to share skip rates and completion times this is hugely valuable for agencies. Outside of the US the primary issue is how do people listen, a game changer are the new audio hubs in home which let us connect easily to local podcasts. For brands you may be order through this device and this is very exciting.
