5 podcast advertising opportunities not to be missed!

The podcast market is now massively popular and in 2022 its peak is not even in sight. The number of podcasts and podcast listeners is growing. What’s more, advertisers are following.  

Today there is a podcast for every interesting topic or theme: history classes, photography, ecology, crime mysteries, marketing, food,... You name it, you have it. This results in a fantastic opportunity for brands and advertisers to create an extra touchpoint with their target audiences. In this blog post you will find out about the main opportunities of podcast advertising, as well as some interesting numbers, tips and trends. Listen up folks!  

Hear, hear, hear! 

1. The rise of audio is not yet over 

Remember when they told us that ‘Video killed the radio star’? Forget about it. The worldwide number of podcast listeners is expected to rise from 424 in 2022 to 505 in 2024. These figures make podcasters a sought-after target audience for audio advertisers. Thanks to their unique format, advertisers have the opportunity to reach an audience that can’t be reached via text or video, such as while cooking, cleaning, commuting, exercising or walking. As an advertiser you have their full attention on the sound without the distraction of moving images or scrolling feeds. Did you know that 81% of podcast listeners pay close attention to what they hear, compared to 62% of social media post readers? A nice bonus: audio allows you to bypass ad blockers. 

  • 7 Average amount of shows a listener consumes/week
  • 80% listen to (almost) the entire episode
  • 54% of listeners have been convinced to buy a product after hearing a show

2. The audience’s attention is the new gold 

For starters, you can listen to a podcast anywhere, unlike watching a video or reading a message. Another advantage of podcasts is that you can reach a very engaged and moreover very niche audience with a curious and eager-to-learn attitude. These listeners are very loyal to brands and open to discovering new products and brands. This makes audio ads the perfect format for brand awareness or for generating an action-driven conversion of your audience (e.g. promo code action). Keep in mind that these audiences are completely invested when they press the play button on their favorite show. The more engaged your audience is, the better your ad conversion rates will be.

Choose wisely! 

3. Be aware of the podcast advertisement formats 

Before you choose a podcast, don’t forget that podcast hosts will also choose you and the format they want to use to promote your message, brand, service or product. Most of the time they will prefer host-read ads, as their listeners trust the podcast host(s). As a result, having them read your advertisement results in a better engagement or action. Here are some of the most common host-read formats that can make your brand talk of the town in a podcast show:  

The most used and most effective way to capture the attention of podcast listeners. These are most of the time native ads or sponsored blocks that are host-read and which blend very well with the other stories in the episode. This can be a personal experience of the host with the product. Tip: Don’t expect the host to read your script. Instead, let them talk in a natural way.

A short advertisement of 15 seconds to several minutes that mentions the brand and will thank it for sponsoring the podcast show.

An advertisement of several minutes that includes a chat or call with the client, brand or advertiser.

A series of branded podcast episodes with the presenter and the brand. They last much longer than all the other formats and are specially designed for the message of the brand or advertiser. 

4. Where to place your ad content? 

Pre-roll ads are placed at the very beginning of the podcast episode, within the first 15 seconds. They don’t last longer than 30 seconds. This is the right place to announce the brand or advertiser. Be aware that listeners are more likely to skip over these ads compared to those that play in the middle. 

Mid-roll ads are somewhere in the middle of the episode. Here you can take advantage of the fact that the listener is listening with full attention. Despite this, these ads tend to cost more than pre-roll ads. Use this place for a more in-depth talk about the brand, the USP’s or the personal experience of the host. 

Post-roll ads are the least favorite placements. Here you risk getting skipped over by people who are not paying attention. However, this is a good place to mention a short CTA with a final action.  

5. The future is bright … and programmatic 

Compared to the previously listed host-read ads, there is also another format which is the programmatic ad. These advertisements are pre-spoken by the host or pre-produced by a professional agency. 

Simply put, programmatic audio is the automated purchase of advertising space through the use of systems. This is also known as a Demand Side Platform (DSP). The DSP enables the purchase of advertising space. These systems assist marketers in effectively purchasing audio advertising space from podcasts using algorithms. A Supply Side Platform (SSP) is frequently used to manage advertising space for production companies or podcasters. This SSP ensures that there is a supply (advertising space). 

 

These dynamic ads will blend less with the content of the episode and will thus sound less authentic. However, the big advantages of programmatic advertising are: 

  • The flexibility of starting quick and changing the advertising material whenever you want 
  • The dynamic ads are only heard by relevant target groups chosen by the algorithm 
  • It gives marketeers a real-time overview of the effectiveness of their campaigns 

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