In recent years, podcasts have emerged as one of the most popular and engaging digital mediums in the US, making them an incredibly valuable advertising opportunity.
In our new report, we offer perspectives on the opportunities brands have to reach the diverse and valuable audiences captivated by podcasts.
By combining consumer perceptions with data on their podcast engagement behaviors, we paint an insightful picture of how podcast listeners think about the commercial messages they hear, as well as whether these messages compel them to action.
Perceptions: We surveyed 34,841 consumers in DISQO’s audience from April 6 to 8, 2023. Questions focused on podcast utilization (e.g., how often, which platforms, concurrent behaviors), podcast search/discovery (e.g., where they get recommendations, allure of host versus content), and advertising perceptions (e.g., sentiment, attention).
Behavior: We metered and analyzed opted-in audience members’ digital behaviors to cultivate a unique view of traffic to specific podcasting apps and websites (e.g., Spotify, Audible, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts), as well as other relevant online consumer purchase journey behaviors. We examined what percent of podcast-specific digital behavior originated from various demographic subgroups (age, income, gender), as well as how these behaviors have changed in the past year.
We found that podcast listeners are highly engaged and receptive to the messages they hear during their favorite shows. We also learned about the diversity of listeners - which segments are strongest now, and which are seeing outsized growth in recent time periods. Our report also covers how marketers can succeed with distinct advertising formats (e.g., host-read ads).
Click here to download the report, and keep reading for a short preview.
Attitudes + behavior = a full podcast picture In our survey, we asked consumers how often they engage with podcasts. The chart below helps brands and marketers diagnose the podcasting landscape from a variety of vantage points, focusing on the segments with the largest current reach (e.g., male, high-income, younger, high education), as well as those with untapped opportunity.
Using DISQO’s unique and scaled view of opted-in digital behaviors, we also studied site visitation with some of the largest podcasting platforms (Spotify, Apple, Audible, Google). We wanted to uncover how different demographic segments behaved relative to podcast engagement. Our findings strongly reinforce the self-reported survey data about podcast behaviors. Many segments are strong in both self-reported usage (above) and actual observed visitation (below). One of the unique advantages of working with DISQO and our opted-in audience is the ability to have single-source access to perceptions and behaviors from the same consumers; it’s the best way to close the say/do gap.
Ad testing and advertising measurement - essential to your podcasting success!
As the podcast landscape continues to grow and evolve, brands, agencies, and the podcasting platforms themselves should stay attuned to customer experience (CX), including experiences with ads and other commercial messages. They should evaluate their campaign strategies early with A/B creative assessments using
Ad Testing), and measure
Brand Lift and
Outcomes Lift continuously. By understanding consumer sentiment and behavior throughout the full cycle of campaign strategy and measurement, they can optimize their investments and showcase downstream impacts on brand CX and purchase journey behaviors, all the way through to sales.
DISQO is here to help you win with podcast advertising.
Be sure to download our report.