The Podcast Value Equation
(or how I learned to stop worrying and love the ad sales)
Short but sweet this week.
The main headline: People (advertising brands) are sleeping on the impact of Podcast Advertising. We, as an industry, need to change that.
This past Saturday at SXSW, the Sounds Profitable team presented a series of slides on podcast efficacy. The data will be presented in full at Podcast Movement so, for now, we’re just going to pull a few key, topline highlights, including leading with one stat from a prior research study conducted by Paramount Global.
Why brands need to consider adding podcasting to your media mix
Podcast buys reach net-new consumers when added to TV. For adults 18-34, there is an incremental reach of 19% (Paramount)
Podcasts provide fantastic top of the funnel awareness, ranking at 69% in terms of discovering new brands and products
And podcasts also excel at bottom of the funnel metrics, again scoring extremely high against other mediums with 53% of respondents noting they are more likely to purchase a product advertised on this medium
Two key takeaways from this data:
For companies that can provide true omni-platform support (such as Paramount Global), podcasting represents an opportunity for brands to increase their ability to reach consumers, wherever they might be.
And for brands looking at publishers not tied into larger media ecosystems, podcasting still provides some of the best top and bottom of the funnel metrics you can find.
Between SXSW and Hot Pod, I’ve had multiple conversations with senior podcast execs, all of whom agree that continued education about the impact podcast advertising can have is critical to our growth as an industry.
So this represents the start of the education process from the Paramount side. More in the coming weeks, excited to go on this journey and expect more details (and outreach) over the coming weeks.
And now the (abbreviated) news:
iHeart hosted their annual podcast awards on Tuesday at SXSW
Congratulations to Podcast of the Year “New Heights” - it continues to be a big year for all things both Kelce and Swift and the pod is worth a listen
Special call out to our own Mobituaries with Mo Rocca- nominated as a Best History Podcast
Will also note the category of “Best Ad Read” of the year and winner, Smartless - one key component of efficacy are the reads and good for all of us to both celebrate (and emulate) best of breed
Apple Podcast launches transcriptions for podcasts
This is a large (and important) undertaking and represents the first time that almost all podcasts can now be fully accessible
Will throw to a great explainer on the service from the always reliable Podnews, found HERE
That’s all for this week. Thank you again for the continued support and kind words, great to meet so many people these past two weeks to discuss both business and newsletter, means a lot and excited for where things are headed in 2024.