Do you want to get an idea about podcast consumption in the US? Podcasts, which were formerly considered a specialist genre, have now entered the mainstream media scene. Between 2009 and 2019, the percentage of Americans who have ever listened to an audio podcast more than doubled, from 22% to 51%. 

A podcast consumption study conducted in 2021 found that 41% of US people have listened to a podcast during the month of June, a figure that had more than tripled over the previous decade. Weekly podcast consumption has also risen dramatically, with some of the world’s biggest podcast publishers achieving millions of unique streams and downloads each month.

How to Advertise your Podcast

There are a few podcast promotion strategies that we may try to advertise our podcasts.

1. Identify target audience: Identifying your target audience is the greatest and most crucial place to start once you’re ready to start advertising podcasts. Once you’ve determined who you’re going to target, what your value proposition is, and which podcasts will reach your target audience, you’re ready to discuss your choices with the podcast presenter or their production team.
   
2. Social media promotion: With so many social media platforms available nowadays, you can simply advertise your podcasts in a variety of ways. Rich media such as videos, pictures, teasers, GIFs, and more may be shared. You may reshare the podcast episode as many times as you like before or after streaming it. You may also use video sharing services to advertise your podcast in advance by releasing behind-the-scenes footage.
   
3. Releasing episodes on launch day: A multi-launch strategy is the best way to market a podcast. According to research, the minimum number of podcast episodes required for a successful launch is three. You must at least release three to five episodes on the first day of your podcast launch. It is even better to build an audience before launching your podcast.
   
4. Converting to YouTube video: Promoting your podcast on YouTube, especially if you can convert it to a video, will be an excellent advertising approach. We will get a number of advantages as a result of this, including a video to post on other social media platforms and automated closed captioning and transcripts for you to utilize. According to research, video-rich pages are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google search results.
   
5. Giveaway contest: One of the most effective methods to promote your podcast is to have a social media giveaway contest. Request that people write you a review or tag you in their stories and posts by tagging their friends. In exchange, you may send them t-shirts, magnets, stickers, product discounts, or if you’re on a tight budget, just a shout out at the end of your podcast or a special mention in the program.

What Podcast Advertising Metrics you should look at

Podcasts are one of the most entertaining ways to communicate information. Because of the aural aspect of podcasts, listeners tend to pay attention to every word, making them an ideal audience for advertisers looking to promote their products.

There are over 90 million listeners who may be reached by advertising on the internet via podcasts in different forms. Before, during, and after the podcast, pre-recorded commercials play, while others are read live by the podcast hosts. Podcast advertising costs between $10 and $25 per thousand impressions (CPM), making it comparable with radio advertising.

In the last nine years, the number of Americans who listen to podcasts has nearly doubled, and this trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. And, as the popularity of podcasting has grown, a growing number of advertisers are taking advantage of the trend to promote their products and services.

According to Bridge Ratings’ Podcasting Audit Study, advertisers are anticipated to spend $500 million on podcast advertisements in 2021 — a trend that follows considerable historical growth in the industry.

How to go about Podcasts Ads

Advertisers can run two types of podcast ads; the 15-second pre-roll and the 60-second mid-roll.

1. Pre-roll advertisements are generally 15 seconds long and appear before the main content of the show. Here, the host will discuss the advertiser’s product or service before diving into the podcast content.
2. Mid-roll commercials are often inserted towards the middle of the broadcast, generally, after the listener has completed 40-70% of the show’s material. The host will discuss the advertiser’s material around the midway point.

Podcasting is an excellent method to advertise your business and products, but there are several pitfalls to avoid if you don’t know what you’re doing. There are three critical steps to a successful podcast advertising campaign that every business should be aware of:

• Identifying or producing podcasts that will appeal to their target audience.
• Recognizing the characteristics of the desired audience
• Tailoring the ad to the brand’s conversion objectives

Brands who understand these strategies will almost certainly discover that their podcast advertising outperforms those on other platforms. It is also important to establish the basis for locating podcasts that are a good fit for your brand or product, as well as determining what your ad will offer to your targeted listeners.

there are several chances to engage with niche audiences relevant to your industry because there are a number of podcasts available. That is why it is critical to look for podcasts that are relevant to your brand or industry. 

When an advertisement is related to the theme of a podcast series or episode, the listener may find it more natural. It’s also wise from a strategic standpoint since listeners who are engaged in this area may identify with the problems that your business seeks to tackle.

How to use Podcasts as a Marketing Strategy

There are many reasons why you should use podcasts as a marketing strategy. Some of them are discussed here to give you a good idea about it.

1. Easily accessible

Although podcasting was once popular among techies, it has since expanded to the general population. Because of the widespread availability of the internet, it is now feasible to connect with hundreds of podcasts from all over the world in an instant.

2. Effective and affordable 

As podcasts have grown in popularity and more and more people have started watching and listening to them, businesses have started podcasting campaigns. The cost of producing a podcast is quite low. All you’ll need is a nice pair of headphones and a good quality microphone.

3. Brings traffic to your business 

Through podcasts, you may reach out to a diverse audience and acquaint them with your company and brand. If you provide amazing content, people will subscribe, listen on a regular basis, and eventually convert to devoted consumers.

4. Alternative to video and written content 

A great way to engage your listeners without boring them with video or textual information is to use engaging audio content. Listeners may also listen to your podcasts while commuting to work or other places.

5. Reusing the podcast 

Podcasting allows you to produce new material that may be used in various formats. Podcast content, whether prepared, utilized, or unused, may be converted into a video, pictures, text, and advertising.

Conclusion

When utilized properly with detailed audience analytics and analysis, podcast advertising can help companies captivate an engaged audience and build not only brand awareness but instant income as a direct response channel. Advertisers may build a successful advertising campaign by customizing their commercials to a certain audience or demographic, or by matching a product to a podcaster in a related specialty.

Advertisers may use podcast advertising to get into this rapidly increasing medium, maximizing ad expenditure and reaching a new, varied audience. While you plan to amplify your podcast advertising efforts, do give a read to our blog on how to effectively promote your business on LinkedIn.

The post What You Need to Know About Podcast Advertising in 2021 first appeared on Publir.

 This relatively young and new medium is luring marketers for obvious reasons like low production cost, higher levels of reaching the targets, and the uniqueness of spoken word in a personalized manner. Let’s talk about what it can do for you and your business.

Why is Podcasting so Popular?

• It is relatively young as a communication channel that came into practice in late 2000.
• It is not overcrowded at this moment so that you can leverage its potentiality at length in reaching your target audience.
• Its relatively low cost of production and distribution involves a quiet room, a microphone, a recording device, and editing software.

• It allows you to reach your audience with diverse genres and creative content, including informational chats, discussions, inspirational talks, comedy, and more.
• Your podcast can be audio-only or may include a video as well.
• Your target audience can download their favorite podcasts and carry them to listen at their convenience.
• You do not face your customers face to face. You reach them using influential leaders that talk about your brand through inspirational podcasts, by adding creativity and innovation.

Rising Popularity for Podcast 

Podcast listening and viewing have been on the rise across the globe. As of today, there are an estimated 54 million podcast episodes and 800,000 active podcasts around the globe. Its popularity is on rising in the U.S., as 70% of the population is familiar with it. Marketers can reach this otherwise mobile population only through innovative communication channels like podcasts.

Unique Personality Traits of Podcast Lovers favors Advertisers

• There will be 125 million podcast listeners by 2022 in the U.S.
• A vast majority (80%) of podcast listeners listen to the ads inserted within the podcast episodes.
• 60% of podcast listening is happening at home; as a result, combined listening with family and friends is very common.
• 64% of listeners prefer to enjoy podcasts in cars.
• Podcast followers are highly focused and captive listeners.
• Podcast listeners spend an equal amount of time on social media platforms, where they discuss preferences, exhibit lifestyles, and share their experiences on podcasts and brands. 
• 37% of Americans aged 12 and above listen to at least one podcast each month, up from 32% in 2019.
• People aged 13 and above are spending 6% of their media time listening to podcasts, up from 2% in 2014.

Podcasts as Marketing Tool and Brand Awareness

Podcasts serve as a potential mouthpiece of the organizations in projecting organizational image, character, values, and commitment to society and customers. Brands can select the intended content to project the organizational personality as skits, dialogue, and inspirational lectures, through influencers as podcast hosts, instead of commercial ads. Sponsorships are also a good tool to use in podcasts as consumers consider the influencer’s advice seriously because they maintain an intimate relationship with the audience. Unlike TV or radio commercials, podcasts do not push brand-related information on the audience. They rather try to persuade consumers indirectly through inspirational stories and informational interviews and conversations. 

Brand building is a continuous, long-term process and brands try to establish customer loyalty by engaging them in meaningful ways. They follow different methods to make a difference in the already cluttered market that is overcrowded with brand names, as a brand’s trustworthiness matters for customer brand adoption. When Dell and EMC Corporation merged in 2016 to form Dell Technologies, Dell banked on the Trailblazers Podcast through a collection of inspirational stories. McAfee, a company that emphasizes Cybersecurity was successful in reaching its audience through its engaging podcast called Hackable that combines humor, entertainment, and educational content.

Podcast Ad Spending over the years

As the popularity grows, more ad dollars started following podcasts. It is evident from the substantial increase in ad spending on this novice medium. According to IAB Pricewaterhouse Coopers estimations, podcast ad spend was $800 million in 2020, and it will be more than double to reach $1.7 billion by 2024, registering an annual growth of 20%. 

A Magellan AI, study among the leading 400 podcasts found an increase in the average number of ads in 2020, which grew from 2.7 in April to 3.3 in September. The number of podcast advertisers grew from 603 to 855 for this period. Several “blue-chip” marketers like Amazon, Google, General Motors, Procter & Gamble, and Disney have started spending on podcast advertising. News/talk and comedy podcasts are highly demanding genres and there was a 1000% YoY increase in podcast ad spending in this category during the recent American presidential elections, registering a 72% YoY growth in Podcast advertising in 2020.

All this means that advertisers are increasingly willing to invest in podcasts in order to get the word out about their products. So any business that’s willing to form partnerships for sponsors or advertisers on their podcast won’t have far to look.

Great Media Rush for Podcast Audio Platforms

Many large brands are also starting their own podcast services. Prominent media and retail giants like Amazon, Apple, Spotify, and the New York Times have acquired podcast audio platforms in 2020. Spotify has spent $235 million in acquiring Megaphone, a podcast advertising and publishing platform in 2020. Spotify currently has 2.2 million podcasts on its platform and the time spent listening to podcasts on Spotify was more than double. 

In July 2020, Amazon acquired Wondery and SiriusXM has acquired Stitcher from E. W. Scripps for $235 million. Stitcher owns 50 podcasts and runs an ad-supported free listening app as well as an ad-free premium version for $4.99 a month. In June 2020, SiriusXM had acquired Simplecast, a top podcast management platform that allows podcasters to publish, manage, and measure content. In July 2020, The New York Times has acquired a podcast studio from ‘Serial’  productions. The Times had generated $36 million in revenue from podcasts in 2020, compared to $29 million in 2019.

Podcast content from NPR, Cumulus Media/Westwood One, NBC News, WarnerMedia, Fox News, and Beasley Media Group were popular throughout 2020 and there is no end in the list of celebrities, political and media personalities joining this field as podcast hosts, adding more passion, color, charm, and popularity. 

Final Thoughts

Podcasts are popular communications and marketing channels to reach a highly passionate and captive audience. If delivered at scale, marketers can reach a niche audience with their branding and marketing messages effectively. 

The post Exploring Unique Features of Podcasting for Marketing and Brand Building first appeared on Publir.