Podcast

Consistent and remarkable growth of both content and listeners, combined with the format of the medium, are creating a new area of advertising that could be argued to be the most engaging approach to the consumer in history.

7.1 million people in the UK listen to podcasts weekly, up 24% from 2018.

That’s an eighth of the population. (Ofcom, 2019)

If you looked five years ago, the number was cut in half.

What’s important, too, is who’s listening. The podcast format, to sweep generally, is mostly used by the younger generations, particularly millennials. This generally is a key target demographic for any modern business.

On the face of it, the sheer numbers and demographic of listeners show us that this is an advertising medium that businesses cannot ignore. 

Photo by Marty O’Neill on Unsplash

You could be assumed then that podcasts are becoming a natural rival to the more traditional radio format.

You’d be wrong though.

Podcasts like 5live’s Tailender’s that are both uploaded to stream and broadcast each week are driving the podcast audience into radio, boosting listening figures. (Rajar, 2019)

But that’s not it.

We have to think about where people are listening to podcasts.

The majority of listening is done through smartphones. With this, your consumer is listening to their favourite podcast much closer to the point of purchase than in many other mediums.

This is important to a number of heavily advertised industries. For example, if a 9-to-5 worker is out grabbing a meal deal for their lunch, they could hear your advert as they’re standing at the shelf.

Hence, your advert could greatly influence their decision: your brand could be foremost in their most recent memory.

Further, traditionally, radio has been touted to be advertising’s most trusted medium. This is due to a number of factors.

One such factor is the idea of conversational content. The conversational style that is found in most of radio offers a more personable approach to the listener, kindling both more engagement and more trust.

This factor is amplified in transition to the podcast medium.

When a consumer listens to a podcast, they actively choose to engage with whatever content is being discussed: whether it be football, or beauty, or any number of the vast subjects discussed in the podcast sphere. 

For an advertiser this must be considered low-hanging fruit.

You have a consumer that is immersed in content, usually wearing headphones, listening to a subject that they have chosen to engage in.

Through this, with the appropriate message, you know both that you’re targeting the right person and that they’re definitely hearing whatever you want them to hear.

With this, podcasting is not only poised to be a consumer’s most trusted medium, but an advertiser’s most trusted vehicle too.

If you’d like to find out more about what podcasts could do for your business.

Henry