In our world today, it seems like so many of our conversations with colleagues and friends now start with “So I was listening to this podcast the other day…”

Podcasts have certainly infiltrated our daily lives and become an incredibly popular form of media. Despite the sudden sharp decrease in commute time in recent months, their popularity has only grown since we entered the coronavirus pandemic. Between March and April this year, global podcast consumption grew by 42 percent, according to Voxnest. In the US specifically, podcast listenership has grown by five percent on smart speakers.

Podcasts have served as a way to keep us occupied and connected during quarantine. For savvy brands, now is the time to capitalize on podcasts’ success and engage with this audience. To find out more about starting boost your marketing efforts with podcasts, continue reading below.

Advertising on Podcasts

Now, you might be thinking that we’re about to convince you to start your very own podcast. That’s also a cool strategy, but it’s a bigger commitment and can be challenging for brands that aren’t very familiar with podcasts yet. We think it makes more sense to start with a less daunting option that many brands may already be familiar with – podcast ads, aka the modern radio advertising spot.

Part of the genius of these audio messages is that they can fit seamlessly into any part of their audience’s day in ways that other media can’t. As with radio, people often listen to podcasts while they’re driving, exercising, cooking, shopping and doing other activities. However, podcasts are quickly overtaking traditional radio because of one little invention – the smartphone. We can access any podcast or kind of music we want with the click of a button on the device we already have glued to our hand.

Podcast listeners also tend to be more willing to listen to ads than traditional radio listeners. Podcasts usually only include a couple ads per episode, and they’re spaced throughout the show, so it’s only a brief 30 or 60 second interruption. On radio, you often have to listen to a dozen ads in a row. The second they hear a commercial pop on, people automatically reach for the dial to switch the station. Podcast listeners are far less likely to switch to a new podcast when an ad comes on. They opted in to listen to this specific series, and they intend to listen to the entire episode – ads and all.

Compared to traditional radio advertising options, podcast ads are often available at a lower cost while still boasting impressive results. Plus, these ads leave listeners with a positive impression. Seventy-eight percent of listeners approve of sponsorships, while 67 percent could recall the products and brands they heard in the ads.

Podcast Ad Benefits

One of the greatest benefits of a podcast ad is how organic it can feel to the audience. When a listener hears an ad straight from their favorite podcast host, it can sound much more genuine than the messages coming straight from the brand itself. It can sound even more compelling if you give the podcast host a few key points and let them add their own creative spin to the ad. Their audience can tell it’s authentic, and because they’re so loyal to their favorite podcasts, they’ll be more compelled to trust the recommendation.

Each year, advertisers have been increasing their ad spend on podcasts, which tells us these ads are producing real results. One example of a company who has seen rapid growth in their business after investing in podcasts is ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter first started advertising when they were just a small startup company, and though they’re a large brand now, they still use podcasts as one of their main advertising streams. Email platform Mailchimp also started sponsoring podcasts back in 2014 on the nonfiction podcast “Serial.” The series took off and became hugely popular with listeners, eventually helping Mailchimp reach more than 30 million people.

Of course, to be the most successful, you want your ad to reach a podcast audience that closely matches your target consumer group. Thankfully, there is a podcast for every topic under the sun – as of 2019, there were more than 550,000 different podcasts. With that many options to choose from, you should be able to find a number of shows that fit your group’s specific interests. If you need help defining your target audience profile, check out our article on demographics and psychographics first.