I’ve been wasting valuable time listening to podcasts, and I bet your target audience has been, too. Why not take advantage of this and reach out to them?
In the ever-shifting world of digital advertising, podcasts – serialized audio shows – are a fast-growing medium worth considering:
- Allows targeting by attitude / preference / affinity rather than simple demographics
- Highly engaged (addicted) audience – self-selected by interest in the subject matter
- Loyal audience – regularly tune in to serial episodes – facilitating multiple exposures
- Multi-platform accessibility – web, mobile, etc. – because listeners need continuity
- Personal reading of ads by host(s) – ideally live reads – are more authentic and compelling
- Bite-sized – typically 15-60 minutes per episode
For example, I listen to Casefile, one of the many true crime podcasts. The ads seem to fit the tenor of the podcast, and because they are read live in a conversational style by the host, they seem more genuine and less likely to be skipped.
My behavior has changed because of this podcast – – I’m more likely to walk the dog (plus!) for some alone time with my podcast. More likely to ignore family members, professional obligations, personal growth (minus!) by finding excuses to listen to my podcast. Ultimately, though, I’m listening attentively to who murdered whom, and I pay more attention to the ads than I would in other settings.
According to iab research, podcast advertising spending is growing fast – – from $169 million in 2016, it almost doubled to $314 million in 2017, and is expected to double again to $659 million by 2020. At some point it will level off, but for now it is an evolving advertising option in growth mode.
Podcasts can help you get smart (or distracted) on topics ranging from personal finance to true crime to trends in medicine to true crime to politics to true crime to business to true crime. Not surprisingly, podcast audiences vary widely by subject matter.
Stitcher is one of several sites that rank listenership of podcasts, among other things. Most podcasts have well-defined audiences. Top-rated My Favorite Murder, for example, has female hosts and skews highly female, while its true-crime male-hosted counterpart Last Podcast on the Left, skews more male. Mostly because those guys can be pretty disgusting. https://www.stitcher.com/stitcher-list/all-podcasts-top-shows
More interesting, podcast audiences also vary widely by geography. Why Illinois prefers Felonious Florida and neighboring Indiana prefers Stuff You Should Know, may remain a mystery.
At any rate, mark this as a medium that’s on the rise. If you haven’t listened to a podcast, audit one from the Stitcher list.
One caution – normal FCC language restrictions don’t apply. So be careful – – some of these podcasts can get quite earthy.
An additional trigger warning: they can be addicting. My 20-something daughters referred me to the aforementioned My Favorite Murder, hosted by two very talented female improvisational comedians, and which consists of 50% true crime and 50% random stuff that women apparently discuss among themselves and which should have zero appeal. (“ate 2 pints of Halo Top, stayed in my sweats all day, that’s ok, right?”, etc.)
Rationally I shouldn’t be that interested. But now I need my fix.
Which is great for the dog, and great for advertisers.
The Armchair MBA 