IAB expects podcast ad spend to reach more than $500 million in 2019, representing a growth of approximately 65% in just two years. For podcasts seeking advertisers, demonstrating the impact of podcast advertising is not just nice-to-have, but soon just need-to-have. Podcast download numbers can help advertisers understand which podcasts are popular, but they don’t tell brand managers about the impact their podcast ads are having on consumers.
All kinds of advertisers worden serieus over podcast reclame.From major and well-known consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands to start-ups in the ever-evolving technology sector, they are all experimenting with podcast advertising. Why? Because they actively monitor podcast listener engagement and reap the benefits. In fact, many popular brands track the performance of their podcast ads, from brands with a whopping 69% top-of-mind awareness, to lesser-known brands with just 17% awareness.
Based on data from nearly 50 custom studies conducted by Nielsen over the past 18 months, podcast advertising has shown that it can influence much of the data that is important to advertisers. Podcast advertising has been shown to positively impact key objectives such as increasing awareness, ad recall, engagement, recommendation, and purchase intent.
Unlike other media, host-read spots (commercial messages read by the presenter) are very common in podcasts. And as such, it’s important for brands to understand how well the ads are woven into the program’s content. Based on the studies conducted, Nielsen found that brands and podcasters are doing a good job of integrating ads into podcast content. 64% of respondents agree that they think the ad is a good fit with the podcast’s content. This is a great opportunity for brands to find shows that resonate with their audiences.
Additional Resources
- ARF AudienceXScience Conference Agenda
- ARF AudienceXScience Conference in New Jersey on April 16, 2019.
- Nielsen Podcast Insights, Q3 2017
- A Marketer’s Guide to Podcasting, Q1, 2018
- The Database Podcast: The Business of Podcasting
- If You Create It, Will They Come? Producing Podcast Content to Build Your Listener Base, Q2 2016
Methodology
Nielsen’s branded content testing suite has the ability to evaluate the advertising effectiveness of brand sponsorships in podcasts. Measurement focuses on three key areas of podcast sponsorships:
- Purchase funnel metrics like familiarity, recommendation and purchase intent
- Memorability or recall of the ads
- Attributes and perception of both the content and advertising
This research has enabled us to develop Podcast Ad Effectiveness benchmarks to provide normative averages to Nielsen’s podcast clients. Nielsen podcast effectiveness benchmarks provide directional guidance for individual campaign effectiveness compared to Nielsen’s averages for unaided recall, aided recall, familiarity, affinity, purchase intent, recommendation intent, brand fit, and content rating.
