Why you should invest your ad budgets in podcasts

Is there a medium with proven growth, that reaches high spending consumers, and that delivers when it comes to ad recall, affinity, recommendation and purchase intent?

The answer is yes - podcasting. There’s now a wealth of research showing that podcast advertising outperforms other advertising channels. Let’s look at some of these statistics:

Listeners are more likely to remember - and buy - from you

Media group Slate carried out a study showing that podcast units were more thantwice as successful than banner ads in driving statistically significant lifts in BrandAwareness and Ad Recall.

Nielsen and Midroll conducted similar research which had an even better result,showing that podcasts deliver over four times better brand recall than display ads.

The same research by Nielsen also looked at purchasing intent. Nielsen took twogroups of consumers. One was played as an ad mid-roll in a podcast (sourceAdWeek), and one was not. The group that heard the ad was 61% likely to purchasethe product, compared to 56% who didn’t hear it.

Podcasts allow you to target consumers effectively

One of the key points Nielsen makes in its research is the power of targeting, andthe fact that whatever your brand and product, there is a podcast for you in terms ofsubject matter or audience match.

Nielsen found that almost two thirds of consumers (64%) said that the ad theyheard or the sponsor was a good fit with the podcast content.

To take a few examples from the Wondery catalogue to show how this could work for airlines.

Say you are launching a new route to Italy. Anyone listening to the Fall of Rome podcast series, is by definition almost certainly interested in classical history and monuments.

Or, if you are launching a new premium cabin, a business focused podcast like Business Wars will deliver the right kind of audience.

You build a deeper relationship with the audience

To take our example of an airline launching a new route to Italy, say you sponsored(or even produced) a 10, 15 or 20 minute YouTube show, how many viewers wouldwatch most of the way through?

Most research seems to suggest that you lose the majority of viewers after aroundthree minutes as they scroll away and find something more interesting on theirsmartphone, laptop, tablet or PC. And don’t forget that on Facebook and Instagram,a view can be as little as three seconds to count.

Contrast that with podcasts, where 80% listen to either most or all of the podcastepisode. In an age of shortening attention spans, podcast listeners are loyal andreally do engage with the content all the way through.

You reach consumers who ignore TV ads

You lose a lot of your nominal online video audience, but the same is true for traditionalTV.

According to an IPG Media Lab study, 29% aren’t even in the room while the ad isplaying for the minimum two seconds for it to count as a view.

That’s if they watch live TV in the first place. A study last year of 2000 US and 1000 UK consumers found that 53% of consumers no longer watch commercials on live television, while a quarter (including 40% of millenials) watch no live TV at all.

So how can you reach them? Podcasts are one way. A survey found that 8/10 of podcast listeners surveyed said that they also subscribe to a service like Netflix.

Streaming services like Netflix of Amazon Prime Video of course match podcasts, in that they allow people to consume content at their convenience.

Advertising withWondery

Our partner this month is Wondery, which reaches more than 12 Million unique listeners every month and is the youngest and the only independent network ranked within the Top 5 Publishers by Podtrac.

Existing partners include major brands such as Hulu, Uber,Unilever and 20th Century Fox.

If you are an airline marketing manager, Wondery can build a cus-tomized media plan with podcasts that reach audiences aligned with key demographics, geography and affinities.

Wondery will also work with you on the creatives, and can produce high-quality traditional ads, custom content, and multi-platform integrated programs.

Finally, Wondery offers third party verified delivery data from the industry’s leading host platform, Art 19. It’s podcast campaigns are accurate and effective, making Wondery a trusted partner for hundreds of brands worldwide.

For more information, go to the Wondery website.