Podcasts are the medium of attention

With peaks of 200 million monthly listeners according to Médiamétrie, the podcast audience in France is continuing to grow, particularly among the younger generations. This is a golden opportunity for advertisers to diversify their advertising channels. According to a recent Ipsos study, podcasts offer exceptional attention and highly effective targeting. Here’s why you should include them in your communication campaigns, with the figures to back this up. 

Listeners are particularly receptive to advertising in podcasts

Digital audio offers unprecedented opportunities for advertisers. According to an Ipsos survey commissioned by Targetspot, it stands out as the medium that offers the best attention to advertising, ahead of all other channels most often found in advertising campaigns. The attention score for podcasts is 27%, compared to 23%, 20% and 17% for display, television and online video. In fact, it rises to 32% and 30% for the 16-34 and 35-54 age groups. This is anything but surprising when you consider how personal and immersive listening to a podcast is, with very few ads per hour of listening.

Digital audio advertising is well perceived and noticed by listeners

In addition to capturing the attention of listeners, audio advertising in podcasts is particularly well perceived by consumers, especially the 35-54 age group. Respondents even describe campaigns as “inspiring” (34%), “relevant” (39%) and “credible” (42%) when listened to through podcasts.

Podcasts open up very interesting opportunities for advertisers. Listeners not only notice these advertisements, they actually welcome them in an extremely positive way. 

The Ipsos study for Targetspot was conducted in the French market. Other sources indicate that the French case is far from unique.

Studies from other countries demonstrate the power of advertising in podcasts.

• According to a 2021 study among US listeners who listen to at least five hours of podcasts per week¹, 74% have visited the website of a company mentioned in a podcast ad. 65% have purchased a product or service after hearing an ad on a podcast.
• Overall, according to eMarketer⁴, around 70 million people in the UK, Germany, Spain, France and Italy consumed podcasts in 2021. In parallel, the world of podcast advertising has matured. In particular, the dynamic insertion of pre-recorded advertisements (“announcer-read” format) has developed in addition to sponsorship messages read by podcasters (“host-read” format). 

Digital audio in advertising is gaining traction, but who listens to podcasts?

Podcast advertising reaches a specific, qualified and receptive audience: the podcast listener takes time out in a “fast” world.

The podcast persona⁵ is urban, young and highly educated. They are ultra-connected but shun traditional media such as television or radio. The podcast is a medium that targets loyal and committed listeners. 80% of podcast consumers say that this medium allows them to take their time in a world where everything moves too fast⁶. At the same time, it is also a type of content that fits perfectly into a mobile lifestyle and can be listened to while doing something else. Considered as a “slow media”, the podcast gives you time to learn. 

Coming back to advertising, 88% of the weekly listeners surveyed think that podcasts are a good means of communication for brands. How can podcasts be integrated into the media mix strategy?

Attention scores for digital audio advertising are generally high among younger populations. And here’s a good sign: the current reach of podcasts leaves plenty of room for future growth. The 35-54 age group is the ideal target group for branding. The Ipsos study shows that this population perceives podcast ads as “inspiring”, “relevant” and “surprising”.

Why should a brand integrate podcasts into its media mix strategy?

The figures from the independent Ipsos survey clearly show that a winning strategy combines popular digital audio media (internet radio, music streaming) with less widespread but highly effective media such as podcasts.

While podcasting still has a limited weekly penetration (19%), digital audio as a whole has a penetration rate of 48%, almost on a par with FM radio. A digital audio advertising campaign that combines podcasts, music streaming and web radio therefore offers advertisers significant reach. This high coverage, combined with the advertising effectiveness of podcast advertising, makes digital audio a safe bet for advertisers’ media plans!

But beware – don’t use the podcast to “generate clicks”, it is not the best medium for performance campaigns…. On the other hand, the podcast is ideal for improving brand image! Now is the time to invest in podcast advertising: in France, digital audio is used by less than 1% of advertisers⁷ and accounts for only 0.6% of advertising expenditure. 

If you are convinced that podcast advertising is relevant to your brand, find out which format is best suited to your objectives.

^{1 https://www.adresultsmedia.com/news-insights/is-podcast-advertising-effective}

^{2 https://podnews.net/update/german-listeners-up}

^{3 Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1291489/podcast-ad-spend-germany/}

^{4 https://www.thedrum.com/news/2022/06/17/spotify-announces-its-largest-ever-european-advertising-deal-with-omg}

^{5 https://www.ausha.co/fr/blog/etude-2022-podcast-natif-havas-paris-csa/}

^{6 https://ads.spotify.com/en-US/news-and-insights/podcasts-and-the-attention-sweet-spot/}

^{7 Source: Baromètre unité du marché publicitaire (Advertising market unit barometer). http://francepub.fr/pdf/BUMP-2022.pdf} 

^{8 Source: Kantar Digital Audio Barometer Q1 2022}