🎛️ Podcasting is emerging as an advertising powerhouse 🔌

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Recent research from firms like Adelaide, Lumen, and Amplified Intelligence challenges long-held assumptions about advertising effectiveness across different media platforms. Contrary to popular belief, audio formats such as AM/FM radio and podcasts are demonstrating levels of audience attention and engagement that rival or even surpass visual media. This shift in understanding will have significant implications for how advertisers allocate their budgets and measure campaign success.

In short, podcasting is an incredibly effective way to market with advertisements ( when done properly ) and more money is inbound for the medium.

Key points and supporting evidence:

1. Audio vs. Visual Attention: 

   1. Adelaide's study shows that audio platforms generate nearly the same attentiveness as TV, despite lacking "sight and motion."

   2. AM/FM radio has 85% of the attentiveness of linear TV, while Podcasts demonstrate 94%.

2. Cost-Effectiveness of Audio Advertising:

   1. Adelaide's "Attention Unit" (AU) score reveals that $1,000 spent on AM/FM radio advertising requires $2,635 in Facebook ads to achieve the same level of attention.

   2. Lumen's study indicates that audio ad formats are stunningly efficient on an attention CPM basis.

3. Shifting Perceptions in the Industry:

   1. 78% of marketers and media agencies now consider attentiveness an important metric for measuring media investment effectiveness.

   2. The importance of attention measurement has grown over the last three years, according to Advertiser Perceptions' annual study.

4. Ad Skipping Behavior:

   1. MARU/Matchbox study shows that traditional media (radio, print, podcasts) experience the lowest levels of ad skipping.

   2. Digital formats like banner ads, pop-up ads, and social media face the highest levels of ad skipping.

5. Consumer Engagement with Audio:

   1. Signal Hill Insights reveals that AM/FM radio's top need state is "get information," while podcasts' is "learn something new" - both representing high-attention contexts.

   2. Music streaming services' top need state is "to relax," potentially indicating lower ad attentiveness.

The Association of National Advertisers reveals there are three stages to what they define as the Attention Pathway

1. “Get Noticed – advertising requires an environment that fosters attention. This is the job of a media placement. How well it gets that job done is a good indicator of its quality: the best quality placements create the greatest potential for attracting attention.

2. Hold Attention – it’s vital to keep the viewer focused on the ad. In some circumstances, this can be measured using duration. This requires a stable media placement and interesting creative.

3. Impact Memory – with attention now assured, the creative must deliver a brand message that affects the short- or long-term memory of the person paying attention to the ad.”

Commentary: As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, marketers will reassess their strategies to ensure they're maximizing audience attention and engagement. This shift could lead to an opportunity for podcasters to create more revenue paths through advertising. 

To capitalize on this, I’d encourage you to make your ads as compelling, authentic ( ahem, advertise for products you actually like ) and captivating. Don’t have ads too close together, or many on one show for the same product and know that according to this study, host-read ads often work twice as well as just putting in a recording. You can be corny, just try to have the ad match the style of your show writ large and attempt not to come across as a used car salesman.

Worth Noting: According to Listen Notes year-over-year, there’s been a 60% decrease in the number of new podcasts dropping this year vs. this time last year. Which is following the trend down from the pandemic years, where podcasting exploded.

This isn’t a dip in demand for the medium, as listeners only keep growing every month, but a dip in new entrants. That, to me, sounds like an opportunity for those who are out there podcasting already.

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