The Business of Podcast Advertising

Last week the firstever Podcast Upfront produced by the IAB answered the question of what these podcast things are Now the questions advertisers are asking has shifted to amp8220Why podcast advertisingamp8221 And amp8220How do I maximize and measure my podcast advertisingamp8221The eight companies showcasing their highest profile programs during the long inaugural amp160Upfront made it apparent just how much the competition for share of podcast ear and sponsor dollar is heating up Offerings range from the already known and loved amp8220RadioLabamp8221 from WNYC and NPR amp8211 the company that put podcasting on the map with amp8220Serialamp8221 to the new and noteworthy such as amp8220So Moneyamp8221 with Farnoosh Torabi repamp8217d by full disclosure my employer AdLarge Media In fact the percentage of Americans who have listened to a podcast in the past month has almost doubled since 2008amp8230and the number of hosted podcasts has also almost doubled but in just two yearsExcitement for this amp8220next new thingamp8221 is helping drive sponsor demand and many are joining the advertiser ranks of such early adopters as MailChimp and SquareSpace Direct Response ads make for common success stories since incorporating URLs and promo codes are easy ways to capture consumers already tuned in on a digital platform amp160But the presenting companies and indeed most podcast creators seeking sponsors are being confronted with agencies scrutinizing this platform with a more traditional lensTo reinforce the amp8220Whyamp8221 the Podcast Upfront participants underscored the power of personality and the highly intimate nature of podcasting amp160ESPN Fantasy Focus podcast host Matthew Berry touted that value as having him amp8220in your car in your headphones amp160For 45 minutes every day I39ve got you Just me and you talking And that39s a powerful thingamp8221 And CBSamp8217s Playit personality amp8220Tazamp8221 promised his amp8220real guyamp8221 style makes voiced reads authentic and trusted amp160Theyamp8217re probably right A key advantage of radio and audio advertising in general is listener recall of ads as amp8220word of mouthamp8221 Combining that advantage with the listener selfselecting the content and the intimacy that feels like a onetoone conversation with a preferred podcaster could offer the holy grail of advertising trusted organic messagingThe How and Where questions How do I reach my target What is the trackability are a little harder to answer especially for those sticklers for stats in a medium that hasnamp8217t fully scaledDemographically a recent study by Westwood One and Ipsos from a subset of 500 listeners from Edisonamp8217s Share of Ear study determined that podcast listeners skew younger than terrestrial radio listeners and MUCH younger than broadcast TV watchers This makes sense to Jay Green VP Digital Sales and Content Partnerships at AdLarge Mediaamp160 amp8220This is definitely a young medium and millennials and young genx39ers are looking for more than just music playlistsamp160 They want to laugh think and cryamp160 The interaction with a host is very compelling when it comes to listening and of course brand integrationsamp8221amp160However is the coolfactor and trust appeal enough to satisfy sponsors When in doubt ask the audience Research from a survey implemented by Midroll to listeners of more than 100 of its podcasts resulted in some 280000 responses that point to ad effectiveness with a claim of 64 of listeners buying a product advertised on one of their podcastsErik Diehn VP of Business Development at Midroll Media says amp8220to date we39ve collected 400000 responses Response rates for individual shows ranges from 210 of the audience and while not a perfect scientific sample those responses give us a great deal of insight into who39s listening to the shows in our portfolioamp8221amp160Both Mr Green and Ezra Kucharz President CBS Local Digital Media place confidence in podcasting technology and targetability Mr Kucharz claims CBS has amp8220invested in technology that allows for the greatest level of data available in the industry for our clientsamp160 Additionally much of podcasting is streamed ondemand and not necessarily downloaded which gives even more transparencyamp8221The difference between streamed and downloaded content comes in to play particularly when advertisers are concerned about timesensitive ads being heard out of flightamp160 This is being addressed now as dynamic ad insertion comes to market As for other data and accountability concerns according to Mr Green amp8220the podcasting technology has finally caught upamp160 We now have the ability to track on the level of display and videoamp160 This includes behavioral geo day date and time and of course all impressions can be tracked via third party services such as DART and Sizmekamp160 This finally allows pure accountability for our brand advertisers in a space that had not yet previously been ableamp8221In the meantime for large advertisers seeking big numbers Mr Diehnamp8217s position is that amp8220it39s gotten hard to argue that shows like Serial WTF Freakonomics Adam Carolla and others with 500000 person audiences aren39t delivering scale There are plenty of cable shows with smaller audiencesamp8221As the industry matures and delivers similar tools already available to advertisers in other media podcasting will still have its unique edge and the benefits of integrated spots often read by hosts amp8220They39re native they39re mobile and they39re engaging and that39s what advertisers really want and needamp8221 assures Mr DiehnThen thereamp8217s just one remaining question in this burgeoning space amp8211 this time asked by podcast marketers amp8220how do I win the competition for share of earamp8221The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecom MyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers

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The Business of Podcast Advertising

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