More Advertisers Say They Are Buying Into Podcasts

Podcasts are gaining traction with marketers and agencies, according to new research conducted by business intelligence firm Advertiser Perceptions and released with Westwood One, the radio empire that also sells podcast advertising. Some 21% of advertiser and agency executives said in a July survey that they already advertise on podcasts, up from 15% last September, Advertiser Perceptions said. Just under 60% said they have "discussed podcast advertising for potential media investment," up from 41% who said they'd done so last fall. And 21% said they plan to advertise on podcasts in the next six months, up from 10%; 28% said they would definitely consider it, up from 18%. Advertiser Perceptions polled 284 executives at marketers and agencies in July and 310 last September. Podcasts are still a niche format for marketers and carry "inherent challenges," AdsWizz VP-business development Rockie Thomas wrote in a blog post Tuesday introducing a set of podcast advertising guidelines by the Interactive Advertising Bureau's Tech Lab. For one, advertisers need to be able to track how many people are exposed to a spot, which can be difficult to do with podcasts. Some of the most effective podcast advertisements take a direct-response approach, which is better suited to tracking. Ad-skipping is also an industry concern, though it's not clear how much of a problem it is. There are plenty of statistics that support the bullishness that publishers and marketers are showing for podcast advertising. Podcasts are particularly popular with the millennial audience that many brands seek -- 63% of podcast listeners are under 34 years old, according to Edison Research data. And podcast listeners are generally pretty good at remembering advertisements they've heard in the past day (65%), the past week (47%), and the past month (21%), according to research from Ipsos.

More Advertisers Say They Are Buying Into Podcasts

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