The podcast advertising industry is turning a corner. When the listener opportunity is as diverse and expansive as this leaned-in audio format, brands need to rethink their approach to advertising, especially as compelling content is released every day.
So, how should brands think about reaching the full potential of podcast audiences? And how can creators build an optimal revenue stream, regardless of how large or small their listening is? Here are five new innovations that are beneficial to brands and creators.
Buy audiences and behaviors, in addition to top podcasts
Buying individual podcasts is a tried-and-true way to align with a certain host, audience or topic, but brands often have to sacrifice scale with this approach. As advertising technology improves, advertisers can now leverage podcasts to reach their target audiences—across multiple shows and genres. As podcasts reach over 116 million listeners per month, it is increasingly important to treat this medium as a true mass reach vehicle— where audiences of all dimensions participate.
Unlock targeting capabilities
For a while now, the show-level buy has been leaned on to find audiences and context. This is partially because the show-level buy is so tangible, but also due to technical limitations to quantifying and describing audiences and behaviors. However, there have been recent enhancements in the podcast ecosystem that have unlocked key capabilities for reaching specific listeners in different moments.
Now, if brands are looking to reach a certain audience, they can do that in a variety of ways, whether it’s age, gender, location or behavioral traits. If you’re looking to reach moms in Philadelphia, you might do so by focusing on a True Crime hit show, or buying across a network with specific geo-signals to find moms regardless of where they are listening. The latter strategy not only gives brands larger reach but leverages listener identifiers to ensure advertisers reach that exact audience, not just a subset of it.
Let’s say brands are looking to focus on particular topics or stay away from others—there are now a variety of contextual targeting capabilities that brands can tap into. For example, if a brand wants to target “parenting” content but stay away from “alcohol,” episodic transcription capabilities can solve for that. The power of episode transcription is only just scratching the surface, and we’re incredibly excited for the power it puts into the hands of advertisers as they hone their targeting approach.
Programmatic availability
Programmatic podcast investment has historically been limited due to technology barriers in the space. In fact, there currently is not a standard for how podcast ads should be bought programmatically, and how and where podcast details are viewable and actionable across DSPs. However, that’s rapidly changing as digital-savvy players enter the market and unlock key audiences with turnkey buying platforms. Now, exclusive podcast inventory can be bought programmatically, with content, brand safety and audience targeting that is so important to brands.
Focus on creative and uphold 1:1 intimacy and authenticity
While alignment to great content is such a crucial component to podcast ad strategies, ad creative is essential to consider. Ads within podcasts are typically different from other audio formats, and listeners have come to expect the intimate form of ad creative that is now endemic to this space.
While a “host read” is typical to podcasts, there are now ways to scale this idea. SXM Media recently announced read-type ads to align great voiceover talent to in-podcast ads. To ensure creative is in-line with format, creative studios will provide best practices and guidelines to help advertisers produce their ads, and even create the ads in-house for brands who need it. By creating ads that are native to podcasting, we preserve the experience and drive advertiser lift.
Use data-driven insights and testing
Last, but certainly not least, there is so much to learn about how podcast ads can inform campaign strategies and lead to a positive, if not dramatic, return on investment. When identifying advertising platforms, brands should think about what kind of measurement solutions companies can provide, and how that drives and informs broader strategies.
The modernization of the podcast ad space
At SXM Media, we’ve spent the past year exploring what brands need to tap into podcast advertising, and we’re excited to introduce the SXM Podcast Network, which reaches 45 million listeners across thousands of shows and includes publishers like Stitcher, NBC News, 99% Invisible and more. Podcast ads at SXM Media offer brands a flexible buying experience, from reaching audiences and content at scale to aligning with show communities, to custom integrations and experiences. Moreover, brands can tap into all the above trends through SXM Media to ensure they’re creating a comprehensive podcast strategy to solve for their needs.
