Podcasting, once supported by scrappy direct advertisers, continues to reach new levels of sophistication as more Fortune 500 brands come into the medium. That means audio ads that were at times the beginning and end of a marketing campaign, are more than ever finding a place on media plans that include a variety of other outlets.
Acast saw a 46% increase in advertisers booking multichannel campaigns during 2023 versus the prior year. To meet the growing demand, Acast has expanded its expert strategic recommendations and campaign execution for podcast advertisers across video, social media, live events and more for maximum scale and impact.
“Over the years Acast has continued to refine its multichannel offerings because of increased demand for advertisers looking to spread their message across a variety of platforms,” said Veronika Taylor, Senior VP of the Creator Network at Acast. “We’ve also seen more and more podcasters show interest in working with brands to monetize not only their podcasts, but also other media where they connect with their dedicated audiences,” she said.
That has primarily meant video, but for many creators there are also new opportunities with live events and even email newsletters. There is also a growing number of podcasters that are using their role as influencers to directly support a retail product.
Robin Sloan, Executive VP Audio Sales at AdLarge, said it is a shift they are also seeing among ad buyers.
“We see advertisers using more audio platforms in different ways to meet audience and industry needs,” she said. “Podcasting lends itself to versatile integrations across video, social media and live events. We are finding ourselves in multiple conversations about how we can creatively work with brands to best enhance their strategic goals across several media types.”
While podcast advertising is highly effective on its own, new research indicates that incorporating complementary activity across social and digital media as well as earned channels including live events and retail lines can maximize the awareness, engagement and performance of campaigns. In fact, a study by Nielsen found that coordinated messaging across podcasts, social media, and TV drove a 3.5-times lift in brand awareness, compared to podcast advertising alone. The key element to succeeding in these multichannel integrated marketing campaigns is consistent and coordinated messaging across all platforms.
“Podcast advertising generates fantastic results on its own, but optimizing campaigns across social, video and live events takes impact to the next level,” said Greg Glenday, Acast’s Chief Business Officer. “There’s a lot of noise around video in particular in podcasting right now, but for us, short-form video from podcasting is probably the biggest opportunity for advertisers and creators.”
But the easiest cross-platform combination for podcasters is probably social media. Beyond ease of use, a Cumulus Media-Signal Hill study found half of weekly podcast consumers follow their favorite podcasters on social media. That rises to 68% among 18-34-year-olds.
“The effectiveness of podcast ads is rooted in engagement and in trust,” said Ilwira Marciszek, Senior VP/Head of Revenue Operations and Digital Sales at AdLarge. “It’s audio meets influencer marketing. As podcasting scales, maintaining that trust and intimacy will be key - using podcast specific creative, limiting ad breaks, and running campaigns using contextual targeting.”
Using The Podcast As Place To Start
Acast has long allocated resources to “beyond the podcast” advertising solutions via its in-house agency, Acast Creative. It has resulted in multimedia efforts for brands including Nordstrom, Macy’s, Ikea, and Maker’s Mark. In a Maker’s Mark campaign on the Your Mama’s Kitchen podcast, Acast’s US team created a social media component of the campaign that highlighted a recipe from each guest that was nostalgic of their mother’s kitchens. The results included social media posts highlighting family recipes from podcast guests including Michelle Obama, Conan O’Brien, and Al Roker. In France, a live activation for L’Oreal resulted in 12 million views for content from the event on social media, 500,000 views on YouTube and 300,000 listens to podcast episodes recorded live. And in Australia, an original multichannel series for Samsung led to a 22% increase in purchase intent.
Other campaigns are remarkably simple to pull off. A cross-channel campaign in Canada as part of Dove’s Self Esteem Project including a bonus episode of Acast’s Cat and Nat Unfiltered podcast, where the hosts discussed the challenges of parenting teenage daughters and unrealistic beauty standards put on them by social media.
“Taking a multichannel approach to the Dove Self Esteem Project campaign with the Cat and Nat Unfiltered podcast and the show’s Instagram page enabled us to harness both the intimate host-to-listener connection of podcasting as well as the viral nature of social media,” said Laura Douglas, Dove Marketing Lead at Unilever. She said the result was “phenomenal reach and resonance” for the Dove brand.
Growing Podcasting’s Pie Slice
As podcasting finds its place in more media plans, the potential for the industry to show how it works well with other media, not just as a standalone marketing tool, is seen by many in the industry as a way to grow revenue.
“We see podcasting growing, siphoning dollars from several mediums but also growing the overall audio budget with all the value prop it brings to the table,” Sloan said, especially when it is paired with AM/FM radio. “Broadcast radio has the incredible reach that advertisers look for and count on,’” she said.
To capitalize on that, AdLarge is already working on strategies to bring advertisers more targeted audiences at scale by focusing on female and underrepresented voices in podcasting, such as its launch of The Fwd. Network last year. It sees an opportunity to pair Fwd. with other female-centric media.
“As media landscapes evolve, brands must remain agile to effectively connect with consumers," noted Marciszek. "Podcasting has emerged as a crucial component of countless brand strategies, serving as a cornerstone for engagement and outreach.”
Pod Digital Media CEO Gary Coichy, whose rep firm was part of a multimedia campaign created by Toyota, said the entry of well-known entertainers, thought leaders, and athletes, has helped make podcast more attractive at the same time advances have been made to offer brands the reach and scale they require.
“As more brands are seeing success in the space it has created a sense of FOMO for other advertisers to enter the space,” Coichy said. “The medium has also become a growth opportunity for advertisers as other mediums like social and video have become more crowded.”
In the near term, sales executives say the best thing podcasting still has going for it are increasing listener numbers and a larger number of major media brands seeing an opportunity to reach their customers in audio.
“This will be long term,” said Coichy, “As the ad space gets more sophisticated with tagging and has higher reach and scale.”