Smaller Shows Win On Efficiency, Says Podscribe’s Quarterly Dive Into Podcast Ads.

The biggest podcasts continue to capture the greatest share of advertising dollars, but new data from Podscribe’s quarterly Podcast Performance Benchmark report shows that smaller podcasts are more efficient than larger shows.

The report points out that larger shows typically come with higher CPMs, requiring advertisers to drive stronger engagement to achieve a successful return on investment. Yet even with large reach, conversion rates tend to be lower. In contrast, smaller shows generally have lower

CPMs, which the report says makes campaign performance more cost-efficient. And the strong listener-host connection increases ad receptivity, leading to higher conversion rates and better overall ad effectiveness.

“Smaller podcasts consistently are more efficient at driving visitors per impression,” CEO Pete Birsinger said. But during a webinar detailing the new report last week, he said they also looked at the cost factor and they see that smaller podcasts are more effective per dollar spent. Birsinger said more data is needed to help decipher the cause, especially for mid-sized shows, but Podscribe has a theory as to what is happening.

“Big shows, because they’re more likely to have more transient listeners that pop in and out, is that their listeners are not quite as committed, whereas smaller shows may have more committed, niche audiences that are more connected to the host,” Birsinger said. “Smaller shows, if you can organizationally find a way to buy them and achieve the scale you need, we think there are benefits there. But of course buying a bunch of them obviously comes with more costs too, and more overhead. Maybe that’s sort of what the market has priced in, and the difference is the difficulty in buying more of those small shows.”

How Soon Do Listeners React To Ads?

Podscribe’s quarterly update also includes a new analysis that examines how quickly an audience takes action after being exposed. It finds that 16.7% of visits to a brand’s website occur within 24 hours of their exposure to the commercial. The report says that while about one in five of the site visits come within a day, looking across the 30-day conversion window the data shows 40% occur in the first week, and eight in ten of the visits occur within 23 days.

“On average, we see conversions slow down about 3 weeks after ad exposure,” the report says. “The lag report validates a 30-day attribution window as the industry standard. However, the Podscribe dashboard supports adjustable attribution windows (1 to 60 days) at any moment.”

Senior Director of Partnerships Cam Weber said it remains difficult to produce a universal benchmark for conversions, considering the variety of brands, industries, products, call to actions. But he said Podscribe is working toward a more industry specific lag report and benchmarks for future reports.

Pixels Reveal Podcast’s True ROI

Podscribe’s latest update also includes new data showing that pixel-based attributions deliver five-times more podcast conversions that promo and vanity codes alone. The report says that since promo codes only capture about 15% of the attribution it can “significantly underreport” the “true return” on investment from podcast advertising, leading brands to underestimate their success and potentially underinvest in a high-performing channel.

“Without pixel-based attribution, advertisers could be missing up to 85% of actual engagements or conversions, and that’s because listeners don’t always convert immediately,” Weber said. They may hear an ad search for the brand later or purchase through another channel, like paid search, which then takes a credit.”

More YouTube Simulcasts

The number of advertisers whose ads run on YouTube thanks to their podcast placement continues to climb. During the fourth quarter, Podscribe says in situations where the ads have placement in both channels, more two-thirds (68%) of the consumption comes via YouTube as it reports an 18% growth last year in the number of episodic campaigns that have a video simulcast component.

“Simulcasts are growing as people are heeding the advice to post your content everywhere,” CEO Pete Birsinger said. But during a webinar detailing the new report last week, he said that as more podcasts have jumped onto YouTube the number of people reached by the video service has remained fairly steady with it attributable for about two-thirds of consumption. “More shows are posting on YouTube and other channels, but once they do, it doesn’t seem like YouTube is eating away substantially at shows that are already posting to YouTube,” he said.

The report also shows that run of network buys are less efficient than direct show buys per impression, but they are comparable on a per-dollar basis. “They definitely seem like a viable tool in your tool kit to not write off at all,” Birsinger said.

The report also shows single show campaigns drive higher visitor and conversion rates than run of network buys where the commercial is placed across multiple episodes of one or many podcasts within a network. “Single show campaigns drive a 30% higher visitation rate and even greater impact for conversions, with 1.85-times the purchase rate of run of network buys.

“This suggests that the ad place within a dedicated show creates a stronger connection with listeners, leading to a higher engagement and more conversions,” Webster said. But before anyone declares a winner, he says from a cost perspective, run of network ads are 8% more efficient on a cost per-dollar basis.

“This does make running network buys a very attractive option, especially for new advertisers that are trying to test across multiple shows and find the best fit for established brands,” Weber said. “Both types really have their place.”

Best-Performing Ad Formats

As in previous reports, episodic buys drive stronger conversion versus impressions. Podscribe says episodic buys deliver 1.52-times higher visitation rates, and 1.44-higher purchase rates. From a cost per acquisition standpoint, episodic buys are also 10% more efficient, with a $95 cost per acquisition compared to $104 for impression-based buys.

From a creative standpoint, host-reads also continue to drive 1.3-times more purchases per impression. But because they come at a higher CPM, Weber said they don’t necessarily lower those acquisition costs compared to producer read ads.

The data also shows that mid-roll ads are marginally more efficient per impression, but pre-rolls come out ahead in per-dollar efficiency. “The takeaway is, the earlier in the show, the better,” Head of Partnerships Matt Drengler said. “The least effective placement is post-roll. Even at a deep discount, it still has to work really hard to catch up to the per dollar basis performance of pre- and mid-rolls.”

Podscribe says longer ad reads also continue to deliver better performance, especially on a per dollar basis. “How many other channels can really say longer ads drive better results? Not many. So we think the podcast channel is just a great place, especially for those brands that really want to tell their story,” Drengler said.

Download the latest PPB report HERE.