Podcasting Predictions for New Year

 

 

The podcast advertising ecosystem will grow in new ways in 2024. According to the IAB, podcasting is one of the fastest growing digital channels, up 26% year over year. But the industry is still nascent. There’s a lot of opportunity next year to close the gap here, for both advertisers and for creators and hosts.

More brand advertisers will enter the podcasting space

It starts with more brand advertisers coming into the space and driving new investment. The money is following the ears, as podcast listenership continues to grow and diversify. Our research with Edison shows that Gen Z monthly podcast listening has soared by 57% over the past 5 years, and women and Black podcast listenership is also growing rapidly year over year. As programmatic capabilities for podcasting mature, we’re seeing major growth there as well as brands lean into network buys versus going show by show.

Measurement and brand safety will be key

The key to bringing in these advertisers is ad effectiveness and measurement. As an industry, we need to continue building the right tools around measurement, attribution, brand suitability and safety. At SXM Media, we have the right tools, people, and data to give our advertisers actionable campaign measurement. Everything from awareness, to foot traffic, to recall – our open, agnostic ecosystem and robust list of partners means transparency, accuracy, and better insights. In fact, we’ve just launched a first-to-market brand safety and suitability verification solution for podcast advertisers in collaboration with Barometer and ArtsAI; this offers podcast advertisers the ability to measure brand safety and suitability with a third party, offering more transparency than ever before. Even more excitingly, it gives us a real opportunity to drive conversations around what brand safety and suitability look like in podcasting’s unique, conversational medium.

Creators are leaning in across all channels

When you buy podcasting, you’re tapping into a larger community. Being in someone’s ears is a 1:1 experience for both creator and listener, and extends well beyond just listening. More and more, we’re seeing podcast hosts expand their shows to video, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, in-person live shows, and more. In 2024 we’ll be working more closely than ever with creators — we’re seeing that they’re more invested in building better branded content, learning the ins and outs of advertising, and better understanding the opportunities in the space.