The word podcast was added to the Oxford English Dictionary back in 2005, but the term had yet to gain much traction in the media industry—as well as with the average consumer. Fast forward 16 years, and podcasting has blossomed into a burgeoning industry that provides brands with an opportunity to engage with a growing base of consumers that are very receptive to the engagement.
The transformation certainly didn’t happen overnight, but the rise in popularity of podcasts over the past six-plus years has effectively changed the landscape of the entire market. In addition to attracting rampant celebrity involvement and fueling original TV content, podcasts are attracting big ad dollars, with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) predicting that ad revenue will hit $2 billion by 2023, well above the $842 million generated last year.
广告费用的增长也说明现在收听播客的受众范围明显扩大。这是一个关键的转变，尤其是当广告商希望通过播客寻找新的商机时。如今，近一半（49%）的美国播客听众是轻度用户，他们可能是这一媒体的新用户：每月收听一到三次。这与 5 年或 10 年前的典型播客听众形成了明显的反差，当时大多数播客听众更倾向于收听他们喜爱的节目的每一集--这些节目通常每周发布一次。
过去几年中，播客参与度的演变凸显了两个重要的故事情节：
- 消费者对来自各种媒体的新颖、引人入胜的内容的兴趣持续增长，播客内容已被证明是数百万美国人媒体饮食中一个极具吸引力的选择，尤其是在 COVID-19 全球大流行期间。
- The pandemic paused the growth of heavy podcast listeners. With revised lifestyles and schedules over the past year, this isn’t surprising. Yet while the percentage of heavy listeners declined slightly last year, we’re now seeing it increase, rising from 25% earlier this year to just under 30% as of May. So we know there is a segment of the population that was very engaged with podcast content before the pandemic arrived, and we expect that audience to increase its engagement when the conditions (or content) are right.
Importantly, the pandemic has not had a negative impact on overall podcast engagement. While listener growth flattened somewhat during the second half of last year, it has ramped up notably in 2021, largely due to an increase in at-home listening, which is attributable to light listeners checking out the medium. The rise in at-home listening is also somewhat counter to historical podcast engagement, and again, speaks to the transformation of industry to a broader audience. According to Nielsen 播客购买力 data, the percent of the adult U.S. population listening to podcasts has grown more than 40% in the past three years.
The increasing appeal of podcasts to general audiences is exactly why brands and agencies need to be tracking engagement with them and leveraging the opportunities in their marketing strategies and campaigns. And given the wealth of data about podcast listeners, brands have the ability to engage with listeners who are the most receptive to learning about their products and services.
For additional insights, download our latest Podcasting Today report.
