Podcast advertising is expected to grow over $1 billion by 2021

Blog posts, infographics, presentation slides, comments, forum marketing, and video content. These are all different forms of content, and they all have been effective in some way or form. And although a couple of those mediums may have lost their efficacy, others are still growing in the content marketing world.

However, there is one more content medium that is continuously growing — podcast.

Podcasts tend to be highly engaging and informative for delivering certain types of messages. They also convey information in an easy-to-consume medium. Moreover, if the host is deeply respected in the community, the audience becomes much more receptive to the content being presented, making it a very effective online marketing medium.

According to a recent report by eMarketer, marketers spent $479 million on podcast advertising last year. This figure is expected to grow over $1 billion by 2021.

The principal analyst at eMarketer, Lauren Fisher, highlighted the value podcasts bring to listeners. She said:

“Podcasts are one of the fastest-growing, if not the fastest-growing category within digital audio.

Performance marketers and brands are recognizing the value in reaching consumers who aren’t just tuning in to tune out—they’re tuning in to actively be entertained or engage their minds. And that’s a mindset advertisers increasingly want to be a part of.”

The report also revealed the following statistics that might be interesting to online marketers:

• According to a survey conducted in March 2019, 21 percent of podcast listeners said that they listen to 4 to 5 podcasts every week.
• 31 percent said that they listen to 6 or more podcasts a week.
• Ads that are read by the person hosting the podcast are most preferred. They constituted 63.3 percent of the total ads in 2018.
• Over 70 percent of podcast ads are bought by the direct-to-consumer (D2C) market.
• 65.7 percent of ad revenue went to the following niches in 2018: comedy, education, business, politics & current events, arts, and entertainment podcasts.

Learn more about podcasts and podcast advertising.

If you want to read the full report, click here.