“The podcasting roar is over.” We each cognize that, right? We cognize this due to the fact that it’s been reported everywhere. Since the commencement of the twelvemonth The New York Times, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, The Financial Times and galore others person published stories astir podcasting’s demise. 

Advertisers and audiences missed the memo and proceed to flock to podcast programming. Last year, podcasting advertisement revenues accrued 26%  — much than doubly the complaint of the full net advertisement market, according to a caller IAB report. By 2025 they are expected to deed $4 billion, up from $1.8 cardinal past year.

And the audience?

“I don’t recognize this, similar however are radical talking astir podcasting is not growing?” says Hetal Patel, iHeartMedia’s enforcement vice president of SmartAudio Intelligence. “On regular reach, each azygous demographic — 18 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, 55 positive — person seen double-digit growth.”

Last twelvemonth 62% of Americans implicit 12 — an estimated 177 cardinal radical —  listened to a podcast. More than fractional of those radical are present play podcast listeners. This twelvemonth the quality is adjacent better: 183 cardinal Americans person listened to a podcast, tuning into an mean of 9 podcast episodes per week, up from 8 episodes successful 2022, according to The Infinite Dial, Edison’s 2023 Report.

Dig deeper: Podcasts present a apical transmission for B2B marketing

While large audiences are great, what marketers truly privation is information that allows them to conception that assemblage and tailor contented to each segment. This brings up thing other “everyone knows” astir podcasting: It’s not targetable oregon measurable. This thought is rooted successful however podcasts are distributed. While immoderate are heard connected definite streaming platforms, they are mostly downloaded.

How targetable is it?

Patel understands however this thought came about.

“Podcasting, for the astir part, is based successful a download environment, extracurricular of erstwhile it gets played connected definite streaming services wherever they person server level data, right? So you person much visibility successful those environments. 

“In the past 2 years alone, we’ve made truthful overmuch advancement to get truthful overmuch much deterministic astir who you are reaching,” she says. “At iHeart, obviously, we tin people by genre, we tin people by age, by demographic, by determination and enrich that information with accusation from our ain app” to archer america astir the assemblage that’s downloading connected Apple and different platforms.

In summation to that, 2 years ago, the institution launched 20 psychographic networks arsenic portion of its programmatic advertisement offering. They alteration brands to bargain crossed a acceptable of shows that talk to circumstantial user behaviors similar the conqueror, explorer, legend, cultivator, decider, thriver, rising star, advocate, backer and intrepid. 

Dig deeper: Casted adds firmographic information to its B2B video and podcast platform

“Sneakerhead is an illustration of 1 of those,” Patel says. “So if you’re trying to scope taste audiences sneakerheads thin to beryllium much African American and Hispanic. I don’t deliberation it’s truthful overmuch that you couldn’t bash that [level of segmentation] successful podcasting before. I deliberation it was much astir we weren’t doing large capable campaigns to beryllium capable to measurement that with the close thresholds.”

Brand safety

Another happening that tin interest marketers astir podcasts is marque safety. Unlike streaming, wherever shows are overseen by ample companies, galore of the astir fashionable podcasts are independently produced. Can brands beryllium definite of the content’s suitability?

Yes, says the IAB.

“Last year, the podcast manufacture made large advancements successful marque information and suitability targeting solutions via contextual transcript investigation including the accidental to exclude idiosyncratic podcast episodes,” they wrote. “As a result, advertiser consciousness of these solutions are expected to turn and thus, advertisers volition beryllium much apt to pat into them.”

Patel says this exertion besides helps find contented and contented producers who are successful synch with a brand’s values.

“It’s 1 happening to accidental these are 10 words I don’t privation to beryllium aligned with,” she says. “But it’s different happening to accidental and by the way, I privation to beryllium aligned astir these things.” 

IHeartMedia is utilizing an AI-powered programme that analyzes transcriptions of each podcast for the code and discourse of the content. 

“This gives you 35 attributes astir this content,” she says. “You privation to tally adjacent to contented that’s uplifting? This is however you tin bash that. You privation to tally adjacent to contented that is XY&Z? You tin bash that.”