Podcast Advertising Shown to Be Highly Effective

Study results released this spring found that podcast advertising is three times more effective than online video advertising and seven times more effective than television, when measured in terms of unaided ad awareness 52 online shows and podcasts participated in the four campaigns studied and 6,869 audience members participated in the research.

Ad formats consisted of: embedded :15 and :30 host-read audio and video ads, embedded :10 and :15 produced video ads, ad banners on publisher websites, and social networking in the form of publisher blog entries about advertised brands and related topics. Podtrac developed the advertising effectiveness methodology in conjunction with TNS.

The study showed embedded advertising in online shows and podcasts to be highly effective for increasing brand awareness, usage intent and positively impacting brand perceptions across four diverse product categories: television programming, automobiles, financial service, and digital imaging. Results included:

• Average unaided ad recall of 68%
• Average aided ad recall of 89%
• 73% average increase in likelihood to use/buy vs control group
• 69% having a more favorable view of advertiser due to ad exposure

“The unaided awareness level of 68% is considerably higher in podcasts and online shows than in other offline and online media,” said Mark McCrery, Podtrac’s CEO and Co-Founder. “Narrowly targeted audiences, appropriate ad formats, content relevance, and show host involvement are some of the factors which come together to produce highly effective ads in online shows and podcasts.”

“The data also suggest audiences are paying close attention to show content and the embedded ads within them which greatly increased ad effectiveness in the studies,” said Doug Keith, former Vice President of the Media & Entertainment Group at TNS and currently President of Future Research Consulting. “The high unaided ad recall figures are no doubt the results of a less cluttered environment.”

“Online shows and podcasts have loyal audiences who pay attention to advertisers who support the shows they regularly listen to or watch,” said Velvet Beard, Podtrac’s Vice President of Products. “The studies showed a 73% increase in likelihood to use or buy an advertised product which is an indication of successful targeting, the unique relationship audience members have with the hosts of today’s online shows, and their ability to quickly move audiences from awareness to consideration to purchase. The studies showed that 69% of audience members have a more favorable view of in-show advertisers, which means a tremendous amount of goodwill goes to advertisers of online shows when show selection is intentional and advertising and ad formats are integrated into show formats.”

The 52 podcasts and online shows studied as part of the research include: This Week in Tech, MacBreak Weekly, net@night, and Daily Giz Wiz all with TWiT.tv’s Leo Laporte; MacBreak, MacBreak Tech and This Week in Media with PixelCorp.tv’s Alex Lindsey; Geek News Central with Todd Cochran;SDR News with Andy McCaskey; Feast of Fools; Filmspotting; and FlashTV.