In an industry of endless evolving technology, marketers and brands are constantly finding new ways to engage with their audience. The latest of these being podcast advertising, with the US at the helm of this emerging trend. New figures show that marketers spent $479 million on podcast ads last year, and IAB and PWC project this to increase to $1 billion by 2021.

So, where did it all begin? Well, podcasts have been around for a decade now, so the concept isn’t new. But it wasn’t until recently that an overwhelming volume of users started consuming them daily, which has really propelled the medium into the limelight.

As it stands, podcasts are one of the fastest-growing categories in digital audio. So, it is no surprise that brands are beginning to recognise the value in using them to engage with their audiences.

Podcasts are a highly engaging medium for delivering messages. Given their audio nature, listeners tend to hang on to every word, making them an excellent audience for advertisers who are trying to get their brands known. Acast published a study that revealed a staggering 76% of UK listeners say they have acted on a podcast ad or sponsorship message. Actions include looking for more information online, visiting a brand’s website, and sharing information about a brand online. 

What does this mean for marketers? As it’s a relatively new form of advertising, there isn’t a huge amount of research online, so it’s important to carefully play around with test budgets to find out what works. Over the next year, we expect to see more brands exploiting podcasts to drive awareness due to the undeniably amazing response rates.