Podcast Advertising: What You Need to Know in 2023

Podcast ad revenue surpassed $1 billion in 2021 and is predicted to reach $4 billion by 2024. With numbers like that, this industry isn’t slowing down anytime soon.  

So what are the current trends in podcasting, and how can marketers use them to their advantage? We’ll highlight some trends below and take a look at what they mean for advertisers. 

Programmatic Advertising 

Only 1.7% of podcast ads were sold through programmatic marketplaces in 2021, and yet experts say that number could climb quickly as more podcasters embrace the idea of an ad-based revenue stream. If there’s more ad inventory in the marketplace, programmatic ads could grow at a faster rate than other types of podcast ads. And according to Seraj Bharwani, chief strategy officer at AcuityAds, programmatic podcast buys are more scalable than direct buys with individual networks or shows.  

Focus on ROI

Christiana Brenton, director of sales and brand partnerships at Acast, anticipates there will be increasing pressure on advertisers to show return on investment for every dollar spent.

“Looking specifically at podcast advertising, as an emerging medium, this means there will be even more demand to quantify and measure ad performance.”

Advertising with niche podcasts – where a host refines her or his topic to appeal to a smaller audience – could be easier to measure since marketers know in advance what audience they’ll reach. Marketers can then determine whether a particular podcast’s listeners align with their target audience.

YouTube & Livestream 

Video content remains incredibly popular for both consumers and marketers, but the good thing about podcasts is they can easily cross over from audio to video formats. Podcasters have been posting their content to YouTube for a few years now, but this trend is expected to grow even more in the coming year. 

Advances in technology have also made it easier for podcasts to capitalize on video’s popularity. It’s no longer necessary to use different platforms for live video versus podcasting, which perhaps explains the increase in livestream podcasts. 

Livestreamed podcasts can lead to more immediate connections with listeners since they can interact with content in real time. For marketers, this real-time interaction can provide valuable data on target audiences.  

Clickable Ads 

Last year Spotify introduced clickable ads for a select number of podcasts on their platform. The ads pop up on the podcast’s Spotify page or appear while users are navigating the app. 

This is a significant development as it brings podcast advertising more into the realm of digital advertising. Marketers can experiment with visual effects, rather than just audio, and can link directly to the product or service’s website.   

And as with livestreaming and posting content to YouTube, clickable podcast ads continue to blur the line between audio and visual content. It will be interesting to see how these trends affect the booming podcast industry as a whole over the course of this year.