Sounds Profitable, the trade association for the podcasting industry, has released a new report – The Advertising Landscape: Trust and Attention – which reveals that podcast advertising boasts an 86% ad recall rate among its most active users. Notably, podcasting’s ad recall rate is the highest of any media platform, surpassing traditional media like TV, radio, and social media.
As the largest public study of podcasting and advertising in the US, The Advertising Landscape: Trust and Attention report by Sounds Profitable includes insights from more than 5,000 adults across the country. The study focused on the most active users across 22 different ad-supported platforms, defined as those who engage daily with their chosen media (“primes”).
The report also unveils that podcasting defies gender barriers for brands among prime users, as 86% of male consumers and 85% of female consumers recall an ad after hearing it on a podcast. This outperforms all other tested media in both recall rates as well as in gender disparity. For example, among the most active AM/FM radio users, 86% of male listeners and 75% of female listeners recalled an ad after hearing it on the medium, revealing an 11-point gender gap.
Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable, commented: “Podcasting undoubtedly leads the US media landscape in effective reach for media buyers. Not only does the medium lead in recall among the most active users, it also succeeds in breaking down gender barriers for advertisers – which is unprecedented compared to most other media. Beyond recall, podcasting also claims high levels of trust among audiences and particularly among audiences from marginalised groups.”
According to the report, consumers trust the voices they encounter on podcasts more than any form of traditional or social media. The report also found that trust in podcasting content and advertising transcends all divides across age, gender, and race.
In fact, among prime users, trust in podcasting is highest with those ages 35 – 54 and is the most trusted media platform for those over 55. Also looking at these active users, 51% of Black audiences trust the ads they hear on podcasts. These findings are consistent among Hispanic/Latino and Asian audiences, of which 49% and 46% trust the voices they hear on podcasts, respectively.
The Advertising Landscape is based on a survey of over 5,000 Americans, ages 18+, weighted to US Census Data. The survey was conducted by SIgnal Hill Insights, and published in partnership with American Public Media, BetterHelp, ESPN Podcasts, Media Bodies, NPR, and Sirius XM Podcast Network.
