Podcast advertising did not just grow in terms of revenue this year. It also grew in terms of prestige among the minds of local advertisers. Borrell Associates has released its annual Local Advertisers Survey and it found nearly four in ten (36%) of those surveyed said they believed podcasting and streaming audio advertising became more effective in 2020. Another 35% said that the effectiveness of the medium held steady this year.
The Borrell survey found that local advertisers generally gave higher improvement grades to digital media. Podcasting and streaming audio’s score was in line with what they gave to Facebook and email marketing.
Yet traditional radio held its own too, even with all the disruption the pandemic brought to media habits. Half of local advertisers said they saw no change in the effectiveness of audio advertising on AM/FM radio this year. And 14% said they believed broadcast radio preformed even better.
Borrell said demand for online video is growing faster than social media was in its early days. More than half of surveyed advertisers that use streaming video (53%) said its effectiveness increased in 2020, the highest for any channel, and 24% said it stayed the same. “The most likely buyers of streaming video marketing are actually those who buy radio and outdoor advertising,” said Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell.
Borrell’s Local Advertisers Survey also found that the average local business it surveyed plans to increase their advertising budget 13.6% in 2021. That is triple than what the survey turned up in the past decade. In other findings, 16 out of 19 forms of marketing are slated for increases. The only three that advertisers said they will be trimming are newspapers, print directories, and local magazines.
The survey is based on data collected from 2,262 local advertisers between August and October. Borrell will hold a webinar tomorrow (December 8) when it will release more details of the survey. Register HERE.
Separately, the firm is currently polling radio managers for its annual survey with the Radio Advertising Bureau. Preliminary results show 80% of stations are selling digital services, and that search engine optimization, search engine marketing, and website design are the most prevalent services being sold.
“Two of those three will continue to be important in 2021 – SEO and SEM,” said Borrell. “Website design won't be as much in demand because it was already tackled in 2020 and isn't typically an ongoing expense.”
Comments