BetterHelp remained podcasting’s biggest advertiser during April. Magellan AI’s monthly update shows the online mental health care provider grew its spending to an estimated $7.7 million during the month. BetterHelp ran ads on 675 different podcasts, a list longer than any other brand on Magellan’s monthly ranker -- with Comedy shows making up the biggest portion.
Overall, Magellan estimates the top 15 podcast advertisers invested a combined $35.49 million during April. That is a down three percent compared to the $36.77 million spent by the top 15 during March.
As U.S. businesses try to fill a larger than usual number of job vacancies, the online job site ZipRecruiter moved up to No. 2 last month with an estimated $2.4 million of spending, which was eight percent less than it spent during March. Magellan says Sports podcasts got the largest share of ZipRecruiter’s ads.
An 11% month-to-month increase in ExpressVPN’s spending lifted it to third place with an estimated $2.3 million of ads on podcasts during April. Progressive insurance trimmed its budget five percent, but it moved up one spot to No. 4 last month -- it too was most commonly heard on Sports shows.Magellan says HelloFresh rounded out the top five.It fell from No. 3 in March as it trimmed its spending 15% to an estimated $2.3 million in April.
Magellan’s list of movers and shakers – the brands that increased their podcast spending during the month – was led in April by StoryWorth. Magellan says the gift brand has typically increased its spend in April for Mother's Day since 2019. But this year brought the most it has ever spent in April, as it allocated more than an estimated $700,000 on podcast ads.
StoryWorth ads are a mix of host-read and produced, Magellan says, primarily in mid-roll positions averaging around 60 seconds in length. “StoryWorth is a brand to watch because historically it has also increased its spend in June for Father’s Day,” Magellan noted in a blog post.
Mother’s Day meant another spending boost for another gift brand. For two years in a row Aura Frame has increased its outlay during the month of April to promote its product for Mother’s Day. Magellan says in April 2021 it spent a modest $50,000 running Mother’s Day ads. Last month it allocated $590,000. The ads were primarily host-read, in a mid-roll position, and averaged 120 seconds in length. Magellan also says that half of Aura Frame ads ran on True Crime shows.
The list of movers and shakers also includes one of the most traditional American brands of all. Chevrolet boosted its podcast budget to an estimated $638,000 during April in a milestone for the automaker. Magellan says it was the first time Chevrolet has event spent more than $100,000 in a single month.
Car inventories remain tight, but Magellan says GM used podcasts to market the release of the fully electric 2023 Chevrolet Bolt. The ads are a mix of host-read and produced, primarily in mid-roll positions averaging around 60 seconds in length.
It was not only Chevrolet talking up electric cars. Magellan says fellow top mover and shaker Hyundai made the list promoting the launch of its fully electric 2023 Ioniq 5.Hyundai spent an estimated $162,000.
Magellan analyzes podcast advertising data from the top 3,000 podcasts in the U.S., as ranked by Apple Podcasts. Magellan’s proprietary model is used to estimate advertising spend. It includes factors such as the number of ads and variation in ad load detected for a given episode, number of downloads for each episode, and estimated CPMs as reported in select media kits and estimated based on popularity.