Advertiser Perceptions says 53% of ad buyers it surveyed expect to increase their podcast spending in 2022. Another 46% are planning to hold the line from 2021’s spending levels. That is roughly the same level of interest the survey gauged in streaming audio with 54% of ad buyers indicating they plan to spend more on streaming audio services this year.
“They’re doing it to fuel both brand and performance advertising. Advertisers recognize the listening audiences are growing and loyal, and they now rank podcasts on par with TV for driving brand favorability,” the research firm says.
The latest Advertising Perceptions survey found 71% of ad buyers had already discussed buying podcast ads with their colleagues and 44% said it was pretty likely they would actually buy podcast ads in the coming six months.
The report also tracked how the podcast medium is gaining a foothold. In the latest survey, 45% of ad buyers said they were already using podcasts. That was up 11 points from a July 2020 survey. And it was three-times the 15% who said that in September 2015.
“In a relatively short time, podcasts have become a viable medium for brand awareness, storytelling, and performance. Instead of fighting for slivers of a niche budget, podcast ad providers now compete for significant pieces of advertisers’ digital budgets,” Advertiser Perceptions said.
Yet even as there is more focus on digital, advertisers are embracing over-the-air radio, too. One in five surveyed (21%) said they will increase spending on AM/FM radio in 2022. A majority (53%) said they would hold spending levels steady from last year while one in four (26%) said they are cutting back on broadcast radio spending.
With more spending on podcasts comes more scrutiny. Advertiser Perceptions says that similar to how television is viewed, its survey found advertisers are also looking for audience scale from podcasts, but not at the expense of program quality. Scale and program quality are the top two criteria driving podcast advertising provider selection, the survey found.
The data also show 60% of advertisers prefer to buy podcasts programmatically, up from 53% in 2020. And 73% of advertisers want standardized measurement methodologies. “With podcasts now playing in the omni-channel mix alongside more mature digital media types, advertisers are looking for campaign data comparable to what they’re accustomed to with video. Audibility and completion rates are just a start,” the firm says.
When asked by surveyors about their top challenges, advertisers said measurement and attribution remain at the top of their list.But as podcasts become more used, the survey also found fewer advertisers who think the medium is “new and unproven.”
The Advertiser Perceptions data is based on a survey it conducted in November among 300 media agencies and marketers.