Podcasts are Growing Driving Data to Catch Up

Currently podcasts are largely measured by downloads a generic metric akin to counting the number of people in a roomamp160 It doesn39t tell the story of podcasting39s intimacy and sense of community or even if that downloaded podcast was ever listened toamp160 Other media can deploy hard dataamp160 TV and radio use Nielsen ratings as currency and companies investing in alternative technologies to augment that dataamp160 Digital media can serve up a virtual smorgasbord on usage behavior and trafficWithin audio radio39s 16 billion advertising business is built on quotvery robust granular currencygrade measurement in radio used widely by buyer and sellerquot noted Tony Hereau Nielsen39s Vice President of Audience Insightsamp160 Nielsen data shows about nine out of 10 Americans use radio on a weekly basis making it the mostused mediumIn contrast podcasts attract about onefifth of the audience of radio not bad for an upstart but ad revenue trails proportionally even at the 500 million the IAB projects podcasts will bill this yearIf lack of measurement has anything to do with that the good news is that some research firms and audio publishers are stepping up to help change that dynamic and underscore valueamp160 For example Nielsen39s recent surveys indicate podcasts produce increased awareness ad recall affinity recommendation and purchase intentamp160 In a survey 64 of podcast listeners think the ads they hear are a good fit for their content and have responded favorably to hostread adsamp160 Nielsen is also digging deeper for brand clients creating 50 custom studies to measure the effectiveness of podcast campaignsamp160 This summer it plans to launch the Podcast Listener Buying Power product which overlays consumer data from Nielsen Scarborough with podcast listening habits to demonstrate where the two intersectOn the publisher side NPR recently launched a custombuilt solution Remote Audience Data RAD which supplements download stats with detailed listening data including how much content was consumed including ads and any content skippingamp160 quotGiven the digital age we live in we as an industry can do betterquot Bryan Moffett COO of National Public Media said in a MediaVillage articleamp160 NPR uses the tool to measure its own podcasts and will also work with thirdparty publishersEdison Research is also launching a new subscription plan for podcast measurementamp160 Described as a quotcheckupquot for podcasters to track their audience Edison will issue quarterly listening data for clientsamp160onamp160demographics content preferences and listening behaviorsamp160 However unlike Edison and Triton Digital39s widely read quotShare of Earquot and quotInfinite Dialquotamp160reports the data on podcast listening won39t be available to the publicNewer entrants such as Spotify and Pandora as well as established distributors such as Stitcher are commanding sizable ad budgets in exchange for generic disparate data specific to their respective platformamp160 But as the podcast space matures advertisers will continue to challenge and demand more by way of visibility into listeners and their impact on salesTo date many podcast advertisements have been direct response ads which often feature special offers or promo codesamp160 To grow revenue Hereau suggests podcasters court more brand advertising and make their case by identifying a client39s campaign goals offering to measure the effects and then touting their targeting capabilitiesamp160 quotMatching your audience to the demographic valued most by an advertiser is a great place to startquot Hereau saidamp160 quotProving that your audience is likely to respond to the ads will keep the brand advertisers coming backquotNielsen is trying to help correlate those claimsamp160 For instance in another new effort with the upcoming Scarborough Podcast Listener Buyer reports quotFor the first time a podcast seller can show a specific advertiser how their listener indexes for their productquot explained Bruce Supovitz Nielsen39s Senior Vice PresidentSales Director National Audio Servicesamp160 That could mean for example showing where an 1834yearold woman who listens to quotTrue Crimequot shops for home improvements or what the preferred airline is for a 2554yearold man who listens to sports podcastsIdeally these kinds of customized reports would augment listening data including detailed demographics time spent listening and location amp8211 just to name a few benefitsamp160 That could elevate podcasting from a startup ad vehicle to a mustbuyquotMany brand advertisers are asking podcast networks to justify the investment they are makingquot Hereau saidamp160 quotThe number of downloads can only take you so farquotStill plenty of advertisers are enthusiastic about podcasting39s potentialamp160 quotPodcasting is not just for direct response advertisers anymorequot noted Supovitzamp160 quotWellknown brands are getting into podcast advertising finding an intimate way to connect with customers who may not respond to other forms of advertisingquotClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers amp160

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Podcasts are Growing Driving Data to Catch Up

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Alli Romano

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