The 2024 Podcast Advertiser Cheat Sheet
So, you’re back at work, and you’re going to make 2024 your year. We love to hear it and want to help make your life that little bit easier. So, Acast has created your cheat sheet for podcasting in 2024. Your go-to podcast trends guide to impress your colleagues, clients, friends, family or even your first dates.
Podcast listening continues to grow (one in five Brits listen to podcasts weekly), and it is carving out more of our time (time spent listening increased by 38% over the last two years). It’s where people go to disconnect (60% of listeners say podcasts give them a break from other media) and where we engage with the content we love. Amongst other things, this is leading to advertisers taking notice as podcasts become an integral and effective channel within their media mix - simply put, podcast ad investment is outpacing digital ad growth.
So, all you need now are the trends that will elevate your podcast strategy and help you dominate the space in 2024. Here at Acast, we’ve broken down our top three podcast trends for 2024.
1. To infinity and beyond the podcast: partnerships
There is a whole universe that surrounds a podcast. While a podcast brings together a community of passionate listeners, the podcast ecosystem extends across social media channels, short-form video content and live tours (to name a few). Podcasts are routinely selling out major UK stadium venues (Shagged Married Annoyed, for example, had a sold-out national tour which included an at-capacity crowd at Wembley Arena). Are we talking about podcasters or rock stars?!
Podcast hosts are considered more influential than other media personalities - 75% of listeners say they value podcasters’ influence more than they value the influence of social media influencers (15%) and TV/movie celebrities (10%). They bring together engaged and like-minded fans like no one else can. Brands in 2024 will continue to take advantage of this opportunity as they recognise the value of these extended partnerships, just as Brewdog has for the last two years with That Peter Crouch Podcast, from an in-joke about creating a lager-cross-stout, a collaboration between the brand and the podcast gave birth to the “LAOUT” - a real beer sold out in record time. The partnership has developed to incorporate social media, video, fan events and weekly recordings of the show in a Brewdog pub.
2024 offers brands more touchpoints to reach their audiences through podcasts. The inclusion of social media has been a significant growth area in 2023. We predict short-form videos to follow this trend. Most of Acast’s top podcasters post video segments of their podcasts online, which will continue to become hot campaign extensions for brands.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? We deliberately created a dedicated Brand Partnerships team to acknowledge the growing appetite for these campaigns. This team within Acast will allow more brands to deepen their relationship with podcasts and ultimately have more meaningful connections with their listeners. Our Brand Partnerships team can facilitate multichannel podcast campaigns that may incorporate social media, video or even live show integrations. Brand Partnerships is the team that will embed your brand within the podcaster community.
2. Connect genuinely with all audiences
Podcasts are personal. They speak to the individual. Anyone can find a topic of interest to listen to. Due to the intimate nature of the medium, there is a common misconception that advertising in the space means you are targeting niche audiences or content - this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the UK alone, Acast reaches millions of people every week. There is excellent scale in podcasting, allowing advertisers to reach many different audiences. For instance, there is a large proportion of diverse (non-white) listeners that engage with podcasts (38% of people from racial minorities listen to podcasts weekly). Listenership amongst women is growing, and it plays a very different role in their lives than it does for men. For instance, podcasts connect with women emotionally (66% v 57% male), giving them something to talk about (65% v 58%). We see podcast growth across all age groups (from Gen-Z to Boomers) as the medium cements in mainstream culture.
More brands will start finding their audiences through podcasts as it becomes a medium to create genuine connections at scale.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? Find your listeners across the entire Acast ecosystem through our partnership with Podchaser, allowing brands to discover audiences across collections (genres) and individual podcasts. Then, connect with them at scale through Acast’s creative executions from audio ads to Sponsorship+ (allowing you to leverage a host read targeted to any audience across Acast).
3. Tech bringing us closer together
If AI wasn’t the buzzword of 2023, we don’t know what else was. However, we know that AI technology will continue to have a growing influence on the media industry. At Acast, we are utilising AI thoughtfully through our friends at Podchaser to increase our advertiser capabilities and efficiencies.
In 2024, Acast tech innovations will bring advertisers closer to podcast audiences than ever, whether through advanced audience and contextual targeting capabilities or by providing brands with a self-serve platform that places the power of podcasting advertising in your hands.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? As the world prepares for a cookie-less future, Acast provides advertisers with sophisticated audience targeting through Proximity by Comscore. This tool enables you to reach over 300 audiences across the Acast Network through first-party data, contextual relevance and ID-based tactics. Want to delve deeper? Acast’s Conversational targeting allows you to embed your brand in specific episodes where hosts mention particular keywords.
Then, there is Acast’s self-serve ad platform. If you want to control your podcast campaigns, from audio ads to sponsorships, this is the tool for you.
Acast in 2024
We are just scratching the surface of what is going to be another robust and influential year in podcasting. These trends will shape how advertisers create effective and meaningful campaigns, but we can do much more. We look forward to working with our media partners in 2024 for another great year in podcasting.
So, you’re back at work, and you’re going to make 2024 your year. We love to hear it and want to help make your life that little bit easier. So, Acast has created your cheat sheet for podcasting in 2024. Your go-to podcast trends guide to impress your colleagues, clients, friends, family or even your first dates.
Podcast listening continues to grow (one in five Brits listen to podcasts weekly), and it is carving out more of our time (time spent listening increased by 38% over the last two years). It’s where people go to disconnect (60% of listeners say podcasts give them a break from other media) and where we engage with the content we love. Amongst other things, this is leading to advertisers taking notice as podcasts become an integral and effective channel within their media mix - simply put, podcast ad investment is outpacing digital ad growth.
So, all you need now are the trends that will elevate your podcast strategy and help you dominate the space in 2024. Here at Acast, we’ve broken down our top three podcast trends for 2024.
1. To infinity and beyond the podcast: partnerships
There is a whole universe that surrounds a podcast. While a podcast brings together a community of passionate listeners, the podcast ecosystem extends across social media channels, short-form video content and live tours (to name a few). Podcasts are routinely selling out major UK stadium venues (Shagged Married Annoyed, for example, had a sold-out national tour which included an at-capacity crowd at Wembley Arena). Are we talking about podcasters or rock stars?!
Podcast hosts are considered more influential than other media personalities - 75% of listeners say they value podcasters’ influence more than they value the influence of social media influencers (15%) and TV/movie celebrities (10%). They bring together engaged and like-minded fans like no one else can. Brands in 2024 will continue to take advantage of this opportunity as they recognise the value of these extended partnerships, just as Brewdog has for the last two years with That Peter Crouch Podcast, from an in-joke about creating a lager-cross-stout, a collaboration between the brand and the podcast gave birth to the “LAOUT” - a real beer sold out in record time. The partnership has developed to incorporate social media, video, fan events and weekly recordings of the show in a Brewdog pub.
2024 offers brands more touchpoints to reach their audiences through podcasts. The inclusion of social media has been a significant growth area in 2023. We predict short-form videos to follow this trend. Most of Acast’s top podcasters post video segments of their podcasts online, which will continue to become hot campaign extensions for brands.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? We deliberately created a dedicated Brand Partnerships team to acknowledge the growing appetite for these campaigns. This team within Acast will allow more brands to deepen their relationship with podcasts and ultimately have more meaningful connections with their listeners. Our Brand Partnerships team can facilitate multichannel podcast campaigns that may incorporate social media, video or even live show integrations. Brand Partnerships is the team that will embed your brand within the podcaster community.
2. Connect genuinely with all audiences
Podcasts are personal. They speak to the individual. Anyone can find a topic of interest to listen to. Due to the intimate nature of the medium, there is a common misconception that advertising in the space means you are targeting niche audiences or content - this couldn’t be further from the truth.
In the UK alone, Acast reaches millions of people every week. There is excellent scale in podcasting, allowing advertisers to reach many different audiences. For instance, there is a large proportion of diverse (non-white) listeners that engage with podcasts (38% of people from racial minorities listen to podcasts weekly). Listenership amongst women is growing, and it plays a very different role in their lives than it does for men. For instance, podcasts connect with women emotionally (66% v 57% male), giving them something to talk about (65% v 58%). We see podcast growth across all age groups (from Gen-Z to Boomers) as the medium cements in mainstream culture.
More brands will start finding their audiences through podcasts as it becomes a medium to create genuine connections at scale.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? Find your listeners across the entire Acast ecosystem through our partnership with Podchaser, allowing brands to discover audiences across collections (genres) and individual podcasts. Then, connect with them at scale through Acast’s creative executions from audio ads to Sponsorship+ (allowing you to leverage a host read targeted to any audience across Acast).
3. Tech bringing us closer together
If AI wasn’t the buzzword of 2023, we don’t know what else was. However, we know that AI technology will continue to have a growing influence on the media industry. At Acast, we are utilising AI thoughtfully through our friends at Podchaser to increase our advertiser capabilities and efficiencies.
In 2024, Acast tech innovations will bring advertisers closer to podcast audiences than ever, whether through advanced audience and contextual targeting capabilities or by providing brands with a self-serve platform that places the power of podcasting advertising in your hands.
Want to take advantage of this trend with Acast? As the world prepares for a cookie-less future, Acast provides advertisers with sophisticated audience targeting through Proximity by Comscore. This tool enables you to reach over 300 audiences across the Acast Network through first-party data, contextual relevance and ID-based tactics. Want to delve deeper? Acast’s Conversational targeting allows you to embed your brand in specific episodes where hosts mention particular keywords.
Then, there is Acast’s self-serve ad platform. If you want to control your podcast campaigns, from audio ads to sponsorships, this is the tool for you.
Acast in 2024
We are just scratching the surface of what is going to be another robust and influential year in podcasting. These trends will shape how advertisers create effective and meaningful campaigns, but we can do much more. We look forward to working with our media partners in 2024 for another great year in podcasting.
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