I love podcasts, my roommates love podcasts, my family loves podcasts – everyone I know loves podcasts. I mean how could you not love a good podcast? Whether you are walking your dog at the park or doing your daily commute to work, podcasts offer you a personal experience that allows you to choose a narrative that suits your own taste.
It seems that nowadays more and more people are becoming podcast lovers because it gives them the opportunity to multitask while being entertained. Although podcasts have been around for a long time, their popularity began to grow within the past few years. With the Covid-19 pandemic, digital media such as podcasts have continued to increase, specifically among people between the ages of 25-44 who currently make up 49% of total podcast listeners in the US.
As our day to day becomes busier, the podcast format is easy to incorporate into our daily routine due to the length of the podcast, that often allows the listener to fully dive in on specific topics. From comedy to true crime, to daily news, there is a podcast out there for everyone; and according to podcast statistics, in 2021 the top podcast categories included business, comedy, culture & society, health news and politics, providing the listener entertainment and knowledge.
Here are some other reasons as to why podcasts continue to rise:
- Most podcasts are free to access through platforms like Spotify or Apple podcasts. If you own a smartphone or computer, you will be able to access endless amounts of podcast episodes at no cost.
- They provide a sense of community by engaging their listeners and attracting everyone who is looking for a community. Most podcast hosts are constantly looking for multiple ways to engage their listeners and grow their community.
- You can listen to the topic you want! Not only are they easy to access, but as I mentioned before there is a podcast for everyone who is looking for a multi-tasking form of entertainment.
Having these wide variety of podcast topics have also allowed for advertisers to reach niche consumer target audiences, as host-read advertisements have proved to gain a higher trust from the listeners since it is not interrupting the flow of the conversation/interview that might be taking place throughout the podcast. Another benefit that advertisers encounter with this format is that about 80% of listeners are most likely to finish an entire podcast episode, making drop-off rates for podcasts less than for any other platform.
With more advertising revenue coming towards podcasting, more people are incentivized to start their own podcast show, which leads to more topics and audiences advertisers can target. A win-win situation for everyone! As podcasts continue to grow in popularity, it’s a given they are here to stay.
This blog post was written by Melissa Onate, Media Coordinator.
