This years podcast upfronts are behind us but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t really big opportunities for brands to reach target consumers in the growing medium. The podcast space continues to grow and according to the IAB, 2022 revenue increased 26% year over year to $1.8 billion. Brands are still trying to find their place in the podcasting world and new opportunities are abound. Original content, brands safety, and DEI were a few of the main topics front and center this year. Not every brand can have their own podcast nor does it make sense to. I think that if a brand is going to go all in on a show or host, they better be sure that their message resonates with the audience. If you’re not sure or you aren’t ready to put all your eggs in one basket, you have other, equally as good, options:
- Dynamic ad insertions by show or show type
- Contextual targeting based on what’s being discussed in the show
- Audience target based on your target, regardless of the content
Podcast advertising has come a long way over the last few years. It used to be that host read ads were your only option. This presented a real challenge because you had to find a host that was aligned with your product and then agree on the creative and terms. This is a time-consuming process and the juice isn’t always worth the squeeze as scale and ROI might be light. You also needed to negotiate directly with the show and buy through their platform of choice. Times are a changin. You now have audio specific DSP’s that make it easy to buy ads at scale, targeted in a variety of ways, while ensuring brand safety. Audiohook hits on all three points above and more.
When a brand buys on Audiohook, they can leverage all the built in tools or bring their favorites with them. This goes for targeting, brand safety, measurement & attribution, and creative. If you choose to bring your own solutions, you won’t pay any fees to Audiohook. Audiohook prides themselves on transparency in every step of the process. Buying from the individual platforms can be a laborious process if you are looking for scale. Remember the days in display when you would buy ads from multiple networks, portals, and publishers? Then DSP’s came along and things became a whole lot easier. This is what Audiohook brings to the table, plus they bring direct publisher inventory that can’t be purchased anywhere else with better prices that the DSP’s that get their supply from the SSP’s because they don’t charge any sell-side fees.
The Upfronts may be behind us but there is massive opportunity ahead. If you are playing in the podcast space or are thinking about, talk to me and Tom. We have been working in this space quite a bit over the last 3 years and have learned a thing or two that we are happy to share, from media to creative, we have your back!
