Motivation from a Woodchuck; Spotlight on Black Podcast Voices Continues; Podcast Market Updates Galore; The “Make it Your Own” Gold Standard

Last Thursday, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow–meaning we’re more or less halfway through winter. While Groundhog Day traditionally marked the beginning of the end of wintertime, this past Saturday was the true middle point. But what does all of this mean for you?

Hibernation time is over!

Blink, and it’s Spring. Before you know it, BFCM is knocking at your door. Are you ready? As economic uncertainty looms, the media landscape is quickly becoming a buyer’s market, and the rules are changing. We hope that the opportunities we highlight, the articles we bring to your attention, and the tips we share in this newsletter help you make it through this season stronger than ever.

Spring is the season of growth and rebirth; according to Phil, you’ve got six weeks. Are you prepared?

The Classifieds

Confidantes Make Space To Create Community

We’re continuing our spotlight on black hosts in February with this wildly popular education podcast from Spreaker. Malcolm X gave a stirring speech in 1964 that included the quote, “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman.” Though we’re looking back from half a century in the future, that sentiment is still extremely prevalent today. It’s the mission of hosts Dr. Dom and Terri Lomax to combat this inequality and create open spaces for black women to vent, be heard, and find treasured kinship. Their conversations around \, race, biases, and wellness have created a trusting and loyal fanbase that direct response advertisers can only dream of connecting with. Every episode is extremely fresh, and the hosts’ energies make for an entertaining and enlightening listening experience. Become a sponsor of this cultivated conversation by clicking below.

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The Love Doctor is In

Can we please be honest for a second: Love will never be easy. Though we now have dating apps that send you countless options for an amorous rendezvous, technology has also broken down many people’s interpersonal communication skills. The official dating advice coach of The Drew Barrymore Show and beloved columnist for the LA Times and Washington Post, Damona Hoffman, gives nuanced, thoughtful advice to her audience of hopeful romantics. Whether addressing hookup culture, astrology, or post-divorce dating, Damona is always lovably confident, more like a friend than a therapist. Freshly onboarded by Cloud 10, Damona’s podcast is very similar to many agency top performers in the Society & Culture, Heath & Fitness, and Self-Help categories and has been consistently adulated within the black community. Find your podcast test love match in the link below.

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In Case You Missed It

Programmatic Podcast Predicted to Pxplode

So we couldn’t think of a synonym for massive growth that began with a “P,” but that’s exactly what a recent study from Acast is suggesting. According to the IAB’s Podcast Advertising Revenue report, between 2019 and 2021, dynamically inserted ads (DAI) increased from a 48% share to 84% of ad revenue. Although DAI can mean many things, it has laid the groundwork for adopting programmatic buying in podcast advertising, and massive growth is inevitable. But let’s not put all of your eggs in the DAI or programmatic basket just yet. The growth in efficient activation methods must be balanced with the benefits that make podcast advertising so compelling: host endorsements and high brand recall in an intimate environment with limited ad clutter.

Q4 Podcast Benchmark

Magellan AI has been busy releasing two major industry reports; the first of which is the Q4 Benchmark. The findings on this report include an increase in podcasts’ spend of 23% vs. Q3; 1,718 new brands advertising on podcasts; an increase in usage of 30-second ads to 38% of ads monitored; and possibly related to the shorter ad length, an even split between brand and direct response advertisers.

Additionally, Magellan provides valuable information on brands and categories leaning into podcast advertising while providing an overview of key trends. One very interesting finding, given YouTube was a subject of the last Influencer newsletter: Podcasts simulcast on YouTube saw an average renewal rate of 46% by direct response brands compared to 36% for (audio only) podcasts. There is a ton more to dive into–click below for the free download.

Podcast’s Annual One-Sheet

Magellan’s second report to come out recently is Podscape, the podcast industry’s annual one-sheet. In partnership with Bryan Barletta from Sounds Profitable, Magellan’s Podscape provides marketing executives with an overview of the industry, covering agencies, publishers, measurement services from attribution to brand safety, and trade publications for the latest news and trends. If the massive list of logos is daunting, we can help you navigate. Click Here to chat.

Radio Works!

Coming to our attention by way of the Cumulus | Westwood One Audio Active Group, Radiocentre released an article that discusses the results of the Big Audio Datamine, a research project that gathered insights on the UK audio landscape. It found that audio media, such as radio and podcasts, are more popular than ever, and that audio advertising is a powerful tool to reach and engage with consumers. Recognizing that the source is the UK trade organization for commercial radio, the research is still worth our attention given that it was a meta-analysis using the results from over one thousand radio effectiveness studies. Our verdict: The results are compelling if not all that surprising, given terrestrial radio’s mass, efficient reach. If marketers aren’t considering terrestrial radio due to perceptions of listenership shifting to digital or attribution challenges, we suggest a second look with reach & frequency as a front-end metric followed by brand tracking and/or market mix modeling for long-term measurement.

How Do You Frame an Ad Read?

There are no two ways about it. A political podcast diving into the numerous, and often nuanced, topics impacting women necessitates a host with strong opinions. Lucky for Crooked Media, their podcast Hysteria has got two. And talk about qualifications; these women have experience across various outlets, from comedy to political commentary to government. As we’ve learned, voices with strong POVs like these often yield the best ad reads, which brings us to our spot for Grove Collaborative. Hosts Erin Ryan and Alyssa Mastromonaco knock it out of the park with their combined testimonial for Grove’s all-purpose surface cleaner and detergent, but it starts out deceptively blah. For the first 60 seconds the hosts trade off lines from the approved copy with the enthusiasm of a child writing Thank You letters, but at the one-minute mark, everything changes. Erin and Alyssa start talking about Grove and the products they like most in a conversational manner that sounds more like show content than an advertisement. We’re framing this one, and on the bronze plaque underneath will say “How to Do a Testimonial.”

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If you’ve read this far, thank you!

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