This Week in the Business of Podcasting

Halloween is over, and much like Meg Ryan and David Duchovny when they’re stuck in an airport, it’s time to look forward to What Happens Later. This week we’ve got a few predictions for advertising during this holiday season, a new audio ad type, and a bright future for audiobooks. Let’s get started.

Amazon launches interactive audio ads

From Amazon last Wednesday at unBoxed 2023: Interactive audio ads are now available on Amazon Music’s ad-supported tier and Amazon Publisher Direct for Alexa in the United States. 

The new form of ad on Amazon Music is built around engaging listeners with the ad using their voice, prompting them to use the Alexa assistant to send more information, set a reminder, or add the advertised item to their shopping cart. 

With this new voice engagement feature Amazon adds another piece to their tech stack. A logical next step for Amazon would be to pursue Spotify-esque ads in podcasting. Amazon Music may not yet have a massive share of voice in podcasting, but with their existing data and advertising infrastructure Amazon can leverage what share they do have all the more effectively.

Consumer Shopping Habits Forecast 2019 Numbers

This week from MarketingBrew’s Alyssa Meyers:  Deloitte has released their 2023 Holiday Retail Survey, built from a national sample of over 4,000 consumers. 95% of respondents said they’re planning on shopping for the holiday season this year, up 3% from last year and 7% from 2021.

Back at the beginning of October we covered a holiday-themed Veritonic report on podcast listeners and holiday-themed podcasting. 63% of respondents anticipate most of their podcast listening to be holiday-themed episodes and/or playlists, and 76% anticipate holiday-themed ads in their podcasts. 

Halloween might have just happened three days ago, but we’re now firmly in the season for podcast ads with sleigh bells. Which will dovetail nicely into our second article from Meyers coming up next.

Marketers to spend holiday budgets (mostly) in November

This Wednesday, also from Alyssa Meyers: New research from Comscore’s programmatic division and ad-tech platform Nexxen finds the biggest spending season for marketers is arriving very soon. 

An industry survey of marketers who manage programmatic holiday ad budgets found 75% of holiday budgets are finalized by September, and 97% of them are locked in by October. 53% of respondents say they intend to spend the majority of their earmarked holiday budget this month. 86% said they plan to spend at least as much on holiday ads as they did last year, easing recession fears. 

27% of respondents said they intend on running audio ads. A number we think podcasting has the research and skills to get a sizable share of, if not increase audio spending overall for the holiday season.

The Implications of Spotify’s Audiobook Revamp

From Eric Nuzum in this week’s Audio Insurgent: Recently Spotify revamped their audiobook offerings to include fifteen hours of audiobook listen-time with the standard Spotify Premium subscription. 

Nuzum argues this is a shot in the arm both for audiobooks as an industry and Spotify. According to Wordsrated data on listener habits, the average audiobook consumer listens to 8 audiobooks a year. 

While the die-hard existing audiobook fans will find 15 hours a month constraining, new and light users now have the ability to casually listen without the constraints of pre-buying the book with cash or a credit-based system. A potential Kindle Unlimited-ification of audiobooks has the potential to bring more people to the medium and drive innovation.

Industry Insights with Magellan AI

Between Q1 and Q2 2023, overall ad spending increased by 24%. Spending by Direct Response and Brand Awareness advertisers increased 16% and 33%, respectively, In Q2 Direct Response advertisers accounted for 50% of overall ad spending, Brand Awareness accounted for 47%, while Tune-in accounted for the rest.

Looking to get a handle on podcast advertising metrics? Book a demo with the Magellan AI team.

Quick Hits

While they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time:

• Sounds Profitable launches branded podcast directory in partnership with Lower Street by Reem Makari. As announced in Bryan Barletta’s article on Wednesday, Sounds Profitable has partnered with branded podcast production company Lower Street to create Brands in Podcasts, a public directory for branded audio.

• Are my podcast downloads declining because of iOS 17? by Dan Misener. A guide on how to answer three important questions about the health of one’s Apple Podcasts audience and how to track it as wider iOS17 adoption changes auto-download behaviors.

• The Jar Audio Podcast Landscape featuring Sounds Profitable Research. JAR Audio breaks down key findings from the Sounds Profitable study The Podcast Landscape, looking at the study from the perspective of a marketer working with branded podcasts. 

• Digiday Programmatic Selling Strategies: Navigating identity, deals and making the most of CTV and video. Thursday, November 16th, Digiday Editor-in-Chief Jim Cooper will host a virtual forum with marketing experts to discuss programmatic campaign strategies for 2024. The forum is produced in partnership with U of Digital and registration is free.

• Startup Series: Introduction to Podcast Advertising by Ossa Collective. On Wednesday, November 8th at 2:00 p.m. CST OSSA will host a live virtual event kicking off their ten-part series demystifying the world of podcast advertising.