Global podcasting giant Acast sent us results of two surveys conducted in December, focused on the DTC (direct to consumers) segment. One survey queried 450 marketing pros who specifically work in DTC, and the other questioned 900 consumers who typically shop online directly from a company’s website. The survey was conducted in the U.S., UK, and Canada.
The goal was to discover the effectiveness of DTC podcast marketing. The results affirm the effectiveness — and beyond that, the results describe podcasting as the most effective audio medium for DTC messaging.
Below are the key summary points:
- 52% of marketers advertising to DTC shoppers who use podcasts find the medium to be highly effective, up 11% compared to marketers using radio and streaming music for marketing.
- 88% of DTC shoppers who have bought products from podcasts are happy with their purchases, up from DTC shoppers buying products from radio or streaming music services.
- 30% of DTC shoppers who listen to podcasts say advertising is highly relevant on the medium, up significantly from radio (+25%) and streaming music services (+30%).
- DTC shoppers who listen to podcasts are 3.4X more likely to say that advertising on the medium is becoming more relevant than less relevant, up significantly from streaming music services (2X) and radio (1.4X).
- Podcast listeners are excellent consumers for DTC brands to target due to their openness to innovative marketing tactics, desire to shop from ethical brands, preference for 360 degree brand experiences, and use of technology while shopping.
There is nuance to these key findings. One of them is the supremacy of host-read ads combined with the trust factor enjoyed by podcast hosts. “Podcast listeners are 7% more likely than average DTC shoppers to agree that they rarely buy a new product without a products endorsement from someone they trust.”
Most of the additional metrics pertain to the favorable behavior and attitudes of DTC consumers. One interesting finding observes that podcast listeners who shop DTC are less sensitive to pricing and inflation than music and radio listeners:
Consumers also seem to have a growing respect for the pertinence of podcast advertising, with respondents telling Acast that podcast ads have become more relevant, not less, by 37% to 11%. (Presumably, 52% had no opinion on the question.)
