Podcast network Acast, and communications agency OMD, have partnered to conduct what they characterize as “a comprehensive new study” to quantify the effectiveness of podcast advertising.
The study reveals that podcast advertising not only surpasses other media in brand building but is also highly effective in generating long-term sales. Putting a number against that: Podcast advertising delivers 4.9 times the return on investment (ROI).
This work is restricted to the Swedish market (Acast’s home market), which contains a total ad spend of two billion SEK (Swedish krona, equal to 190-million dollars). Six different industries were represented across 32 advertisers. The outcome:
“The results show that podcast advertising provides the highest short-term return on ad spend (ROAS) with a ROAS of 4.2, meaning that every SEK invested in podcasts generates 4.2 SEK in short-term sales.” Acast observes that the result surpasses social media in terms of ROAS (return on ad spend) of 3.6.
Those are the short term results. In the longer view, with an ROAS of 4.9 compared with an average media return of 3.7%.
A secondary result of this research indicates that podcast advertising is 34% more effective at driving brand awareness than average media like TV and online video.
Jesper Cederäng, Business Development Director at OMD, says: “There has long been a perception among media agencies that podcasts are far from the point of purchase, but with this study, we see how effective podcast advertising is in driving sales. A large part of our work as a media agency is to help our clients identify which media best drive their business forward. The study confirms that podcast advertising not only builds brands but also provides a strong return on investment. This makes podcasts a key channel in our clients’ media strategies.”
