YAP Media’s “new era of podcasting” (Podcast Upfront presentation)

YAP Media Founder and CEO Hala Taha kindly sent RAIN News the presentation deck she delivered at the IAB Podcast Upfront last week. YAP Media was founded around the Young and Profiting podcast, created and hosted by Taha. The YAP network has grown to 15 podcasts.

The deck is notable for the range of data sources cited across 23 slides: Edison Research, Nielsen, Pew Research Center, Cumulus Media, Signal Hill Insights, LinkedIn Pulse, RiversideFM, Sounds Profitable, and BBC StoryWorks. (YAP has made the preso freely available HERE.)

The presentation theme focused on the power of cross-channel podcast campaigns, representing what Taha called “a new era of podcasting.” Central to that premise is one key number: 83% of the U.S. 12+ population is familiar with the term “podcasting.” That’s from Edison’s The Infinite Dial annual survey. Hala Taha reached into a Pew Research Center study to drill down into listening activity across the population by age group:

Discussing the linkage between audio and video podcast consumers, the presentation separated newcomers and longtime listeners, illustrating that newer listeners prefer a video alternative to a greater extent:

In one startling metric, “75% of companies believe video will become the default for podcasting recording within 5 years or less.” That’s interesting, even accounting for the source: RiversideFM, a leading video/podcast production platform.

It wouldn’t be a Podcast Upfront display without covering the efficacy of podcast advertising. Hala Taha hit two essential points for buyers: brand recall (it’s high) and trust (always a key point):

A section called “Branded co-created content and cross-channel promotions is the future” evangelizes the depth with which advertisers can be part of a podcast campaign. One client, Just Thrive probiotics, partnered with six founder interviews across the YAP network, organic episode promotions, mid-roll commercials following interviews, involvement of YouTube and social media, and coordinated stand-alone educational posts on social media. All of this was central to YAP’s pitch to the buy-side audience invited to IAB’s event. ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) increased by 236%, on average, when host-read ads followed founder interviews.


Brad Hill