According to an Advertiser Perceptions study commissioned by CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One, brand and agency podcast spending intentions are at an all-time high. 46% of agencies and brands say they definitely would consider advertising in podcasting in the next six months. 37% say they definitely would advertise in podcasts.

MediaRadar’s 5:51 rule: The top 100 podcast brands are the 5% of advertisers who represent 51% of spend

CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One analyzed Q1 2021 podcast advertising data from MediaRadar, the firm that tracks podcast advertising occurrences and spend. MediaRadar analyzes 2,052 podcast advertisers and monitors the top 500 podcasts.

Most podcast advertisers are only lightly dabbling in the medium. 80% of podcast advertisers represent only 16% of the spend.

The top 100 spending brands are the 5% of podcast advertisers that generate 51% of total spend. The 101-410 top brands represent 15% of advertisers and generate 33% of the total spend.

Most podcast creators and podcast advertisers are dabbling in the medium

Only a handful of advertisers are seriously using the podcast platform. It is a similar story with podcast creators. While there are two million available podcasts on Apple, only a small portion have produced multiple episodes. Under half of the two million have ever produced four or more episodes.

Steve Goldstein, founder of Amplifi Media, the podcast content guru or “prince of podcasts,” reveals in his blog that only 8% of podcasts have produced 10 or more episodes with a recent episode in the past week.

What does it take to be a serious podcast advertiser? $500,000 per quarter, according to MediaRadar

In Q1 2021, MediaRadar reports the average spend of the top 100 podcast advertisers is half a million dollars per quarter. This media spend is deployed across an average of 17 podcasts running on 11 publishers over the course of nine weeks. The campaign runs an average of 70 episodes in a quarter over nine podcast content genres.

What are light/medium podcast advertisers running?

MediaRadar finds the light/medium brands are comprised of advertisers ranked 401-2,052 in spending. They appear to be making tiny “test and learn” buys. In Q1 2021, they spent an average of just $9,298 across two podcasts from one publisher. Average campaigns ran across only four episodes for two weeks in a quarter and included two podcast genres.

MediaRadar: Q1 2021 top ten fastest growth categories for podcasts: Technology, home furnishings, and medical/pharmaceutical lead

Per MediaRadar, these are the ten fastest growing podcast advertising categories ranked by dollar growth:

The greatest spend decrease occurred in the media and entertainment vertical. The pandemic halting movie openings clearly played a role in this reduction.

Magellan AI: Business services and software, financial services, CPG, and education are the top industries advertising in podcasts the most

Measuring a broader swath of nearly 6,000 podcast advertisers, Magellan AI’s Q1 2021 “Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report” finds business services and software, financial services, CPG, and education are the top industries advertising in podcasts the most.

Magellan AI: Consumer services and software, insurance, auto, nutritional supplements, and bedding were the fastest-growing industries for podcast spend in Q1 2021

Magellan AI: Podcasts are under-commercialized: Only 5.1% of average episode content is dedicated to advertising

Depending on the TV network, advertising can represent 23% to 27% of programming. According to Magellan AI’s Q1 2021 ad occurrence analysis, advertising represents only 5% of podcast program content.

Podcast advertising stands out given the exceptionally low ratio of ads to content.

Nielsen: The top podcast networks reach most podcast listeners

Don’t be overwhelmed by the total number of podcasts. Nielsen Scarborough reports 87% of podcast listeners are reached by the 160 major podcast titles they measure from 13 podcast firms. Advertisers can achieve audience scale by purchasing the largest networks and the most popular podcasts.

Edison’s weekly audience measurement service, the Podcast Consumer Tracker, finds buying the top five podcast audience networks reaches 50% of the weekly podcast audience.

Key takeaways:

• MediaRadar’s 5:51 rule: The top 100 podcast brands are the 5% of advertisers who represent 51% of spend
• Most podcast creators and podcast advertisers are dabbling in the medium
• MediaRadar: It takes $500,000 per quarter to be a serious podcast advertiser
• MediaRadar: Q1 2021 top ten fastest growth categories for podcasts: Technology, home furnishings, and medical/pharmaceutical lead
• Magellan AI: Business services and software, financial services, CPG, and education are the top industries advertising in podcasts the most
• Magellan AI: Consumer services and software, insurance, auto, nutritional supplements, and bedding were the fastest-growing industries for podcast spend in Q1 2021
• Magellan AI: Podcasts are under-commercialized: Only 5.1% of average episode content is dedicated to advertising
• Nielsen: The top podcast networks reach most podcast listeners

Pierre Bouvard is Chief Insights Officer at CUMULUS MEDIA | Westwood One.

Contact the Insights team at CorpMarketing@westwoodone.com.