Podcast advertising in Australia has tripled in the past year

The number of media agencies advertising on podcasts has nearly tripled in the past year, as media buyer behaviour shifts towards audio streaming.

The IAB’s latest Australia’s Audio Advertising State of the Nation research shows that interest in podcasts has grown significantly over the past year.

The number of agencies regularly advertising increasing from 5% in December 2016 to 14% in December 2017, thanks to factors like sponsored podcasts and dynamic ad insertion.

CEO of IAB Australia Vijay Solanki says that the market is being invigorated by the emergence of new audio advertising options.

“With 13.6 million Australians streaming audio content on their digital device in December 2017, it follows that the buying community is continuing to increase investment in streaming ad opportunities,” he says.

“With the explosion of podcasting at both a content & consumer levels, I expect to see more brands stepping in but the opportunity is in brand integration and not spots and dots. It’s also good to see integration of audio happening as agencies have been asking for that for over a year.”

With US podcasting advertisment revenues exploding by 85% over the same period, Sonalnki believes that Australia should see similar growth soon.

Southern Cross Austereo’s digital innovation and operations Steve Brown says the figures are matching what SCA are experiencing day to day with client interaction.

“The research supports the activity we are seeing here at SCA with clients embracing our online, streaming, podcasting and digital radio audiences, in-line with increasing appetite for broadcast inventory.

“It is very pleasing to see that audio in all its forms is continuing to grow strongly in buyer interest, audience and revenue when other mediums are under pressure!”

Director of research at IAB Australia Gai Le Roy believes that further growth in podcast advertising in Australia will piggy off the back of growth in smart speakers and other similar technology.

“Consumer usage of voice-assisted technology and devices will take off in 2018 and while marketers are reviewing their opportunities in this space carefully, media agencies need to quickly assess their role and approach to voice marketing on behalf of their clients,” she says.

“Expect to see measurement improve as new guidelines from IAB US come into play in the next 12 months.”

IAB’s report is available here.