Podcasts Are Taking the Internet by Storm – How to Place Your Brand in a Podcast?

ONE IN FOUR INTERNET USERS IN POLAND LISTENS TO PODCASTS – RESULTS OF A STUDY COMMISSIONED BY TANDEM MEDIA

Already 27% of internet users in Poland listen to podcasts. Most turn them on at least once a month, using headphones and a smartphone – at home or while travelling, for entertainment and to learn more about the world. Moreover, although most podcast listeners only started listening a year ago, they give podcasts their full attention and rate their credibility higher than that of traditional media. These are the conclusions of the most extensive study of Polish podcast listeners to date, prepared for Tandem Media from the Agora Radio Group.

Podcasts are a newly discovered, dynamically growing medium in Poland. According to the results of a study conducted in August 2019 by Publicis Groupe, more than ¼ of Polish internet users had already listened to podcasts, i.e. programmes available online. Almost all of those listeners had tuned in within the past month, which gives podcasts a monthly reach of 27%. In this way, Poland matches the European average for listening to online programmes. Worldwide, podcasts have already won their fans – an estimated 800 million people listened last year, and forecasts for 2022 speak of 1.5 billion listeners.

In Poland, the podcast audience has recently experienced very dynamic growth – the study for Tandem Media shows that 65% of current podcast listeners started using them within the past year. Interestingly, newcomers to online programmes choose a larger number of them and reach for them more often than people with longer podcast-listening experience. Nearly ⅓ of respondents subscribe to only one podcast, while 12% subscribe to five or more. The largest group, as many as 59%, permanently chooses between two and four programmes, and more than half of people listen to podcasts at least once a week.

Who are Polish podcast listeners?

Those surveyed by Publicis Groupe declared that they listen to podcasts primarily for entertainment (48%), but also to learn something about the world (46%) and to relax (42%). A sizable group of people wants to listen to podcasts with their hobby in mind and to have something to do while performing other activities.

How and where do we listen to podcasts?

And how are podcasts most often listened to? – ¾ of respondents turn them on at home; 38% do so while doing household chores, and as many as 43% listen to online programmes while commuting – in a car or on public transport. Nearly ¾ of people listen to podcasts on a smartphone, and half – on a laptop. 60% regularly use headphones; most listen to podcasts irregularly, choosing specific episodes from subscribed series. However, if internet users decide to turn on a programme, they usually listen to it in full (68%) and mainly via online streaming. 68% of respondents prefer podcasts lasting 10–30 minutes.

According to the study, the largest group of podcast listeners consists of people aged 25–34; the next groups are those aged 35–44 and 18–24. Online programmes are more readily listened to by women, who most often choose programmes devoted to health and lifestyle, music, psychology and entertainment. Men, on the other hand, more readily turn on podcasts on topics related to technology, music, entertainment, news and politics. This corresponds with the profile of listeners, who mostly declare that they like travelling, consider themselves creative and are satisfied with their lives, and also try to keep up with technological innovations and gadgets.

- Young and in their prime, overwhelmingly well-educated, working, residents of larger towns, open to new experiences and foreign cultures – the statistical podcast listener is the dream of many marketers – emphasises Radosław Sączek, head of the special projects department at Tandem Media, the radio and cinema advertising broker from the Agora Radio Group. – It is also important that respondents most often devote their full attention to podcasts, focusing on the content they listen to, and at the same time most accept the advertising associated with them.

Advertising formats accepted by listeners

The study shows that the most readily accepted advertising formats are: sponsorship of podcasts by a given brand, recommendation of a specific brand by the programme's creator, and co-creation of an episode or podcast by a brand. Importantly, as many as 34% of respondents are willing to buy a product advertised in this way.

- It is also worth noting that more than 4/5 of respondents use free apps to listen to podcasts, although 28% are willing to pay for such an option – adds Michał Dobrzański, head of the research department at Tandem Media. - The main ways of finding new podcasts are recommendations heard in other programmes, suggestions from apps or websites for listening to podcasts, and recommendations from friends. One in three listeners shares podcasts with others, talking about them or encouraging others to listen.

Podcasts beat traditional media

In the opinion of respondents, podcasts beat traditional media in terms of credibility and the interesting content they contain. More than 40% of respondents describe them as expert, and more than half declared that online programmes contain information and content interesting to them, assessed as "for me". By comparison, only about 15% say this about social media platforms.

The study commissioned by the broker Tandem Media was carried out by Publicis Groupe in August 2019. The respondents are people who listen to podcasts, aged over 18.

- This project was an extensive, exploratory study which, in addition to implementation challenges, gave us a very complex picture of the podcast listener community. Some of the results were a big surprise to us, breaking stereotypes, which shows how interesting and worthy of further analysis this group is. The study was also the first step towards better understanding this group, which is interesting to advertisers – explains Beata Sokołowska, Research Director at Publicis Groupe.

Summary

The study prepared for Tandem Media from the Agora Radio Group shows that 27% of Polish internet users already listen to podcasts, and 65% of them started doing so in the last year. This is a medium to which listeners give their full attention and which they rate as more credible than traditional media. Programmes on entertainment, health and technology are chosen most often, and advertisers are helped by the fact that 34% of listeners declare a willingness to buy products advertised in this way.

Importantly, half of those surveyed listen to podcasts at least once a week, and 68% prefer episodes lasting 10–30 minutes. Brands can reach this group through sponsorship, creator recommendations or content co-creation – these are the formats most accepted by listeners.