More than half of podcast listeners in Great Britain skip podcast ads, but many are still taking action afterwards. That’s according to YouGov’s latest podcast advertising report released last week.
The report, More than meets the ear, found that 54% of British podcast consumers who usually skip ads have taken some action, including searching for a brand online or visiting its website, with 11% making a purchase.
For those who sometimes skip ads, that percentage rose to 72%, with 21% having made a purchase, suggesting that skipping ads does not mean the audience is completely tuned out of the advert.
When speaking about the report in a webinar on 10 June, YouGov’s account director, Dylan Alderson, said the results show even partial exposure can influence consumers and that skipping doesn’t necessarily “equal failure”.
He suggested that ad avoidance is part of modern media consumption and that, because podcast ads give consumers the choice over whether to engage, when they do, it is often more meaningful.
Alderson went on to acknowledge podcast ads typically perform well and attributed that to the survey finding that the channel is considered the least annoying for ads (26%), with half of respondents saying the most annoying are YouTube or other video platform ads (53%) and online display ads (50%).
Nonetheless, trust in advertising is still low among consumers, particularly for online formats. Only 13% of podcast consumers trust advertising on podcasts, but this does rank above display ads (9%) and social media ads (6%).
TV and radio were considered significantly more trustworthy at 26% and 24% respectively.
When it comes to podcast ads, the most trusted format is when its read by the host (17%), which Alderson said meant “the messenger can be just as important as the message”. However, half of podcast consumers said none of the types of podcast ad – host-read, sponsorship mentions, or pre-recorded brand ads – were most trustworthy.
Video podcasts
Many podcasts have increasingly been embracing video, however the YouGov report found that more Britons prefer audio-only podcasts, especially those from high-income backgrounds.
Almost half of British podcast consumers (46%) say they prefer audio-only podcast formats, compared to 28% for video and 21% who enjoy both equally.
Those with higher incomes (more than 200% of the national median) are more likely to prefer audio-only (59%).
Britain is also more likely to favour audio-only compared with most other markets. It was the second highest market to favour audio-only (46%), behind only Denmark at 71%, but alongside other western European markets, Germany (45%) and Spain (46%).
In contrast, Singapore and the UAE skewed more towards video, with the latter showing 60% prefer video-only.
The report also found that video podcast consumers are more likely to convert (57%) compared with audio-only listeners (49%).
Charlotte Clifford, research director of digital media and technology at YouGov, said during the webinar that this was likely due to consumers being more engaged with video podcasts, as they are often doing stationary activities, such as eating. In contrast, audio-only consumers are often active: walking, commuting, doing chores, or working out.
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