On the Podcast: Podcasts are getting more brand deals. Are creators next?

FYI, Tubefilter has a podcast.

It’s hosted by our very own Joshua Cohen (that’s me) and Lauren Schnipper. Subscribe to Creator Upload on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

And we’re now also brought to you in part by Nikon. 

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For the past few years, direct response marketing has ruled podcasts.

But there’s a new king in town.

The IAB just released its eighth annual podcast report, and for the first time, brand spending beat out direct response. And when I say beat, I mean beat: brand spending now accounts for 61% of all podcast marketing, while direct response is down to 39%. That’s a big shift from 2016-2017, when direct response was the undisputed champ, and from 2018-2021, when it and brand advertising were a somewhat even split.

This means when you tune into a podcast, you’re way more likely to hear general, broad-targeting ad spots that come without calls to action (aka “check out our latest product” or “go to this link to get 15% off your new subscription”). That’s because the whole goal of brand spending isn’t to get consumers to go shop something now

–it’s to get as many people as possible to keep the brand name in mind moving forward.

I’m thinking this shift in podcast could be a sign for what we’ll see in online video. Right now (as Tubefilter‘s weekly branded video reports with data from Gospel Stats show), the majority of sponcon on YouTube still comes from brands like Manscaped and Hello Fresh, with direct response calls to action.

But that could change in the future, as advertisers increasingly divert ad dollars they would’ve once put into TV spots (the prime location for brand spending) to digital media.

I get into all this and more with Lauren Schnipper in the latest installment of Creator Upload. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whenever you listen. You’re gonna dig it.

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