Using Podcasts To Reach The Hard To Influence

I’ll admit it, I am a podcast geek. I have been since I first started listening to great pods back in 2010, in fact, I was so sold on audio as a medium even back then that I started paying $10 a month to receive downloadable mp3 in email format from ‘The Daily Boost’ (which I just checked and it is still going… 4508 episodes deep!)

As I am a self-confessed geek, I love when new facts and figures come out about the podcasting sector because, as more people become aware of the power of this media, it gains more attention, which drives more businesses into the space, which creates more revenue, which increases the professionalism of the sector and — as I like to say when I pretending to be a philosophical genius — ‘All Boats Rise In A High Tide’.

One great bit of research I have seen recently came from Rephonic who assessed some of the commonalities between top-ranking shows, one such fact that came through their digging is that chart-topping podcasts tend to have a slightly male-biased demographic.

Now, you might wonder why that matters. Well, traditional media such as TV, magazines and radio tends to have a slightly more female-focused audience, so podcasting gives you a chance to get to a tough-to-reach market.

The fact that pods can reach a valuable demographic led me to do some more investigations of my own to see what other handy stats I could find about the people who — if you are creating content in the right way — could be tuning in to your shows!

Age: According to recent studies, the largest age group of podcast listeners is between 25–44 years old, with 33% of this age group listening to podcasts at least once a month. However, the number of listeners over 55 years old has been increasing too.

Education: Podcast listeners tend to have higher levels of education, with 56% of monthly listeners having a college degree or higher.

Income: Podcast listeners tend to have higher levels of income, with 45% of monthly listeners earning $75,000 or more per year.

Ethnicity: While podcast listenership is diverse, studies suggest that the majority of listeners identify as white (58%), followed by Hispanic (16%), African American (13%), and Asian (8%).

And, as was mentioned at the start of the article, Gender: Historically, podcast listenership was male-dominated, but that has shifted in recent years. As of 2021, 54% of podcast listeners are male, and 46% are female. Interesting that the medium is slowly shifting closer to being equal… worth bearing in mind for content makers.

As a summary of all the above, I usually tell our clients that podcast listeners are a valuable demographic as they are educated, affluent and have disposable income.

The age range of podcasting also makes the demographic very valuable as, once again, the medium is reaching those that are hard to target via traditional media, especially younger listeners. As you might expect there is a wide variety of age groups that consume content, but studies suggest that the largest demographic of podcast listeners is between the ages of 25 and 44 years old. This age group makes up 33% of monthly podcast listeners. However, podcast listenership has been growing among all age groups.

According to a report by Edison Research, as of 2021, the breakdown of podcast listeners by age group is as follows:

12–34 years old: 48%

35–54 years old: 33%

55+ years old: 19%

It’s worth noting that the age range of podcast listeners is likely to continue evolving as the medium grows in popularity and reaches new audiences.

Another final piece of real value to consider when thinking about podcasting is audio’s unique ability to reach people at times when no other form of media can distract. Think about how powerful that can be in a world where you instantly pick up your phone when the TV ads come on!

When people are driving they can’t be (or, at least, shouldn’t be!) scrolling social media, watching videos, seeing pop-up ads, or reading emails… but they can be listening to podcasts.

When they are walking the dog, in the gym or doing the washing up it will be hard to watch and read content… but easy to listen.

By virtue of its on-demand nature, podcasting is untethered to time specificity, unlike live radio or TV. Pods can be downloaded and listened to at any time and in any place which allows listeners to consume content on their own schedule, rather than being tied to a specific broadcasting time.

So, in summary, podcasts reach hard-to-target audiences, they enable you to connect with a demographic that mainstream media doesn’t always attract, you can get to a younger section of society and you can talk to people at a time when they are less likely to be distracted.

So, if you haven’t started a pod yet, why not!? And, if you have, are you giving this very unique medium the attention it deserves in order to deliver you maximum results and optimal output!?