In a society that constantly focuses on “what’s new” and “what’s next”, it may come as a surprise that the world’s earliest form of communication — spoken word — continues to win with audiences. Did you know that 75% of the U.S. population listens to spoken word content monthly? Podcasts are the main driver of that metric, with more the 460 million global listeners.

Podcast Listenership Continues to Grow at Exponential Rates 

Podcast listenership shows no signs of slowing down, with listenership expected to grow to 504.9 million by the end of 2024. Content creators have responded to surging demand with over 4.1 million podcast shows and counting.

Rising Listenership Means More Advertising Opportunities 

Brand marketers have noticed the unique opportunity that podcasts present. They are a prime media outlet for brands to connect with their audiences nationally and share their message in an organic way. In fact, the podcast ad market is growing 2x faster than digital advertising overall and is expected to double to $4B annually by 2025.

With audience, publishers, marketers, and brands all on board the podcast rocket ship, there should be nothing to worry about, right? Well, there are some important issues surfacing with brand suitability and content evaluation. 

The Problem with Podcast Advertising: Hours of Uncensored Content 

With 4.1+ million podcasts in circulation, there is A LOT of content. Podcast content spans across genres, taking many different tones, while covering an array of topics. This presents a challenge to brands: they need to reach their audiences in an authentic way while upholding their brand’s integrity and avoiding harmful or uncivil content.  

In a medium that is ever-expanding, nuanced, and increasingly complex, how can brands maximize advertising opportunities while minimizing risk? To answer that question, brands must look beyond today’s conventional brand suitability frameworks.  

The Key Problems with Brand Suitability Measurement Today: 

• Brand marketers have either no data or too much data with little to no confidence in what it means for their marketing plan. 

• Topic and keyword blocking lacks the context and insight needed to be an effective brand suitability strategy. 

• Manual review of content harbors innate bias and is not a scalable solution to keep up with the thousands of hours of content being produced.  

• The current solutions do not address The Golden Rule: treating others with respect and civility. 

What’s the impact of these problems? Marketers end up avoiding entire topics and keywords, rather than focusing on the spirit of the content they're sponsoring and making informed, data-driven decisions.

Brand Suitability Measurement in Podcast Advertising Needs an Upgrade

Podcast advertising needs one simple metric that transcends subjectivity and confusion. The industry needs to employ technology to measure content with nuance and promote a value that brands, consumers, and creators can all align on: respect for others.