Programmatic in podcasting: Why aren’t we there yet?

PARIS — There’s no doubt that the growth trajectory of podcasting’s popularity has increased globally over the past few years. As more podcasts are launched, the medium has flourished, and ad dollars have followed.

In fact, experts forecast that podcast ad spend will top $6 billion by 2026. And it’s not just ad spend that’s projected to increase — programmatic advertising is expected to account for 20% of podcast ad buys by 2026, a dramatic increase from only 7% in 2021.

As audiences fragment and the ability to target listeners, achieve scale, and increase revenue becomes more challenging, advertisers and digital audio advertising platforms have turned to programmatic to monetize this emerging medium. However, podcasting presents an array of challenges preventing the format from reaching its full potential, which it will need to overcome to embrace programmatic fully.

The right DSP partners

Due to how podcasts are consumed, it is imperative to understand the technical aspects of programmatic ad insertion when looking for a demand-side platform partner [DSP]. Specifically, the DSP should be able to withstand a long delay (anywhere between two and 24 hours) from when the ad is placed, and the impression is recorded. The challenge here is that advertisers and DSPs have campaign goals to meet and budgets to keep in line. They need to get as close to their ad goals as possible, meaning that they cannot wait the hours it takes to report podcast impressions.

However, with advancements in technology, many DSPs can now support a few hours of delay between auction and impression reporting. The problem is that unlike other mediums with advanced measurement methods and data sets, this lack of timely ad measurement has deterred advertisers from fully adopting programmatic.

With around four million podcast shows available today, more inventory is available than ever before. Therefore, advertisers must ensure they work with a DSP natively connected to supply-side platforms (SSPs) representing the most popular podcasting platforms.

Dynamic and contextual targeting

Having a vast amount of inventory at your fingertips is only one piece of the puzzle. Another benefit of programmatic is that advertisers can dynamically target prerecorded ads in real time for improved contextual relevance. For example, with programmatic, a company selling training sneakers and apparel can easily target their advertising to running and well-being podcasts. With the option to leverage current audio creative and traditional, prerecorded ads, advertisers can create effective ad campaigns that reach relevant audiences with the right messaging at the right time.

Podcasting vs. streaming audio measurement

Buying programmatically across podcasts and streaming audio requires different approaches and by treating them as the same, advertisers risk compromising success. When it comes to measurement, advertisers need specific tools that help them understand the success of their podcasting campaigns so they know where to spend to get the most value. If buyers are using the right tools, they’ll be able to understand whether their ad was delivered to the right audience at exactly the right time to convey their message.

As the future of podcasting continues to evolve, we can expect big things from programmatic advertising. Audio will continue to be of high interest to buyers; thus, ad spend via programmatic exchanges will show significant growth as brands aim to reach an engaged, mobile audience.

The question is: Are you ready to discover the untapped potential programmatic has?

The author is chief product officer for Triton Digital.