When it comes to podcast advertising, it’s not just how many podcasts that impacts a brand’s conversion rate – but where in the program the ad is played.

The 2022 Podcast Trends Reports from Spotify is based on data from the streaming service, as well as its enterprise products: ad platform Megaphone, performance insights platform Chartable and analytics platform Podsights.

Data from Podsights found that advertisers see the highest conversion rate – an average of 1.43% – when they advertise across two to 10 different podcast publishers or networks. But there is a limit: when advertising with more than 10 publishers or networks, the conversion rate drops to an average of 1.13%. Pre-roll ads have also been found to be the most effective placement for conversion compared to post-rolls.

Fashion and beauty advertisers experienced the highest purchase conversion rates compared to other categories, with an average conversion rate growth of 19% in Q4 compared to the previous quarter.

Megaphone’s data also found that the podcast listening audience is expanding. Podcasts are most popular with those aged 25 to 54, a result of the diversification and growth of available content.
Spotify has seen growth of unique listeners among those aged 13 to 17 and 55 to 64, up to 49% and 45%, respectively.

How audiences are listening to podcasts is also evolving. Mobile devices still account for 91% of time spent across Spotify, but listening in cars, smart speakers and smart TVs is growing. Car listening rose 131%, smart speakers up 83% and smart TVs up 82%.