36 podcast statistics to get your audience listening.

You’ve got a Facebook page; you have a website; you may even have a blog that you update regularly. How else can you reach out to prospects, connect with your community, and show your expertise in your field? The answer, increasingly, is podcasting. 

If you’re looking at using podcasting in your marketing efforts, you’re not alone. Not only is it growing in popularity among the general population, but businesses are also increasingly using podcasting either as an advertising channel or creating their own podcast, such as a legal podcast for a lawfirm.

What do you need to know before starting a podcast, and how can you create an effective one? Here are 36 podcast listener statistics to get you up to speed.

36 podcast listener statistics you need to know:

1.) 75% of the US population is familiar with the term “podcasting,” up from 70% in 2019. (Edison Research)

2.) 162 million people, or 57% of the US population, have listened to a podcast, up from 51% in 2019. (Edison Research)

3.) 41% of Americans listened to a podcast in the last month, up from 32% in 2019. (Edison Research)

4.) Nearly a quarter of all listeners started in the past 6 months. (Reuters)

More types of people are listening than ever before.

5.) 24% (68 million) listen to podcasts weekly – up from 22% in 2019.(Edison Research)

6.) Podcast listeners’ gender matches US distribution—51% male, 49% female. (Edison Research)

7.) 27% of US podcast listeners have a 4-year college degree. (Listen Notes)

8.) 50% of listeners under 35 have listened to a podcast in the last month. (Edison Research)

9.) 16 million people in the US identify as “avid podcast fans”. (Revenue Rocket)

10.)Age of monthly podcast listeners versus US population. (Edison Research):

                    12-34: 48% (vs 37%)

                    35-54: 32% (vs 40%)

                    55+: 20% (vs 23%)

11.) The overall monthly podcast listening audience is now more diverse than ever: 57% of monthly podcast listeners are white, 16% Latino, 13% African American, 4% Asian, and 10% of some other background. (Edison Research)

People have all sorts of listening styles.

12.) 19% of listeners increase the playback speed. (Statista)

13.) 41% of podcast listeners make $75k a year or more, compared to 29% of the general population. (Reuters)

14.) 70% of listeners say that, at least sometimes, they do nothing else while listening to podcasts. (Reuters)

15.) While 49% of podcast listeners tune in from home, 22% listen in the car. (Podcast Insights)

16.) 52% of monthly listeners listen to the entirety of each episode. (Reuters)

17.) Roughly 50% of customer service reps have listened to a podcast at work. (HubSpot)

18.) Podcasts are the number one audio source by time of consumption among podcast listeners. (Edison Research)

Podcast listeners are looking for different things.

19.) 74% say they listen to podcasts to learn new things. (Reuters)

20.) 71% say they listen to be entertained. (Reuters)

21.) 59% say they enjoy podcasts because they make them feel smarter. (Reuters)

22.) 62.6% of respondents said they listen to more podcasts now than they did a year ago. (Podcast Trends Report)

23.) Only 3.1% said they listen less than they did a year ago. (Podcast Trends Report)

24.) Weekly podcast listeners are more likely to be active on social media across channels and more likely to follow companies and brands. (Nielsen)

25.) 76.8% listen to podcasts more than 7 hours a week. (Podcast Trends Report)

26.)61.2% spend more time listening to podcasts than watching TV. (Podcast Trends Report)

Podcasting and marketing are becoming powerful partners.

27.) Branded content has increased from 1.5% to 10.1% of podcast advertising since 2016. (IAB)

28.) In 2018, 17% of marketers were actively planning to add podcasting to their strategy. (HubSpot)

29.) The average podcast ad slot costs between $10 to $50, with additional premium fees for shows with high listenership. (HubSpot)

30.) 54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider the brands they hear advertised on podcasts. (Edison Research)

31.) Podcast advertising revenue is expected to pass $1 billion by 2021. (IAB)

32.) In late 2018, premade edited-in podcast ads made up 51% of placements. However, dynamic ads rose from making up 44% of ad placements in 2017 to 48% in the following year. (IAB)

33.) NPR notes that 75% of its podcast listeners will respond or take action after hearing sponsored content. (National Public Media)

A few more podcast statistics to get you thinking:

People want in-depth content.

34.) The average podcast is 43 minutes long. (Small Biz Genius)

35.) However, 50% of surveyed Americans say that podcasts are “too long”. (Pacific Content)

36.) The most common podcast publishing frequency is every 8 to 14 days. (Buzzsprout)

Practice your podcasting voice.

Getting started might seem daunting, but the statistics show there are people waiting to listen. With podcasting, you can open a new channel of communication with your customers and create effective marketing.

Get started with other communication tools too.

Take advantage of Podium and start texting your customers. You’ll be meeting your customers where they’re at—their phones—giving them the convenience they expect from modern business interactions. Get started with Podium’s communication tools for free today.