Podcasts and Parents: The Ultimate Combination for Advertisers

Parents are one of the most valuable and influential audiences—after all, they’re raising Gen Z and Gen Alpha right now. Not only are they consumers for themselves, but they’re also supporting their kids, so their decision-making and buying power is massive. However, reaching parents is often easier said than done. Between caring for children and getting them to school and activities, taking care of the household, working, running errands, and other obligations, their schedules are jam packed. In fact, 66% of parents say they have very little time to themselves.1

How do brands cut through the noise and clutter of a busy lifestyle to drive real connections and conversions? If you’re thinking podcasts, then you’re on the right track, but maybe you need a nudge in the right direction (hint: the SiriusXM Podcast Network). And if you’re not thinking podcasts, let’s get to the facts.

Making Precious Time for Podcasts

Parents have the most difficult yet rewarding jobs in the world, with nine in 10 agreeing that being a parent is the most important role in their lives. They care more about their family than anything else, so they constantly have their hands full. Audio offers an escape and some me time, making life more manageable, with 78% saying it relaxes them and 75% saying it relieves stress.1

Parents not only rely on audio like podcasts, they have also been devoted podcast listeners long before the medium gained mainstream popularity. Among parents who listen to podcasts, more than one in three started listening more than 10 years ago, and 80% say they listen daily. Additionally, 72% of parents who listen to podcasts report listening to them more than they listen to music!2

How we can help: We have all the best podcasts in one place, making it super convenient for both listeners and brands. Our network reaches 63M monthly listeners3 and ranks #1 among adults 18+ with 24.8% reach.4 And with us, your brand messages reach parents wherever they get their podcasts.

Leaned in and Loving the Medium

It may be surprising to hear that despite their hectic schedules and competing interests, parents are actually highly engaged and focused when it comes to podcasts. And with 72% saying that podcasts are “a good place to spend my time,” we know they are a captive audience, always on the hunt for cutting-edge, entertaining content. In fact, 88% of parents listen to multiple different podcast shows in a given day or week and 67% have started listening to a new podcast show they discovered in the last three months.2

How we can help: With our highly diverse podcast slate, award-winning shows, and standout content, we have what it takes to reach your passionate consumers at scale. So, your ads can reach them whether they’re listening to an old favorite or finding something new.

Indulging in a Variety of Podcast Formats

Let's dive deeper into their podcast consumption habits:

• More than three in four parents are interested in long-form podcasts (episodes that are over 60 minutes long)

• 66% are interested in storytelling/investigative or interview podcasts

• 57% are interested in mini-series or limited release podcasts (podcasts that are limited to a certain number of episodes)

We know what they’re listening to, with comedy, society & culture, true crime, TV & film, and news topping the charts for parents. And 40% of parents are interested in listening to podcasts that are part of a network of similar shows/content.2

How we can help: With owned-and-operated podcasts straight from Stitcher, SiriusXM, Earwolf, and Team Coco plus exclusive partnerships with networks like NBCUniversal, Audiochuck, Crooked Media, Pitaya Entertainment, and ReVolver, we have the variety listeners crave. And we offer genre, source, and contextual targeting solutions that allow you to reach parents and align your brand messages with relevant themes and subject matter.

Highly Engaged—Ads and All!

What more can we say? Parents are passionate about podcasts. Well, we do have a lot more to say when it comes to opportunities for advertisers to connect with them through the medium. When parents spend their time with podcasts, they’re fully engaging with the content—and that includes the brand messages. Their attention span for podcast ads is unmatched versus other mediums, offering advertisers a great way to reach consumers. Parents are 2.4X more likely to pay attention to ads on podcasts versus ads on social media and 3.3X more likely to pay attention to ads on podcasts versus ads on AM/FM radio.2

So, what drives this receptivity? The intimacy and authenticity of the medium. Whether it’s a host- or announcer-read ad, messages are delivered in a relatable, conversational style, and host-read ads draw on the relationship listeners feel with these content creators. Half of parents say that podcast hosts are more authentic than other public figures, including social media influencers, radio DJs, celebrities, and TV hosts. And nearly 9 in 10 parents say they are receptive to ads voiced by podcast hosts.2

How we can help: It’s all about precision and scale. We can help you reach audiences of a specific show with host reads and reach parents across the SiriusXM Podcast Network with announcer reads. 

Taking Action After Hearing Podcast Ads

Parents aren’t just receptive to podcast ads, they’re doing something after they hear them. From generating awareness of new products to humanizing your brand through personal endorsements, podcast ads influence actions across the entire marketing funnel. In fact, 94% of parents have taken any action after hearing ads on podcasts! From researching to purchasing to recommending products and services advertised on the shows they love—they’ve done it all. But discovery and awareness are perhaps the most important outcomes of all for new and emerging brands, and 75% of parents have found out about a product or service they haven’t heard of before after listening to a podcast.2

How we can help: Attention + Authenticity = Action. A recent social networking advertiser’s campaign on the SiriusXM Podcast Network that targeted parents with host-read ads drove double-digit lifts across the entire marketing funnel.5

• +14pts in Favorability

• +12pts in Usage Intent

• +13pts in Recommendation Intent

• +23pts in Brand Attribute about Safety 

Treat Parents to Podcasts

When brands support the content they enjoy, parents take note. Podcasts have significant advantages over other marketing channels when it comes to connecting with parents. Are you ready to maximize the benefits of this medium in your next campaign and ensure optimal success for your brand? 

Let’s talk.

Sources

1. Pandora Soundboard, Modern Family Study, Parents w/ Children <18, December 2021.

2. Podsurvey Podcast User Study, Q2 2023

3. Q4 2022 Internal Metrics from Podcast User Logs

4. Edison Podcast Metrics, Q4 2022

5. Nielsen PAE+ Brand Study Q4 2022, Lifts shown are statistically significant at 90% confidence interval