Spotify podcast ads surged 40% globally, while time spent with video content almost doubled, according to the streaming platform’s 2023 Wrapped for Advertisers report.
The report compiles data and insights for marketers to showcase how users engage with advertising globally.
The surge in podcast advertising makes the format the fastest-growing ad product on the streaming platform and reflects the overall popularity in the sector.
Video activity also surged globally, with time spent with video content on Spotify up 48% YoY, mostly driven by video podcasts. Gen Zs are leading this growth, spending 136% more time with video on Spotify YoY.
Advertisers also saw success with a multi-format approach to awareness, according to the report, Spotify ad formats saw a positive lift in driving brand awareness and ad recall for advertisers, led by Video Takeover, Sponsored Sessions, and Audio Ad formats
The report highlighted the listening patterns of key demographics – Gen Zs were +1338% more likely to stream “heartbreak” playlists, as Millennials over-indexed in streaming content that reflected the positivity mood by +357%.
A key area that also saw a significant boost was wellness, including meditation, mindfulness, yoga, relaxation, and self-love playlists and podcasts, which grew +492% year-over-year (YoY).
It noted that global streaming five times higher than in 2022 in the space and that the key audience driving this trend was Millennials. This comes after Spotify released its podcast trends report that revealed listeners aged over 45 had the highest growth in audience demographics.
‘The Sound of Cultural Conversation’ report explored podcast streaming data from the platform’s first-party data collected in H1 2023 across key cultural moments of this year – such as the Eurovision finale, Barbie movie premiere, and NBA Finals – and compared those trends to Google Search and social media activity around the same topics.
Sam Moles, podcast account director of Spotify Australia and New Zealand, said the report saw growth in the 45+ demographic, which has been under-represented in the past when looking at the total podcast listening audience.
According to the report, listeners in Australia aged 55-64 grew 64%, while listeners aged 65+ rose 64%.
“We hope this reflects a fundamental shift in the audience cohort that generally has the highest % of non-podcast listeners, which in turn will increase the opportunity for advertisers looking to reach this highly valuable audience,” he said.