Hello, fellow podcasters and podcast-adjacent friends. Today, I want to walk you through a slice of research from our recent Podcast Landscape 2024 report, the largest publicly available study of podcast consumers (and non-consumers!) in America. I want to revisit a segment we looked at last year called “The Persuadables.” Given that a year has passed and podcasting has grown, particularly on the video side, it’s worth taking another look at The Persuadables with this year’s data to see if they’re still persuadable and, if so, how we can reach them.

Non-Consumers aren’t Monolithic

Currently, 26% of Americans 18+ have never consumed a podcast, down from 28% last year. We’ve converted some non-listeners, which is good news! When we ask why people haven’t consumed a podcast, here are the top reasons:

Interestingly, the inertia factor (“my existing options give me what I need”) has grown stronger, suggesting that while people might not be delighted with their current media choices, they’re not dissatisfied enough to make a change. The reason that declined the most? “I can’t find a podcast that seems interesting,” down from 18% last year to 13% this year. You could take that as good news (discovery is working better) or as bad news (fewer people are looking for an interesting podcast). 

We can segment the 26% of non-listeners into three groups:

1. The Unreachables (11%): These are difficult to reach due to economic reasons, such as not having a device to play podcasts or lacking reliable internet access.
2. The Resistors (59%): They may have heard of podcasts but have perceptions that prevent them from listening. Reasons include preferring video, reading, or simply not understanding the benefits of podcasts. They aren’t unreachable, but their habits may be more firmly entrenched (though a big part of that is their strong preference for video over spoken word audio, which as we have seen in recent years, is less a barrier to podcasting than ever before).
3. The Persuadables (30%): This group, about 8% of the US population 18+ or 20 million people, represents our next potential audience tier. Like the Resisters, they prefer video, but are more open to considering podcasting AND show signs that their existing media diet might have a few holes that podcasts could fill admirably.

Who Are the Persuadables?

The Persuadables tend to be older than the general US population (48% are 55+) and overwhelmingly female(62%). While they over-index as white, this is likely a trailing variable of age; as I’ve noted before in this space, the White population of the US is considerably older than the Black or Hispanic/Latino populations.

Their reasons for not consuming podcasts include:

• Not enough free time
• Not knowing how to listen
• Not understanding the benefits
• Not finding interesting content
• Perception that podcasts cost money

…all of which, I submit, are easily addressable, especially with the current rise of video podcasts.

When we asked The Persuadables about their recent media consumption habits, we uncovered some significant shifts:

This changes in media consumption paint an interesting picture. The Persuadables are moving away from traditional sources of real-time news and information (Twitter/X and radio) and towards more entertainment-focused, video-based platforms (TikTok, YouTube, free streaming TV).

However, it’s important to note that while these new platforms are gaining popularity, they may not entirely replace the type of informational content that The Persuadables were getting from radio and Twitter. This creates a potential opportunity for podcasts to fill this information gap. Look at the interest that this segment shows in the perceived benefits of podcasting, when explained to them:

The bars highlighted in orange were the biggest “gainers” over the 2023 study, and they all have a certain flavor: there is a heightened interest in interesting discussions, learning about new hobbies, news, and information. When you look at the significant increases in the interest around these potential benefits, AND the marked changes that The Persuadables report in what they are consuming more and less over the past year, it may be that while TikTok and TV haver replaced some of the time they used to spend with X or AM/FM radio, they might not have replaced some of the engagement, information, and companionship benefits of those media.

The increased time spent on Facebook is also noteworthy. As other platforms like X/Twitter lose favor, The Persuadables might be returning to Facebook as a familiar and comfortable space for social interaction and information sharing. Indeed, Facebook is by far the top social media platform for Persuadables:

Finally, just as The Persuadables are spending more time with video and free, ad-supported streaming TV in particular, this segment is even more interested in content about and adjacent to that content than they were last year. When we asked this segment about their potential interest in shows about or produced by their favorite TV shows, all of these data showed a significant (20+%) increase over the same figures from 2023.

Persuading the Persuadables

I recorded a video walkthrough of all of these data points, along with some expanded findings and suggestions, which you can watch above.

Here is the short course, though. All of these trends suggest that to reach The Persuadables, podcast creators and marketers should consider the following:

1. With the shift towards video consumption, millions of current non-consumers might actually find video podcasts they enjoy – and we need the current stars of video podcasts to talk about the medium, loudly and proudly.
2. A key to making the introduction is short-form content that can be shared on platforms like TikTok and YouTube to introduce Persuadables to podcast concepts and benefits.
3. While it may not be a place for your podcast, per se, Facebook IS the place for podcast promotion and community building with this segment.
4. The decline of X and the consumption of commercial radio content may have left a gap that short-form video does not fill. We need to talk about podcasting’s ability to be a companion that enriches passive media consumption time
5. Finally, with the rise in interest about companion shows to existing TV and film content,  partnerships with free streaming TV platforms to reach this audience and video “on-ramps” to companion shows could be of great benefit.

The path to growing our audience lies in understanding and addressing the needs of The Persuadables and, in turn, even some of The Resisters! By emphasizing the convenience and companionship podcasts offer, we can make downtime more interesting and valuable. It’s up to us to show them how podcasts can enrich their lives and fill the gaps left by their changing media habits.

Download The Persuadables data graphs here!

This article is based on research from “The Podcast Landscape 2024“, made possible by Wondery, BetterHelp, NPR, ESPN Podcasts, Libsyn, American Public Media, Paramount, and the SiriusXM Podcast Network, with research partners at Signal Hill Insights