The Free and Open Ad-Supported Internet
This week the IAB published a new study built from surveying 1,500 consumers for their thoughts, preferences, and concerns about their personal data and digital advertising. 80% of respondents agree a free and open internet is important to democracy and free speech. When asked how much they’d have to be paid annually to not use the internet, the average response was $37,619 (though the younger the demographic, the more they’d need. Gen Z won’t take a penny under $54,000). That said, if currently free websites and internet services were to suddenly cost money, the most the average respondent would pay per month is $164. 80% of respondents agree with the sentiment websites and apps are free because of advertising. [Source]
Brand Podcast Summit Keeps the Focus on the Audience by Jeff Vidler
Over 1,400 CMOs, content marketers, and podcast producers registered for Lower Street’s first Brand Podcast Virtual Summit on January 24th. The audience of a branded podcast remained a common discussion thread throughout all sessions. Roy Sexton, Director of Marketing at Clark Hill Law, stressed a branded podcast has to bring in a lead, awareness, or audience growth, not stroke a brand’s ego. Lower Street’s Shannon Martin urged brands to not overlook in-house evangelists who might have vital feedback to shape a podcast for its audience, including the vital Brand Fans. [Source]
In rocky digital advertising landscape, advertisers reconsider direct mail by Kimeko McCoy
With the third-party cookie crumbling (pause for applause), advertisers are looking for alternatives that would get close to third-party data’s hyper targeting capabilities. With the increased costs and challenges that come with strengthened digital privacy regulations, direct mail advertising is becoming more feasible of a strategy with its 1 to 5% conversion rate, according to Villa. Winterberry Group’s annual U.S. spending report predicts direct mail will make $38.2 billion in offline marketing spend this year. With the revaluation of first-party data, mailing lists are also expected to become easier to manage. While direct mail is a perfectly viable option, it’s worth noting podcasting is a haven of first-party data and targeting capabilities, all without buying a single stamp. [Source]
Digiday+ Research: Publishers held onto their staff and titles last year, even as traffic fell by Julia Tabisz
A Digiday survey of over 300 publisher professionals found that publishing saw a significant drop-off in traffic last year, with 51% agreeing with the sentiment. 31% said their traffic increased last year, a reversal from 2022 when 46% of respondents reported traffic increase and 36% saw a decrease. While traffic was largely down, staffs remained largely the same. 40% of surveyed publisher professionals told Digiday that as of Q4 2023 their company’s full-time staff had neither increased nor decreased since the start of the year. 34% said their staff decreased in size, and 26% reported their staff grew throughout the year. While 2023 was not a perfect year, it’s worth celebrating the corners of advertising that weathered the uncertainty. [Source]
…as for the rest of the news: SXM Media signs $100+ million three year exclusivity deal with Smartless, Acast’s Megan Davies talks about AI’s role in podcasting, and Triton Digital’s Sharon Taylor has published predictions for podcasting’s 2024 from nine industry leaders.
