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Does your business market to parents? While parents are a lucrative audience, they are unfortunately a popular target for advertisers. Getting their attention and keeping it long enough is the challenge we will be tackling in this article.
A recent report found the parenting podcast genre experienced the biggest growth in listenership. Popularity grew 88% in 2023. This has created a significant new media brands can use to engage with parents.
Adults across the globe are tuning in regularly to gather child-rearing tips, connect with others experiencing the same thing, and feed their interest in family dynamics. Podcasts are loved as they offer parents a great way to be entertained and learn, while juggling life’s responsibilities. Experts have found this multitasking with audio leads to a captivated, engaged audience that seldom skip ads and more often listen to the entire episode.
PODCASTS FOR MARKETING TO PARENTS
Podcasts are unlike other media formats because you purposefully consume them in a one-on-one environment. Its not a format that encourages mindless fast scrolling. Instead, listeners put in headphones, purposefully select a show, and then pay attention to what they hear. This is why audio ads generate incredible results for awareness, recall, interest, and conversion.
There are many ways to utilise podcasts for marketing to parents, the most popular being either dynamically inserted ads and sponsorships.
DYNAMICALLY INSERTED ADS
These are ads that are pre-recorded and programmatically placed in shows that meet targeting parameters. In this case, an advertiser would of course select ‘parenting podcasts’. But you should also layer on additional genres too, such as true crime to target mums, or sports to target dads. Plus demographic and geographic parameters. Utilising all options advertisers will easily reach the ears of parents.
Using an audio ad manager, you can go from an idea, to a live ad within 5 minutes and from $250. Admanager.fm is our self-serve platform, that includes an AI tool for script generation and voice recording. With all the targeting and optimisation functions you’d expect, this is a great option for campaigns that need to go live fast, brands with low budget, and for big reach awareness campaigns.
Learn more about dynamic ads here. And if you’re considering a programmatic strategy, read these best practice dos and don’ts. For example ads should run for 6 weeks to generate maximum exposure and make up for any download-listen lag.
SPONSORSHIPS
Influencer marketing is a go-to for many businesses targeting parents. Its a surefire way to engage them in a relatable, trustworthy and authentic way. If influencers are part of your campaigns you can get more bang for your marketing-buck by going beyond social influencers to podcast hosts!
Podcast hosts have an intimate connection with listeners which leads to deep knowledge of what their audience wants and how to entice them. When a host features your product or service in a show, they will educate and entertain listeners, bringing your brand to life without being straight advertising.
As any audiophile will attest, sound triggers much richer memories, emotions, and feeling than visual, making it twice as persuasive. Parenting is very emotional, so a hosts oral recommendation will amplify your message, driving incredible brand performance.
For the all important ROAS, because a host will warmly introduce your brand in a contextually relevant environment, you get better prompted and unprompted recall and purchase intent.
A Nielsen study revealed 70% of podcast listeners gained brand awareness through a podcast, 62% successfully recalled brand advertisements and another 62% considered purchasing. The strong recall and generated awareness also helps to amplify all the other online activity you are running, making each marketing dollar work harder.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Today’s mothers and fathers spend an increasing amount of time listening to podcasts. By allocating marketing dollars here you gain a greater emotional connection to parents and heighten brand recall. Regular listening fosters a deep personal connection with the host and shows, meaning their recommendation and featured ads carry a lot of weight among parents that seek the best for their children.
