The 2024 general election has been dubbed “the podcast election” due to candidates’ potentially game-changing appearances on some of the biggest podcasts in the US. These appearances illustrate the untapped potential of podcast advertising. “Podcasts may have played a big role in the US election, but they're still getting overlooked by advertisers,” wrote EMARKETER senior vice president of content and executive editor Vladimir Hanzlik on LinkedIn.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance appeared on “The Joe Rogan Experience” (ranked No. 1 in the US on Spotify), while Vice President Kamala Harris appeared on “Call Her Daddy” (ranked No. 22 in the US on Spotify). With tens of millions of listeners tuning in across platforms, these podcasts not only were influential in the election, but also demonstrated just how massive podcast audiences can be.

In 2025, 41.0% of people in the US (140.9 million) will listen to podcasts in 2025, per our September 2024 forecast.

• For comparison, 43.2% of people (148.7 million) will use Instagram.
• But while Instagram will see $35.16 billion in US ad revenues in 2025, podcast ad spend will total less than one-tenth of that, at $2.55 billion.

Podcasts accounted for 4.8% of US time spent with digital media in 2024, but made up just 0.8% of digital ad spend, per our June 2024 forecast. And while time spent listening to podcasts will increase, ad spend will remain the same and then decrease.

“This imbalance represents a significant untapped opportunity. And that doesn’t even consider the high level of trust that podcast listeners place in the content they consume,” Hanzlik wrote. Podcast listeners tend to be regular subscribers of specific creators’ content, offering them a relationship with and level of trust in the hosts. That provides an excellent opportunity for sponsored content and host-led ad reads.

There are factors behind advertisers’ hesitation to embrace podcasts.

• Most podcasts have very small listener bases, leaving the top 25 to claim nearly half the listeners, per our Radio and Digital Audio Ad Spending Benchmarks: Q4 2024 report.
• Many creators post podcasts to YouTube, meaning advertisers can reach their audiences by advertising specifically on YouTube, rather than on podcasts across other platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
• Attribution can be difficult on podcasts, where listeners engaged in other activities like driving may not purchase directly from ads the way they might on social platforms like Instagram.
• Podcast ads are often skippable, meaning listeners may not actually hear them.

While the election demonstrated the popularity of podcasts, the format is engaging outside of political seasons. Political campaigns may invest more in podcasts in 2026 and 2028, and podcasts may become more intertwined with candidate strategies. But non-political advertisers can take advantage of podcasts’ wide reach now.

This was originally featured in the EMARKETER Daily newsletter. For more marketing insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.