While traditional audio podcasts still dominate, video podcasts are proving to be a hit with audiences and marketers.

• Thirty-seven percent of US consumers ages 12 and older are monthly video podcast consumers, according to a July Edison Research report.
• 79% of podcast listeners watch and listen to podcasts, according to an August Acast survey.
• Major players have noted this trend: Netflix has recently signed deals with Spotify and iHeartMedia, integrating video podcasts into its content library.

“Back in 2017 or 2018, there was a huge era of video essays, and it showed people have so much patience for long-form,” said Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO of Digital Voices. “As short-form platforms have permeated, consumers have really enjoyed the meditation of long-form content.”

The shift to video is a learning curve: Marketers and creators must make ad integrations feel natural without breaking the flow. To cover higher production costs, creators need noninvasive integrations that prove ROI to keep brands interested.

The value of video

Consumers are generally on board with podcast ads as a tradeoff for content. Eighty-eight percent of weekly podcast consumers ages 13 and older believe hearing ads is a fair exchange, according to a July Edison Research report.

And video podcasts create a convenient content loop for creators, who often splice clips from their shows for social. Digital video and social networks are the top mobile activities, according to our May forecast.

Podcasts help creators forge stronger bonds with listeners, but an abrupt “word from our sponsor” can quickly pull both the creator and the audience out of that moment, said Quigley-Jones.

“I’m hoping the days of ‘This podcast is sponsored by Huel. I love the salted caramel flavor.’ They're gone,’” she said.

Shifting from standard ad reads

US podcast listeners are most likely to pay attention to casual brand mentions during the show (59%), according to a May National Research Group (NRG) survey. Thinking beyond interruptive placements is a challenge, according to Omar Tawakol, CMO of video advertising platform Rembrand.

“Creators might have three ad reads in a show, and consumers will either skip them or forget about them in a long podcast,” said Tawakol, whose company uses AI to add products into the background of creator videos.

When ad reads are the default, podcasters and brands overlook opportunities for real integration like segment sponsorships, said Quigley-Jones.

“There are just so many interesting things you can do with video creative ad partnerships,” said Quigley-Jones. “It just relies on the ecosystem being less copy and paste and brands being more daring with podcast advertising and partnerships.”

Avoiding generic creative requires direct communication between creators and marketing teams, said David Freeman, global head of digital media at Creative Artists Agency (CAA), at a November IAB roundtable.

“Creators are thinking long-term, and this is a media business for them, so we have to get CMOs to sit at the table with the creator,” he said.

Can creators and brands keep up?

There may be a disconnect between what fans enjoy and what’s easiest for creators to monetize. Fans say long-form provides more value (52%) than short-form (41%), according to a Patreon report.

That is creating tension among some creators. In November, The Try Guys announced they were ending their podcast, even with around 550,000 subscribers on the TryPod YouTube channel. Lifestyle creator Shelby Church also said she’s winding down her podcast, noting that while it can be profitable, it’s far from a simple side project, The Publish Press reports.

“What we’re seeing more of is brands producing their own video podcasts, or creators launching their own brands off the back of podcasts,” said Quigley-Jones, who mentioned Alex Cooper’s Unwell and British supermarket Waitrose’s podcast Dish as examples.

A roadblock to strategy and measurement with creators is the internal structures that separate departments like social, organic social, and commerce work, said Jamie Gutfreund, founder of Creator Vision, at the IAB event.

“Most organizations are siloed vertically… and it doesn't work that way anymore, because creators are everything,” she said. “The metrics, the measurement, and the infrastructure all have to change.”

Video podcasts can enhance that core strategy, said Quigley-Jones.

“Hopefully, video podcasts will allow for more creativity, but also more commercial measurement,” she said.

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