Podcasts are booming, but how will they evolve by 2024?

‍

Over the past few years, audio has slowly established itself as one of the most popular forms of content for Internet users. With 1.66 billion listeners by 2022, podcasts are the talk of the town.

How did the podcast come about?

The podcast was created in 2004 by Adam Curry and Dave Winer, two American engineers. Although the term "podcast" - a contraction of Ipod and broadcast - was coined by British journalist Ben Hammersley in 2004, it was the two developers who came up with the software for downloading radio broadcasts onto an MP3 player.

Podcasts may not be new, but they've never been more successful. According to Podcast Index, there will be 4,096,419 podcast creators worldwide in 2023, 30% more than in 2022. France is no exception to this growth, with the podcast market recording a 20% increase to 100,000 podcast creators in 2023. Despite this growth, France still lags behind its neighbors, notably the UK, with 298,415 creators, and Germany, with 155,544 podcasters.

Podcasts: ever more listeners

Thanks to its practical format, podcasts are convincing more and more listeners, with an increase of 40% between 2021 and 2022, corresponding to 10.5 million people. The range of podcast choices is seductive. Themes are multiplying and tongues are wagging. As a result, it's easy to go from listening to a 45-minute podcast on the economy to a 2-hour conversation between men and women as inspired as they are inspiring.

Podcasts: a powerful marketing tool

In 2023, it's often said, "you don't have to sell to sell". Today, creating and adding value to companies is one of the primary vectors of corporate growth. This is where podcasts come into their own. In addition to its broadcasting capacity, it creates an unspoken link between listeners and podcasters, while proving the expertise of the content creator. According to a Hubspot study, companies with podcasts see a 20% increase in leads. The Smart Insights study adds to this, confirming that company podcasts generate 15% more sales.

Which podcasts will be the most listened to in France in 2023?

According toACPM data, the most listened-to podcasts in France in 2023 will be :

1. L'Équipe du Tour, a sports podcast dedicated to the Tour de France
2. News of the day - Hugo Décrypte, a news podcast
3. Transfert, a podcast dedicated to soccer
4. Metamorphosis, awaken your consciousness, a personal development podcast
5. C'Cauet, a humor podcast
6. Crimes and true stories, a true crime podcast
7. Bliss Stories, a fiction podcast
8. L'appel trop con, a humorous podcast
9. Montreux Comedy Audio, a stand-up podcast

Podcasts: how will they evolve in 2024?

According to Statista forecasts, the number of podcast listeners worldwide is expected to reach 504.5 million in 2024:

Video podcasts: they've been popping up everywhere in recent months. Although this trend is a paradox for the very concept of the podcast, it is no less popular. More and more podcasters are filming themselves while recording their episodes. This well-thought-out strategy enables the content to be recycled for publication on different platforms such as spotify, Deezer, YouTube, but also TikTok or Instagram, two networks where video excerpts from podcasts are particularly popular. The filmed format is so popular that Spotify now offers the option of adding video in addition to audio formats.

The emergence of immersive podcasts: immersive podcasts are formats that use sound techniques to create immersive experiences. This blend of ASMR and valuable content is becoming increasingly popular with listeners.

The growth of on-demand podcasts: After TV on demand, now there's podcast on demand, allowing listeners to choose when and where they want to hear a podcast.

While the number of podcast listeners is set to soar in 2024, the number of creators is also likely to grow. The low production costs of a podcast, and distribution software such as Spotify for Podcasters or Ausha, make the creation of the format accessible to all and easily achievable.

What's more, the evolution of Google's algorithm promises increased use of audio formats, as it will soon be paying particular attention to audio as well as video. In short, all the more reason to use podcasts as a growth vector in your marketing strategy.

‍