Specialist podcast media agency Earmax Media has released results of an innovative campaign for small group adventure company Explore Worldwide, that actively targets listeners True Crime podcasts.
With vivid and contextually relevant creative by sister audio agency, Eardrum, the campaign has capitalised on the high listener engagement synonymous with the genre and enjoyed exceptional results from the campaign.
Andy Maxwell, co-founder Earmax Media “We’ve always known the power of this channel and it’s great to now have the evidence that will encourage more brands to invest in the category and in podcast advertising more broadly”
“Explore’s audience is so well aligned with the category, and we’ve managed to get the same CPMs and reach with a specific creative for True Crime as we would with a broader Run Of Network buy, yet the actual impact has been so much higher,” Ben Ittensohn, regional director, Explore Worldwide Australia, and New Zealand.
“We could not be happier. The genre of True Crime is a great fit for us – compelling narratives, perfect alignment with our target demographic, and strong audience engagement across the genre. We loved the idea of owning the category during our peak sales period, and the reach and visit-through-rate to our website we’ve seen already has been amazing”.
Key campaign results include:
- 23% increase for global web traffic.
- 25% increase in booked revenue in the AUNZ region.
- More than 2x the industry benchmarks for tracked website visits.
- More than 7% Visit-Through-Rates for top performing network (website visitors vs total reach).
Cameron Hendrix, co-founder of Magellan AI, the podcast tracking company responsible for the monthly reports on the biggest podcast advertisers said: “This campaign’s success, with a response rate on True Crime shows exceeding double the rate for similar campaigns, showcases the power of strategic genre-based targeting and tailored creative.
Achieving these stellar results without promo codes speaks to the true potential of podcasting as an advertising medium.
Brand safety issues are often sighted as the reason media agencies exclude podcasts in this genre from their plans. A source of frustration for people like Jack Laurence, host of one of Australia’s most successful True Crime podcasts ‘One Minute Remaining’ has frequently expressed his frustrations.
“Over the past two years, I’ve faced roadblock after roadblock when trying to bring brands on board. For those brands willing to look past the outdated stigma surrounding the genre, there’s an incredible opportunity to capitalise on one of the most engaged audiences in podcasting. That’s why I was happy when I heard the Explore ads appearing on One Minute Remaining.”
Jessica Lodge, Nine News senior producer and host of Ultimate Sacrifice, expressed similar frustrations. “There are few other podcasts categories that attract the scale and engagement of true crime audiences, especially young female audiences. And it’s clear that brands are failing to identify, and benefit from, the unique opportunities that presents.”
And it’s not just assumptions from these hosts that speak to these large, highly engaged audiences. Research from IAB Australia and Neuro-Insight presented last year showed that advertisers will get the same level of engagement and memorability with their True Crime podcast campaigns as they do for Entertainment podcast campaigns. Fresh research from Sounds Profitable also challenges the common assumptions around brand suitability.
Shaun Wilson, VP UK sales, Audioboom, added that the campaign is a gamechanger. The three ingredients to the True Crime formula are great stories, community and consistency. Whether performance or awareness campaigns, advertisers see strong ROI due to those three ingredients. Evidenced by the benchmark shattering performance of the Explore Worldwide campaign – a creative that has truly resonated with this loyal and engaged, True Crime audience’
Ciaran Tobin, group business director at Acast quote: ‘True Crime is nothing to be scared of. The podcast category is underutilised despite True Crime offering unrivalled reach and highly engaged audiences. EarMax tailored their audio ads for creating a seamless and relevant connection to the content, further enhancing the listener’s engagement.’
