Podcast advertising on Spotify gives brands the chance to capture attention in highly engaged moments and build trust faster. But what does it look like in practice, and how does it enable those opportunities?
Let’s look at how to level up your media mix by advertising on podcasts, and how our automated buying paths Spotify Ad Exchange and Spotify Ads Manager can simplify that process and maximize your ROI potential.
Why advertise on podcasts?
Long-form content like podcasts helps advertisers grab—and maintain—their audiences’ attention.
That’s something that’s getting ever harder to do in the vastness of digital space, with the average person now using 6.7 social media platforms per month and 66% of people second-screening.¹
Podcasts help advertisers cut through the noise. The data is hard to ignore:
71%
of daily podcast users say podcast content gets all or most of their attention²
90%
of Gen Zs say they often or sometimes feel fully present in the moment while listening to podcasts and music during everyday activities³
70%
of Spotify podcast listeners say they’re open to hearing ads in podcasts⁴
59%
of Spotify podcast listeners say they feel more connected to podcast hosts than social media influencers⁵
And it’s not just Gen Zs who are dialed into the podcast space—Millennials are all in, too, with more than a third listening to podcasts daily, according to a 2024 KS&R report.⁶
From a marketer’s perspective, that all translates to impact. Sure, all digital media can effectively reach audiences, but podcasts resonate with them. So, when you advertise on a podcast, you’re buying focused time and connection at scale.
Types of podcast ads
If you’ve ever tuned into a podcast—as 504.9 million people worldwide did in 2024, according to EMARKETER⁷—then you’ll no doubt have heard or seen brands promoting their products or services there.
Either they were read out loud by the podcast host—more on that later—or they appeared directly before, during, or right after the podcast.
Let’s look at these different types of podcast ads in more detail:
Pre-roll ads
These ads at the beginning of an episode are great for delivering short, punchy messaging designed to engage high-intent audiences, driving traffic and desired actions from them.
Mid-roll ads
These ads appear during breaks in podcast episodes and can deliver stronger brand recall through storytelling.
Post-roll ads
Post-roll ads are perfect for non-urgent, longer-term campaigns to promote subtly without demanding immediate conversion.
On Spotify, your podcast ads could appear across any one of these podcast ad types, or even a combination to address different audience segments at different points in the sales funnel. Podcast ads can also be categorized by format, whether audio or video.
To optimize for these podcast ad types and the podcast medium, check out our audio ad creative best practices.
Advertising on Spotify podcasts
If you’re thinking about starting your podcast ad campaign, Spotify is the powerhouse to have on your side. We reach over 115 million monthly podcast listeners in the U.S. alone, with +90% of all U.S. podcast listeners tuning in through our network⁸—whether on Spotify, or another app. And our vast podcast library spans countless different genres, niches, and interests across millions of shows.
The platform’s depth of first-party user insights and personalization capabilities means the people your ads reach will more likely be the ones you want to reach—right at the moment they're tuned into their favorite podcast. Whether you’re targeting broadly, or based on audience demographics, podcast categories, episode topics, behavioral signals, or a combination of factors, Spotify helps hone that targeting for more relevance and impact.
There are various ways you can advertise on Spotify podcasts, depending on your budget and preferred way of advertising.
How to buy podcast ads via Direct IO
42% of Spotify podcast listeners we asked trust their favorite podcast host(s) as much as they trust their friends.⁹
Advertising direct with Spotify helps your brand show up alongside the voices listeners trust most—podcast hosts.¹⁰ Through host-read ads, you can tap into the built-in credibility and loyalty hosts have built with their audiences. Whether it’s a dynamically inserted audio read, a baked-in video read, or a video product placement, host-read ads give your brand a direct line to fans in a way that feels organic, not interruptive.
Your brand can go even deeper with a range of integrated solutions—from presenting sponsorships to branded editorial segments that weave your brand into episode content. You can also explore customizing a segment to align with the show’s tone, or even bring your brand to life through live podcast events, Ringer microsites, or YouTube Live integrations—each one designed to create a moment your audience will remember.
Together, these solutions can help generate resonance, long-term brand lift, and measurable engagement. With flexible creative options and opportunities for exclusive placements, direct podcast buying through our sales team helps you integrate deeply with a show and benefit from the halo effect of the trusted relationship the host has built with fans. And if the host is a user of the product or service themself? Even better.
How to buy podcast ads via Spotify Ads Manager
Advertisers can also access high-quality podcast ad inventory via our self-serve platform Spotify Ads Manager. In just a few clicks, you can connect with engaged fans across Spotify’s vast network of podcasts.
With Ads Manager, you can reach highly-engaged audiences while they’re tuned into the shows they love. The platform lets you target by age, gender, location, and podcast category (Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle & Health, etc.), so that your message reaches the right people.
Plus, your ads can scale way beyond Spotify—reaching listeners wherever they stream podcasts, whether on Spotify or another app
Creating podcast ads has also never been easier with Ads Manager. You can maintain full control over spend with transparent, fixed CPM pricing, so budgeting is easier and more efficient. A lower-cost-of-entry also enables advertisers to experiment, learn and scale at their own pace. In short, it’s an efficient, high-impact platform that delivers creativity, smart targeting, and scalability—all as part of the package.
96% Unique audience reach by adding podcasts to your Spotify Ads Manager media mix.¹¹
How to buy podcast ads via the Spotify Ad Exchange
Spotify’s high-quality podcast inventory is also available to buy programmatically via the Spotify Ad Exchange. This enables Private Marketplace (PMP) deals via DSPs such as The Trade Desk, Google Display & Video 360, Amazon DSP, and Yahoo DSP.
Through the Spotify Ad Exchange, advertisers can leverage first-party Spotify data to find their audience across both audio and video ad formats. You can target specific podcast categories like Business or True Crime, and target by episode topics such as Sports or Tech. It’s also possible to select sensitive topic filters to ensure brand suitability, control targeting with first- and third-party data, and retrieve performance reports through your preferred DSP.
Similar to Spotify Ads Manager, Spotify Ad Exchange delivers ads across both Spotify and other platforms, helping to extend reach. Plus, you can manage reach and frequency together with your other buys for true omnichannel campaign activation.
Ready to get started with podcast ads?
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