20 Statistics That Make the Marketing Case – TopRank® Marketing

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20 Statistics That Make the Marketing Case – TopRank® Marketing

Have you ever tried reading a blog while doing the dishes? Cleaning the house? Do you drive to work? (Well, but that doesn’t sound like a good user experience, does it?) That’s not a knock on blogs. They are always important for SEO, feeding LLMs with content, driving traffic, and lead generation. And they’re not going anywhere.

But podcasts for B2B audiences can offer something blogs can’t. They fit into parts of your audience’s day when looking at a screen isn’t an option. The smartest B2B brands don’t choose between the two. Instead, they do both.

And if you’re still not convinced, We’ll let the data tell the story.

Table of Contents

B2B Podcasting: 20 Statistics That Make The Case

These figures come from five different research reports, all released in the past year. If you look at all five together, the picture is clear: podcasting for B2B audiences has not even begun to rise, and B2brand content is the next frontier.

Podcast Listening Continues to Grow

Podcasting is a way to grow. More people are listening now than ever before. But what’s really impressive is how many new listeners have joined. Although podcasts have been around since the early 2000s, they have only recently reached a mass market audience.

Source: Edison Research

An estimated 158 million Americans are monthly podcast consumers, up from 46 million in 2015. (1)
Weekly podcast subscribers now number 115 million. (1)
Since 2015, weekly time spent with podcasts has grown by 335%. (1)
40% of the US population 12+ used a podcast in the past week. (1)

Podcast Listeners Are Statistically Valuable

Okay, so millions of people listen to podcasts. But are these people the right target audience for B2B marketers? Good question. Not all mass audiences are ideal audiences. Many platforms boast huge numbers and deliver shocking results. So before you get too excited about 158 million monthly listeners, let’s talk about who those people really are.

Monthly podcast consumers turn in high incomes: 47% earn $75K+, compared to 43% of the general US population. (1)
Consumers of the weekly podcast are more likely to be college educated, and are disproportionately business owners (18%) and homeowners (56%). (1)
68% of 35-54 year olds have used a podcast in the past month, making it a powerful vehicle to reach one of the most important demographics for advertising. (5)

Podcasts are a reliable information channel

We live in an age of constant doubt. B2B consumers are immersed in content, ignore ads, and fixate on brands talking about them instead of talking about them. Important difference, right? The products coming out in 2026 all have one thing in common: they are reliable. Podcasts are one of the most direct ways to become a trusted, go-to resource for your audience. They don’t just reach consumers. They create a kind of familiarity with authority that drives decisions.

Americans find podcasts 23 times more trustworthy than social media. (2)
About one-third of US adults, 32%, now get news from podcasts, up from 22% in 2020. (3)
69% listen to in-depth explanatory style content. (3)

Podcast Fans Are Devoted Listeners

Can we all agree that most digital content gets seconds of your audience’s attention before they scroll, click away, or get distracted? Podcasts are structured differently. While the rest of the internet is fighting for fractions of a minute, podcast listeners show up and stay.

Edison Research

Listeners spend about 1 hour a day with podcasts. (2)
Weekly podcast consumers log a combined 773 million hours per week. (1)
Podcast fans, those who rate their engagement 5 or more out of 10, spend more than 9 hours a week with podcasts, about four hours more than the average listener. (1)
Smart TVs, now in 75% of US homes, drive home podcast listening, proving that media is no longer just for commuters. (1)

Video Expands Medium

We are already full here, folks. Many podcasts have evolved into video streaming shows. Is it innovative? Is it still “radio?” Does this change increase the audience? Viewers? Those are questions for another blog.

Here’s the thing: the need is undeniable. Netflix has a dedicated section for podcasts now. Most of the programs I listen to now offer video feeds, and the benefits are obvious. Seeing the guest’s reaction or the host’s body language creates a level of intimacy that no sound can match. It also provides more real estate for product recognition and better ad placement.

I would argue that this change particularly helps B2B brands because their products tend to be complex or intangible. If the product is hard to visualize, video makes that invisible. It turns faceless service into a personal partnership.

Beyond B2B Marketing Podcast

More than half of the US population, 51%, have watched a podcast. (1)
Monthly, podcast video consumers now make up 37% of the US 12+ population. (1)
More than 1 in 4 Americans, 26%, watched a podcast in the past week. (1)

If you’ve ever listened to a podcast, you know it’s often full of ads (Anyone listen to iHeartRadio podcasts?). But what medium doesn’t exist these days? The good news is that most listeners are okay with this since the content is technically free. And that enthusiasm translates.

More and more listeners buy products after hearing these ads.

You have to meet your audience where they are, and that’s where they are. So the question isn’t whether podcasting belongs in your B2B marketing mix. Whether you can leave that touch point on the table.

97% of spoken audio on social media is supported by ads, compared to only 47% of music content. (4)
44% of listeners bought a product after hearing a podcast ad, up from 34% in 2020. (1)
88% of weekly podcast consumers say ads are a fair trade-off for free content, and 68% say they don’t mind hearing them. (1)

Don’t be (Pod) Set aside

Podcasting is no longer a “nice to have”. This is where your buyers already are. And getting started with Podcast marketing doesn’t have to be difficult if you have the right partners to handle funding, guest acquisition, production, and promotion.

While you’re at it, do yourself a favor and download the Beyond B2B Marketing Podcast. Lee Odden and other sharp minds in B2B marketing cover everything from AI disruption and transformation to the importance of creativity and storytelling and everything in between.

If you’d like to learn more about how to create a podcast for your B2B brand that you’ve positioned as a go-to resource, we can help.

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