From Barns to Broadcasts: Engaging Farmers with Podcasts -Rhea Kaiser

Unlocking the benefits of podcasts to connect with the ag audience

Whether you’re a True Crime junkie or looking for ag updates, podcasts are an easy way to consume media while on the go. As marketers, we’ve found that folks are either into podcasts or not. Regardless, it’s hard to deny the rise in interest and ad spending. According to the latest research captured by Edison in The Infinite Dial, podcast listenership is up 12% year over year with 47% of the US population tuning in to their favorite shows.

So, what does this mean for ag marketers, particularly those targeting farmers? As farming operations transition into the hands of the next generation, podcasts are proving to help reach younger, tech-savvy operators. Walk with us as we evaluate the podcast channel, connect it to strategy and determine if there’s a connection with the ag audience.

Should you consider podcasts as part of your media strategy?
Understanding the following five elements that make podcasts so enticing to marketers will set the stage for ultimately deciding if they are a fit for ag media campaigns

1. Podcasts provide a flexible format perfect for those on the go. As we think about our core ag audiences, we know that growers are constantly moving. The fact they can listen while driving, while in the barn or shop or running errands, makes podcasts an effective format to tap into. Brands can speak to growers at critical times throughout the year via podcasts. For example, while they begin to think about what’s needed for the current or coming season.
2. They deliver in-depth, targeted content that engages even the most niche audience.
3. It’s common for podcasts to showcase experts who build trust among their audience. This is crucial as we think about growers and operators. We know this audience is immensely private, relying only on a select few credible, trusted sources.
4. Podcasts foster a more intimate experience which lends credibility but also builds strong relationships with listeners.
5. This intimate listening experience delivers a more focused audience. Spotify has found that 75% of listeners say they give their favorite podcast their full attention. For marketers, this is huge. Brand recall will be stronger when listeners are fully tuned in.

Podcasts offer a unique, flexible experience with targeted content from trusted voices. When you add the focused listening environment, you can see why they have become popular among advertisers.

Before you start looking for dollars in your budget, let’s look at your media objectives and strategies to determine if this premium listening experience will help deliver on campaign goals.

What role do podcasts serve as part of your media strategy?
To understand whether podcasts will help to achieve campaign goals, we first need to understand what objectives podcasts can deliver on.

Podcasts are multi-faceted; they build awareness and drive lower funnel metrics.

To deliver brand awareness, media strategists look to reach the greatest number of people. Podcasts help to deliver against this goal by allowing advertisers to tap into networks that are home to the most popular podcasts with the largest audience. Due to the growth and popularity, eMarketer found there has been a greater shift towards using podcasts as a brand awareness driver rather than a channel for lower-funnel metrics. In 2023 46% of podcast ads supported brand awareness goals. Fast forward to the end of Q2 2024, marketers saw a shift to 54% of ads delivering brand awareness over lower funnel metrics.

Despite the shift, 44% of podcast ads are still being used to deliver lower-funnel metrics. Wpromote/Ascend2 found that podcasts contribute to 18% of bottom-funnel goals by B2B marketers. This lower-funnel delivery is likely a result of the highly targeted audiences podcasts can reach.

As we move through the media evaluation process, we need to talk about the most important element: the audience.

Determining if your audience is listening
If podcasts don’t reach your core audiences, there’s no sense in incorporating them into the media mix. The grower audience can feel elusive and hard to reach at times. You may be asking yourself if farmers actually listen to podcasts.

The answer is yes.

Studies from the Ag Media Council and Successful Farming show listenership is growing. The latest survey from the Ag Media Council found that 13% of ag podcasts weekly and 29% listen monthly. When you factor in other genres, like sports, current events and comedy, the number of farmers tuning in jumps significantly to 64% according to Successful Farming’s 2024 Farmer’s Use of Media survey.

To see for ourselves, we conducted our own research to learn more about the habits of operators. We found that some of the more experienced operators have shifted their media consumption habits. Marc Kaiser of Kaiser Family Farms told us he listens to more podcasts since he’s in the car or on the move frequently, tuning into AgPhd hosted by the Hefty Brothers within the ag genre.

Similarly, first-generation farmer Grant Hilbert who admitted to being big into YouTube for most of his media consumption, also listens to podcasts. His go-to shows are Farm4Profit or Barn Talk. The priority for him, and crucial in the ag industry, is that the information needs to be relevant to his geography.

And on the flip side, we talked to two growers who listen to podcasts when they’re spending a lot of time in the cab but aren’t listening to ag specific shows. They both note that they spend so much time consuming ag content, they prefer to listen to a show that is more entertainment than work.

What you need to consider
So, given all of this, does it make sense to incorporate podcasts into your media mix?

The best answer we can give is it depends.

Yes, farmers, like the general consumer, are increasingly adding podcasts into their media consumption. But it can be difficult to get efficiency when buying directly for two reasons:

• Podcasts with an ag focus cater to a niche market. That means it draws in a smaller audience and your costs will likely be higher and less efficient.
• If the program isn’t focused on ag content, you get a bigger audience of which you really only want to talk to a small percentage. And that means you are spending dollars on those outside of your target audience

Another option is to purchase podcast ads programmatically, through vendors like Pandora, where you can layer on targeting options for demographics, geography and brand safety features. Programmatic buys offer the most efficiency in terms of ad spend and provide the most flexibility. Just know that the content in a programmatic buy isn’t ag specific.

So when evaluating whether or not podcasts need to be in your media mix, you need to determine what you are trying to achieve. We recommend working with a media planning and buying partner, such as Rhea + Kaiser, to determine the best options.

The bottom line
Farmers do love podcasts for lots of good reasons, like staying up-to-date on news and current events, for self-improvement and to hear interesting stories. And the medium can be effective in delivering upper and lower funnel metrics. But, you need to factor in how you can most efficiently reach your target audience to accomplish campaign goals.

Like all media channels, podcasts will continue to evolve as consumer demand changes. While we consider podcasts an audio channel today, we’re already seeing a shift to video podcasts. Right now, video podcasts are being dominated by YouTube, which pushes Spotify and Apple to change if they want to compete.

We can help you stay on top of the ever-changing podcast landscape and evaluate podcasts for your media mix. Contact us to learn more about our media planning and buying capabilities.