Podcast Listenership Trends Among the Kenyan Youth: Are Podcasts Viable Advertising Channels?

For those in the business of persuasion and influencing attitudes, the search for perfect mediums and methods of influencing behaviour is a never-ending pursuit. Social, cultural, and technological dynamics are always in constant flux, bringing with them new barriers to communication. But the democratization of new media space is opening several opportunities for marketers and communication specialists to reach niche audiences. In this featured insight, we ask: are podcasts viable advertising channels?

The field of communication and media has undergone a profound transformation over the years in terms of the medium used and content structure. As one of the growing forms of New Media, podcasting is now part of the anticipated future of the broadcasting sector. With the youth constituting a large proportion of the country’s population, these forms of media can carry relevant but impactful content for their consumption.

The emergence of new, digital technologies signals a potentially radical shift in who is in control of information, experience, and resources. Podcasting, an emerging form in the realm of new media, constitutes content that is distributed based on the kind of information acquired from various personal experiences encountered, and the message is communicated to targeted audiences.

Young people have been termed digital natives due to their reliance on the internet. As such, they have embraced the internet in almost all facets of their life from learning, entertainment, and shopping among others. Thus, communicating with them through internet-based channels would be a sound strategy since they can easily relate. Podcasts allow listeners to choose the programming content, download it and listen while on the go.

A friend, Sophie Wasike, and I conducted an online survey sometime back to investigate podcasting listenership trends among the youth in Kenya. We targeted the men, and women, aged between 15-35 using a simple random sampling method through web and email. A total of 120 respondents were sampled, but only 63 participated in the study in the end. So, what did we find? Click here to read the full report.

Stephen Osomba currently serves as the Lead Partner, Communication & Marketing at SMD Consulting Associates where he helps SME clients deliver value by adjusting the solutions to each company's mission, product, strategy, and industry.

Sophie Wasike is a Communication & Media Specialist and currently serves works as a social media assistant at Kenyan News, a fast-paced digital media firm, where formulates and implements strategies geared towards engaging audiences and build traction for ferocious content consumption.