Dive Brief:

• Nearly one in 10 U.S. adults downloaded or listened to a podcast in the past month, according to a press release by GfK MRI. Podcast listeners were described as a young and well-educated audience that's generally savvy with digital and traditional media. Podcasts last month reached 21 million people — around 8.6% of U.S. adults — a figure up from 7% a year ago.
• Seventy percent of podcast listeners are more engaged with their phone as a source of entertainment than the general U.S. adult population, GfK MRI's Survey of the American Consumer data show, including reading online versions of newspapers and magazines. Of recent podcast users, 36% said they'd be willing to receive mobile ads for lower monthly phone bills.
• Podcast users, according to the data, also rank higher than the general U.S. population in their influential ability. About 20% engaged in three or more "public activities," such as making a speech, attending a political rally or running for office — 3x that of the average U.S. population.

Dive Insight:

GfK MRI's data reinforces audio content's effectiveness in reaching a high-value, mobile-first target audience that wields a great deal of influence. Other research backs up GfK MRI's findings that podcasts are an especially relevant channel for marketers.

An IAB and Edison Research report from last September found that 65% of podcast listeners are more inclined to purchase products or services advertised on podcasts. The two groups found 45% of respondents said they regularly respond to ads during podcasts by visiting a sponsor's website; 42% said they consider a new product or service and 37% said they gather more information about a product or company.

Last month, the IAB released another forecast that suggests podcast ad revenue will surpass $220 million this year, representing an 85% increase over 2016. Last year saw a 73% lift in podcast ad revenue over 2015, demonstrating a growing trend as consumers continue to shift toward mobile. This trend also builds upon improved analytics in the space.

In June, Apple added more analytics information to its podcast app to show content providers and marketers specific data about which parts of individual episodes were listened to, which were skipped and which episodes were stopped entirely, according to Recode. Before this update, Apple provided almost no data surrounding listening behavior.