The Podcast Influence: Listening Habits of Registered Voters
Registered voters are heavy podcast listeners who trust the medium more than any others for news and information.
What Public Affairs Professionals Need to Know
Voxtopica’s mission is to help public affairs and nonprofit practitioners achieve their policy outcomes by using podcasts to communicate more effectively. To fulfill that mission, we work to ensure our clients have the most up-to-date and relevant data about podcast listeners, their preferences, and their habits.
While plenty of research demonstrates that podcasting is mainstream and podcast listeners are highly engaged, public affairs professionals tend to consider the audiences they want to reach as special or different.
We considered ways to help public affairs communicators better understand the podcast listeners in these audiences.
In August of 2024, Voxtopica fielded what we believe to be the only podcast survey ever to focus entirely on the listening habits of registered voters: The Podcast Influence.
The results surprised us.
Registered Voters Listen More
Nearly half of our survey’s respondents, 49%, said they’ve listened to a podcast in the last week. Compared to the 37% of the general public who say the same, it’s clear that registered voters are listening more often. In fact, more than a quarter of the registered voters we surveyed said they had listened to a podcast in the last 24 hours.
What’s more, 34% of them listen to five or more episodes each week, which means they listen to a podcast episode on average every day. More than half (53%) say the most important reason they listen is to add to their knowledge.
These listeners clearly count on podcasts for important information.
Registered Voters Trust Podcasts
One of the most important and surprising findings was how much trust registered voters place in podcasts. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they trust the news and information they receive from podcasts — more than any traditional or social media.
I should note that registered voters who listen to podcasts trust traditional media more than the general public of podcast listeners, but for both cohorts, podcasts are seen as most trustworthy.
Podcasts Influence Opinions
Public affairs communicators want to influence public policy outcomes and to do that, we need to influence public opinion. Can podcasts help us do that?
The answer is a resounding, yes.
Nearly 4 in 5 registered voters we surveyed (78%) said podcasts influence them to learn more about issues and topics in the news, and 63% said podcasts change their opinions on issues and topics in the news.
These data indicate that podcasts have enormous potential to influence the opinions of the podcast listening public. And, as the latest research from Sounds Profitable shows, podcasting is mainstream. More than half of Americans 18+ have listened to a podcast in the last month, so ignoring this medium is no longer an option.
What it Means
These listeners act on what they hear. Half of the respondents to our survey said they’ve subscribed to a free service like an email newsletter because of listening to a podcast. Four in ten have donated to a cause. And nearly a quarter of them (23%) have donated to a political campaign.
Public affairs communicators who aren’t integrating podcasting into their toolbox are missing an incredible opportunity to reach and influence registered voters. These content consumers are ready and willing to listen and respond to your messaging. You ignore them at your peril — particularly if the opposition takes advantage of the opportunity.
It’s important to remember that podcast listeners expect and demand high-quality content, so simply churning out message-driven podcasts and podcast ads won’t get results. You have to meet the listeners where they live. They want interesting and entertaining shows that make them think and keep them engaged.
With the right approach and respect for the audience and the medium, public affairs practitioners can achieve incredible results with podcasting.