Podcasting's powerful resonance: Acast's Podcast Pulse 2025 proves unique audience connection drives commercial impact

Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, today released its annual global report, Podcast Pulse 2025, revealing the true extent to which podcast creators are reshaping what influence means in today’s media landscape.

The report reveals that creators’ power is rooted in resonance - a deep, ‘lean-in’ connection with audiences who actively choose the content, not just consume what’s served to them. Unlike traditional ‘influencers’, podcasters earn unrivaled audience trust through genuine, meaningful connection, a dynamic that goes far beyond reach.

The trust is so powerful that 84% of listeners say a podcaster has changed their mind about something they once believed, despite 75% stating that they don’t consider podcasters to be ‘influencers’. For brands, this dynamic of attention and trust translates directly into unmatched commercial impact, positioning podcasters as the highest-value voice in the media mix.

This year’s global report is based on research conducted by Differentology of more than 2,500 podcast listeners across nine markets (USA, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Norway, Sweden). The findings explore four distinct ways podcasts are redefining influence: creators’ unique resonance with audiences, the rise of multi-platform fandoms, podcasts as drivers of culture, and the commercial power of creator-led marketing.

Creators’ Unique Resonance with Audiences

The intimate, chosen nature of podcasts is what drives an exceptional level of impact and authority, proving that podcast creators redefine influence:

• A Personal Conversation: 79% of listeners choose podcasting as the content that feels personal and like a one-to-one conversation.
• Trust Rivals Journalism: When listeners are considering a purchase, podcast hosts now rank alongside journalists in credibility (33% respectively), placing them ahead of YouTubers (31%), social media influencers (28%), and celebrities (25%).
• Thought Leader Status: Compared to other channels, podcasts rank #1 for being perceived as genuine and trustworthy, giving honest, unbiased opinions and capturing and holding audience attention.

Multi-Platform Fandoms: Audio is the Core of the Creator Ecosystem

While creators are now multi-platform stars, the audio feed is the essential foundation of their influence, and the most effective starting point for advertisers:

• Fandom Fuels Reach: Acast podcasts and creators collectively boast over 2.66 billion followers across social networks. The creator’s credibility extends everywhere they go, with listeners actively following hosts on social media (59%), TV/streaming shows (57%), and as guests on other podcasts (60%). This level of engagement is further increased by the younger generation (18–34 years).
• Audio Builds the Bond: While creators are active where their fans are (46% spend time actively interacting with fans on social media platforms), audio remains the space where they build their strongest connection. Listeners rank the podcast audio feed (55%) significantly higher than social media (15%) for forging the deepest relationship.
• Video Podcast’s Role in the Mix: These multi-platform habits clarify the role of video: 40% of listeners mostly listen to podcasts but sometimes watch them, while 27% listen and watch both audio and video versions. Only 17% consume video podcasts exclusively, proving that the audio is paramount for building the deep trust that fuels the entire fandom.

Podcasts are at the heart of culture

Culture today is fast-moving and fragmented. Podcasts aren’t just part of the conversation; they’re leading it. The ability of podcast creators to drive cultural moments translates directly into commercial impact:

• Cultural Leadership: Podcasters are setting the agenda, with 72% of daily global podcast listeners saying podcasts significantly shape the cultural conversation.
• The First Stop for Depth: When listeners want to understand a topic in depth, podcasts are the first choice for the majority of key demographics: 58% of 18–24 year olds, 62% of 25–34 year olds, and 60% of 35–44 year olds.
• Direct Purchase is Unrivaled: The ultimate commercial validation is conversion: 67% of global podcast listeners say they’ve made a purchase directly because of a recommendation from a podcast.

Creator Marketing that Delivers Real Results for Brands

Podcasts command focused engagement that results in superior ad effectiveness. Podcasts don’t just secure attention; they secure high-quality attention that works harder, faster, and more efficiently than other media:

• Superior Ad Effectiveness and Trust: Podcast advertising benefits from focused engagement, with 60% of consumers paying attention to podcast ads, compared to just 50% for YouTube ads. Listeners also view these ads as more authentic (45%), more memorable (44%), and more relevant to interests (43%).
• Efficiency and Smarter Spend: The efficiency of the channel means listeners don’t need to be bombarded with the same message repeatedly before considering a brand. 46% agree they need over five ad exposures on YouTube to seriously consider a brand, versus only 41% on audio podcasts.
• Widespread Consumer Action: This high-value attention drives significant consumer action across all age groups. 85% of global daily podcast audiences have taken some form of brand action after consuming podcasts, including purchase. This effectiveness is highest among younger audiences (73% of 18–34 year olds) but remains robust for older listeners (65% of 35–54 year olds).

Greg Glenday, CEO at Acast, commented: "The story of podcasting in 2025 and beyond is not about how many people you reach, but how deeply you resonate. Podcasters have earned the trust of their audiences to such an extent that they are now seen as the primary authority for cultural moments and commercial decisions. For advertisers, this means focusing on the quality of the connection, buying into podcasting as the central force of any campaign.

In last year’s Podcast Pulse, the data pointed to the expansion of ‘beyond the podcast,’ noting that 77% of listeners in the US had watched a video version of a podcast, and now the global data clarifies the strategy: video and social platforms are powerful extensions for reach, but the audio feed is the source of deep trust and attention that makes the entire omnichannel campaign effective.”

The Podcast Pulse 2025 report was developed to equip advertisers with the insights and evidence needed to recognize podcasting as a high-value, strategically essential channel. By investing in podcasting, brands can activate smarter media strategies that not only command attention and drive deep cultural impact through genuine resonance, but also deliver a clear and measurable return on investment.

To read the full report, go to the website.