Children's brands and podcasts: an underestimated benefit

Podcast and children's brand: a love affair lasting more than 3 years?

Covid has rebuilt the learning map, especially for children, who have experienced distance learning on a large scale for the first time. And of course, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet have played a key role in facilitating distance learning. But one medium is still very much in vogue today, unlike video conferencing, as you'll have gathered: the podcast.

‍Besidesthe covid what facilitated the rise of the children's podcast? Why is it still so popular today? Can brands benefit from it? These are the crucial, under-researched questions we'll be answering today.

Fasten your seatbelts, especially if you're a children's brand.

Podcast for kids: an ignored medium?

Little data on the phenomenon

While researching for this article, I realized that historically, data on audiences under the age of 12 is not collected. And rightly so, since this data is governed by laws and rules designed to protect this audience. In the United States, for example, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule or COPPA prohibits access to this information. For me, this explains why the "children's" audience in the podcast sector is often overlooked or even completely ignored by brands.

A few figures that seem to indicate a trend

However, I can safely say that the days when only books were used as educational tools for children seem to be over. At least, that's what the statistics from the Kids' Podcast Listenership study show, with 52% of parents surveyed claiming that their children (aged 2 to 12) listen to podcasts.

The Ipsos 2020 study confirms this trend, establishing that one child in 4 listens to podcasts. An increase of 20% in six months.

source: Ipsos

Finally, the Statista study, which dates back to 2023, fully validates this trend, with 1 in 5 children aged 6 to 8 indicating that they listen to podcasts.

source: Statista

Why are children's podcasts so popular?

It's true, after all, parents can rely on children's TV shows, children's books, Disney... So why Podcast?

To put it simply, this audio medium is :

Ideal for boosting the imagination,
Easy to consume,
Easy to integrate into a routine with something else (on the way to school).

But as I did my research, I realized that it goes much further than that.

Avoid screens at all costs

Covid has increased screen time for adults and children alike. And I don't think I'm wrong when I say that seeing children with their eyes glued to the screen is disturbing:

Parents,
Babysitters,
Early childhood professionals.

So podcasts naturally joined the fray, as an "anti-screen" solution. The advantage here is that podcasts are not a "one-time solution", but that once the covid has passed, audio content remains a good alternative.

A medium that inspires confidence

Parents are always in doubt about the type of content they can give their children access to. And rightly so! We don't want to put ideas of violence, horror or sex into their innocent heads. Audio content is another source of satisfaction, with 75% of parents giving a 5-star rating to the podcasts their children listen to.

source: Kid listen

Doing an activity with your children

Few children's activities allow parents to do them together. Watching Peppa Pig is boring, running around in tiny children's games hurts the back and eating sweets hurts the teeth. Podcasts work in the opposite direction, allowing parents to listen to a story with their child (and fall back into childhood at the same time). In fact, 63% of parents listen to the podcast with their children while it's on air, rather than doing something else.

Podcasts for kids offer a higher level of attention

In marketing these days, attention is the lifeblood of the business.

That's what we're fighting for:

Social networks like TikTok vs. Instagram
Streaming platforms like Netflix vs. Amazon Prime

To put it simply, without that famous attention, there's no audience, and without an audience there's no sale. That's why every detail counts... As far as podcasts are concerned, 78% of kids say they just listen to podcasts (with nothing to do on the side). This statistic may seem insignificant to some, but it's huge. In fact, this same audience claims to watch TV and be on their mobile at the same time (the famous multiscreen).

Podcast for kids: an underestimated benefit for brands?

Few children's brands seem to have taken the podcast medium by storm. Yet statistics show that there's room for growth in this fast-developing market.

A medium that builds listener loyalty

Unlike a book, which disappears into a cupboard once read, a podcast is there to stay in our little ones' ears. 91% of children surveyed in the Kids Listen study say they listen to podcasts at least once a week.

source: Kid listen

A medium that facilitates word-of-mouth

In marketing, word-of-mouth is the most powerful vector, but also the hardest to master. And here again, the podcast medium comes into its own: 53% of children's podcasts are discovered through a recommendation from a friend.

Parents "okay" with advertising

Few media can boast an audience that is "okay" with advertising. Often it's even considered visual or auditory pollution. Here, 62% of parent listeners say they don't like advertising, but that it's "ok" if it allows them to access podcast content for free.

And it goes further... Parents value audio content for their children so much that 38% would pay between $0 and $2 to access an ad-free podcast. And 16% would pay between $2 and $5 for the same service.

But it doesn't stop there... It seems that audio content for children could develop via subscription. At least, that's what the Morning Consult study shows, with 32% of parents considering a podcast subscription for their children.