With fewer reasons to drive and many Americans still wary of both making big purchases in an unsteady economy and unnecessary human interaction while COVID-​19 is still at large, the auto industry took a big hit this year. However, dealerships should not lose hope just yet. A recent study by Nielsen found that there are still over 35.8 million Americans car shopping online.

Podcast listeners make up a third of Americans currently car shopping, said Nielsen. 10.5 million podcast listeners, to be exact. This presents auto dealerships with a prime advertising opportunity. “A Nielsen study last year found that top-​of-​mind brand awareness for many popular brands was nearly 70% among podcast listeners,” reports Nielsen. Not only that, ads played during podcasts motivated listeners to take many forms of action:

• Visit a website for more information: 45%
• Visit a website to make a purchase: 23%
• Visit a physical retailer for more information: 8%
• Visit a physical retailer to make a purchase: 7%
• Called the phone number of the advertised business: 4%

However, the fact that podcast listeners are interested in car shopping doesn’t mean they’ll buy just any car. These shoppers are on the lookout for hybrid vehicles that match up with their environmentally-​friendly beliefs.

Then there’s the question of which types of podcasts to place auto ads in. The most popular genres of podcasts currently are comedy, news, society and culture, business and education, all with over three million active listeners who could be in the car shopping mindset.

Podcasts are a good start for an ad campaign targeting Americans who are car shopping, but what about if your client doesn’t want to put all their eggs in one basket? Show them the Podcast Ad Responders, Podcast Listeners, or the numerous auto brand shoppers audience profiles on AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel. Each profile provides insight into the advertising media that got the most response from each audience within both the last month and year.