Over recent years, podcasts have emerged as a popular and innovative platform that offers immense potential for marketing. Estimates suggest that there are more than 800,000 active podcasts with more than 54 million episodes, numbers that are both growing significantly.
Leaving aside the fact that entertainment is undoubtedly fresher, more wide-ranging and diverse because of them, podcasts have also proven to be a valuable tool for businesses looking to engage with an audience, share their thoughts and experiences, and promote their brands.
With their ability to capture the attention of listeners and viewers, they offer a wealth of opportunities. But, like anything else in marketing, they have to be done well. Miss the mark and they can, literally, turn off potential customers.
Podcasts captivate audiences in ways that are different from other marketing channels. Something on social media needs to engage in seconds or be swept aside; a TV commercial that plays during every break in a favourite show might hit the two-minute mark; a billboard on the station platform while waiting for a train possibly (probably) longer.
But rather than rely on getting noticed, what a podcast can do is draw the listener in and invite them to listen to something that already appeals to them, at a time they want to listen, and, often, while they are otherwise engaged. It’ll provide entertainment until the train comes, or when you choose to drive instead. It’s something to do while cooking dinner before that favourite TV show.
It’s a platform through which to deliver valuable and informative content, industry insights, expert interviews, educational discussions and entertaining narratives to people who actively want to hear them. And content that aligns with listeners’ interests allows brands to position themselves as trusted authorities as well as good fun to spend time with, encouraging loyalty and a sense of community among listeners.
By creating a podcast, businesses can extend their brand’s visibility beyond their tried and tested marketing channels. Podcast directories, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, allow their creators to tap into the rapidly growing listenership. Users explore and subscribe to shows that resonate with their interests and will be recommended more of the same. As listeners subscribe and share within their networks, organic exposure for a business and the opportunity to attract new customers is the result.
Where advertising can feel intrusive or impersonal, podcasts are a choice. Their tone is unscripted and personal, providing a conversational environment the listener feels part of. They’re not a place for overt selling, but somewhere to show a brand’s personality, values and expertise, allowing listeners to form a genuine connection with the host or the topic, and so, in turn, the brand itself. Thoughtful discussions, sharing experiences, feelgood moments, perhaps tragic or heartbreaking stories; done well, they all add a personal touch, helping humanise a brand, generating relatability and trust.
Some podcasts specifically cater to a target market, providing highly tailored content that ties in with the specific needs and interests of the audience, positioning the brand as a go-to resource within their industry. Others are more general, choosing something that’s topical, or a guest that’s in the public eye or is an expert on something that’s current and relevant. As long as the content is high-quality and engaging, businesses can use a podcast to position themselves as leading industry professionals, and use that to try to ensure listeners see the brand as knowledgeable, so are more likely to turn to its products or services.
If you’re already making podcasts, or thinking about how to get started, Giant can help. In the practical sense, we can advise on content, record and film it, produce and edit it, and help you build your audience on social media. On a more general level, we know what works. We produce All Things Business – The Podcast which has, over time, covered everything from taking on an apprentice to menopause awareness to the newly adopted health and fitness regime of former football Razor Ruddock.
There’s plenty of scope out there, if you’re thinking about starting your own podcast journey, and Giant can help you get started.
Find out more at www.gogiant.co.uk or call 0208 176 0176