Over the past few years, the popularity of podcasts has grown enormously. In 2019, there were approximately 88 million podcast listeners in the United States alone, and 61.1 million American families consider themselves to be “fans” of podcasts.
Podcast listening numbers have increased 42% globally since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, and more and more people are discovering content via this medium. It’s a great place for advertisers to reach a more tech-savvy, educated consumer.
In today’s article, we’ve compiled some of the top benefits of podcast marketing and a few tips for getting started. If you’d like to amplify your brand to a broader, more targeted audience, this is a great place to start.
Benefits of Podcast Marketing
Any discussion of implementing new marketing strategies should begin with a big fat “Why?” WHY should you commit ad spend to podcast marketing? WHY is podcast advertising so effective? WHY should podcasting become a part of your digital marketing strategy? As a business owner or company leader, you are trained to challenge given information and ask these kinds of questions.
In case you need a little more convincing, here are some of the top reasons to incorporate podcast marketing into your brand awareness strategy.
Reach new audiences
Whether you’re starting your own podcast, partnering with a podcast producer, or being a guest on someone else’s podcast, you are expanding your reach. Podcasts are easily searchable by topic. If you focus your podcast work on topics that are of interest to your target demographic, you can reach listeners who could turn into potential customers.
For example, if you run a yoga apparel business, you may want to reach out to a variety of podcasts that center around conversations about yoga and offer yourself up as a guest. You can provide them with expertise, and in return, they can provide you with a highly targeted audience.
Be more than a business
Podcasting helps build your brand beyond being just a business. When you speak on a podcast, listeners hear you, not as a company, but as a person. That kind of authenticity is highly compelling for customers. When they can hear why you started your business and why it’s important to you in your own words, they feel a closer connection to your company. This can shorten the sales cycle considerably and, depending on the level of connection a listener feels to you, can help solidify the loyalty they have to your brand.
It’s a lot easier than video
In the 21st century, there is no avoiding multimedia when it comes to content amplification. One of the benefits of podcast marketing is that it’s a lot easier to produce than video marketing. Creating high-quality videos requires a lot of equipment, technical know-how, editing skills, and manpower.
A poorly shot video can often be more detrimental than it is helpful. Podcasting equipment isn’t a huge investment upfront (it just requires a good quality microphone and headphones), is more intuitive than video for first-timers, and doesn’t require too many hands to operate.
Tips for Getting Started with Podcast Marketing
If you’re thinking about getting started with podcast marketing, doing your due diligence and researching the space – including its key players – is crucial. Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you venture into the world of podcast marketing.
Partner with a reputable podcast producer
While there is a big demand for podcasts, the industry is also highly saturated. Starting your own podcast with no podcasting experience can make it difficult to stand out from the crowd.
Instead, we recommend partnering with highly recognized podcasting brands like Wondery, NPR, and iHEARTMedia. These podcast producers already have the tools in place to promote your work. They won’t take just any podcast and advertisement campaign, so you’ll have to develop something truly compelling and original. Getting them to greenlight a project will ensure your podcast or ad campaign is on the right track.
If you’re on a tight budget, here are a few smaller podcast editing and production companies.
Be a guest on a reputable podcast
As we just mentioned, starting a podcast from scratch can take a lot of work. It’s a lot easier to place an ad or be a guest on an existing podcast than it is to start your own from the ground up. If you do the former, you can leverage the podcast’s existing listenership and social audience.
Becoming a guest is a lot like any influencer or media outreach. You should begin by researching relevant podcasts that have existing audiences. Create a pitch that highlights your expertise, experience, why you’d be a good fit, and some topics you could bring to the table. The more you customize your pitch to the podcast, the more likely the show is to have you on. Once you’ve landed a spot, be sure to promote it on your social media channels, tagging the podcast and podcast host.
Research the best type of podcast ads
When it comes to podcast advertising, there are two main approaches an advertiser can take: advertising during obvious commercial breaks or advertising during segues where one of the main speakers promotes a brand themselves (think: Howard Stern promoting the Squatty Potty, or Joe Rogan promoting bone broth.) There are pros and cons to each, but many listeners prefer the latter (mid-roll) over the former (pre-roll) – mid-roll ads tend to feel more organic and less intrusive or forced.
The more likely listeners are to be actively listening to the ad, the more it’ll cost the advertiser. Pre-roll ads are typically sold for 25% less than the corresponding mid-rolls, so if you’re on a tight budget or aren’t sure if podcast advertising is right for your company, pre-roll ads might be a good place to start.
Of course, audiences listening to pre-roll won’t be as actively engaged as they would be if your ad is naturally incorporated into the middle of the podcast, so that’s something else to consider. When it comes to deciding if pre-roll or mid-roll is right for you, there’s a lot to think about, which is why our final tip is to work with an agency.
An agency can help
While this all seems (and is!) simple enough, pitching podcast producers, finding reputable partners, and deciding at what point in a podcast your ad should play can be a time-consuming effort. Working with a media buying and planning agency can help you reach the right contacts quicker. They can also help secure spots for you on bigger, better podcasts. If you’re already convinced about the benefits of podcast marketing and would like to get started with a team of podcast advertising experts, get in touch. We can assist you with landing podcasting spots as well as designing your media campaign for podcast advertising.
