Podcasts, the “old” phenomenon taking over the marketing world. A 2019 Ofcom survey found that around 7.1 MILLION people in the UK alone listen to podcasts weekly; that’s a whopping 1 in 8 people, most of whom began listening to podcasts only within the last two years.  Having seen a revival in recent years podcasts are no longer a thing of the past, nowadays you can find everyone from influencers to big brands putting out a daily, weekly, monthly or even bi-monthly podcast in an attempt to establish another channel of communication with their customers and followers. Podcast Insights, notes that podcast listeners are more likely than non-listeners to follow companies and brands on social media, so a well-justified attempt, it is. The rise in publishing podcasts begs the question for us marketers, how valuable are podcasts as a marketing tool? First, we should consider how and why podcasts can be effective. 

There are a few notable reasons as to why podcasts have become so popular, the first being that they are easy, for the listener that is. Podcasts take a lot of work and oftentimes, money, but these efforts are justified if you are looking to broaden your customer profile; 54% of podcast listeners are more likely to consider buying an advertised product (Convince & Convert). Let’s look at the example of a financial advisor, as a financial advisor you are often dealing with issues that a non-specialised person would find hard to understand but you want to attract more people to your services. The solution; create a podcast. With a podcast, you can explain topics in a short audio form, broken down into a simple explanation that people can replay, pause, note and take their time to digest and understand, whilst being able to listen to the audio at any time, it is easy for the customer and works to drive them back to you when researching financial topics. 

Short and digestible content is increasingly becoming a huge trend for consumers, which is evident in the success of businesses such as BlinkList, that provides listeners with 15-minute summaries of nonfiction books to provide audiences with only the most relevant content. A study from Microsoft reported that humans currently have our lowest ever attention span, averaging at only 8 seconds, people want the important information and they want it fast, more than half of podcast listeners are multi-tasking when they listen. A good podcast is perfect for capturing the audience of today. 

The coronavirus induced work from home days we are living through have meant more and more people are turning to social media and streaming platforms to occupy their time; about 50% more according to JPMorgan. IVM Podcasts also saw a sharp 125% increase in consumption of its contents across the lockdown period. During this time people are far more likely to tune into podcasts, what is important to note here is that for many people this will be building a habit of listening to podcasts regularly that is likely to continue beyond lockdown and keep the podcast phenomenon growing.

Next is the ability a podcast gives business’ to target customers in a highly specific way, a useful tool given that 54% of listeners are more likely to buy from someone or a company they listen to at some point. Podcasts are specific by nature, they are searched for by topic and categorised by topic, so people tend to be specific when they are looking for a podcast. This works to the advantage of a business releasing a podcast because if you have the relevant SEO, keywords information, you can title your podcast with the most popular search words under a topic and increase the chance that it is the one a listener will choose when browsing. Small Giants offers SEO services as part of our full range of digital marketing for early-stage companies, if you are interested please click here www.smallgiants.agency. This means you are able to build a specific target customer profile and create a podcast tailored to them, helping you attract your ‘ideal’ customer, whilst also picking up many different types of potential customers who might listen to your podcast along the way; your brand visibility will increase since your company name will now be in more places online. In addition to this 45% of users will listen to the podcast the entire way through, meaning they don’t skip advertisements,  giving you more time to advertise your business to them.

Another reason podcasts are both popular with customers and effective for businesses looking to attract customers is that they build credibility, the increased likelihood of podcasts listeners to buy from the company or person who’s podcast is there for a reason; the podcaster has slowly forged a connection with them that feels more genuine than an advertisement. Let’s go back to the financial advisor example, perhaps you are just starting out and while you know that you are good at what you do, the customers you are trying to attract don’t, so you direct them to your podcast. After listening, the customer feels confident in your abilities and they now want to pay for your services. This is a simplified example of course but the point is every business markets themselves on the basis of what they can do, a podcast allows you to give your potential customer pool a snippet of you actually showing what you know. It is all well to label yourself a financial markets expert but even better is actually demonstrating some of that expertise through mediums such as podcasting. 

So, podcasts have all these benefits for businesses, does that mean you should have one? In our next blog, we will discuss the factors you should consider before starting a podcast and how to decide if podcasting is the right move for you. In the meantime be sure to follow us on all our social media to keep up with the latest in digital marketing, and visit our website https://www.smallgiants.agency/ if you are interested in curating a personalised digital marketing strategy for your business.