Fellow Yorkshire Businesswoman member, Rebecca Lamb-Pritchard is an expert in all things audio. As Head of Marketing at This is Distorted, Rebecca has shared some insights with us about the power of podcasting.
It seems like everyone either has a podcast, is talking about starting a podcast or is telling you about the latest one they’ve listened to! But, what is it all about and is podcasting right for your business?
Podcasting has been around for years but has more recently broken into the mainstream and was one of the fastest growing mediums in 2022. We now know that almost 40% of UK adults listen to podcasts each month and that number is only increasing! The podcast audience is growing, diversifying and increasing their time listening - which all in all makes for an attractive audience for advertisers and brands.
AND, it seems everyone from clothing brands to corporate businesses, CEO’s and pop stars are jumping on this shiny bandwagon but, warning, it isn’t for the faint-hearted.
Like everything else in marketing, podcasting needs to be entered with clear objectives, strategy, creativity and commitment to maximise its potential.
I’ve broken out a few areas of interest below to help you start thinking about the world of podcasting and if, why and how you should enter it.
Keeping it real
Authenticity and realness are the new metrics of desirable content. The need for truth and connection has replaced the highly filtered, curated gloss we readily consumed only a few years ago. Society wants real, relevant and meaningful and the consumer has come to expect this of the brands and businesses they choose to engage with, regardless of platform.
Podcasts offer the perfect space to humanise what can be faceless brands or businesses with personal, sometimes deep and meaningful conversations. The open sourced nature of the platform means that restrictions placed on other media are removed enabling a space for real human connection to surface.
It’s an intimate conversation and you are invited!
The relationship between a podcast and its listener is like no other! Putting on a pair of headphones and listening to 20 or 30 minutes of a podcast with a cuppa is a very different experience to scrolling through your social apps whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. It’s personal and it’s 100% invited. The quality of engagement from a podcast listener is a completely different level to the more passive mediums, but the podcast objectives need to match this - the podcast delivers genuine audience connection not necessarily mass reach.
This isn’t disruptive marketing, this is an audience inviting you in and wanting to be part of your community. With that comes a huge amount of trust and engagement so don’t squander that trust.
I can’t possibly create more content
Let’s go back to the beginning when I mentioned clear objectives and strategy. When done correctly, the podcast can be a content making machine. Marketing teams are scrambling to create content to show how great their product is, how sustainable or diverse their proposition is, or to join in with the latest trend. More traditional marketing is changing, and the branded podcast is certainly showcasing itself as an appealing proposition, becoming the central pillar that drives other marketing activity, providing content for newsletters, social platforms, blogs, video content, press activity and even live events. It’s also proven to be an effective networking strategy for some businesses.
Sounds great but I think we are a bit niché
With so much content and white noise from every angle, consumers are filtering out what they DON’T need and actively searching for what they DO want, and podcasts are the perfect place for niché.
I hope I’ve given you a few things to think about when it comes to podcasting. The future of podcasting is only getting bigger with more and more exciting innovations in the way we consume audio and ways brands and businesses can optimise this - so now seems like a good time to start thinking about it.
Need support with social media management? Youbee Media can help, and Becky’s workshops offer hands-on consultancy advice to go further. If you would like to speak to Becky further, get in touch with her via email or LinkedIn.
