The US podcast market continues to explode, whilst the UK podcast market is gathering momentum with a growth of 2.4 million listeners in 2021. Podcast listeners are set to double up in 2022 and with the big brands excited by the ‘podcast pound’ and ‘A Listeners’, they’re investing heavily into the podcast genre
To help anybody thinking about starting a podcast, or even in the process of setting up a podcast, we’ve put together 9 solid reasons why a podcast can help build loyalty and success for your brand.
1. Podcast listeners are booming in the UK.
Whether you are a podcast listener or not, it’s good news for podcasters, as stats have just been published by Offcom (2021) showing 25% of UK adults now listen to podcasts regularly. This figure has swelled in just 12 months, but what’s even more exciting is the type of person who listens to a podcast. The greatest number of listeners are our millennials (25 to 40 yrs), followed closely by Gen-Z (16 to 24 yrs) and the third biggest group are the Generation X-ers (41-56). Most of these listeners are highly educated (degree level or higher), have a thirst for new knowledge, seek elevated entertainment and have 179% more spending power than non-listeners in their age group.
2. Long-form content is highly desirable
Online habits have changed over the last 10 years and googling one-sentenced answers to a question is no longer sating the appetite of the inquisitive searcher. Current trends show that long-form content is highly regarded, deeply satisfying, and is preferred by the more sophisticated user. Podcast episodes can vary in length but if your content is rich then it will be consumed, no matter its length. An example of this is one of the most popular podcasts in the world ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ – his episodes can be as long as 3 hours – the length of an epic feature film. In short, or preferably in ‘long’, long-form content will solve and extinguish the listeners’ questions and for the podcaster it brings deeper engagement and ROI.
3. Engage at a deeper level with your clients and customers
Podcasts are a highly effective digital-audio platform for making a deep relationship with your listeners. Delivering your content in a personal ‘one-to-one’ manner is powerful and resonating. Giving your brand a human voice creates a strong emotional bond with your listeners, and so it makes sense that stats show that 93% of those listening will listen to a full episode. An average podcast episode is around 40 minutes – that’s a considerable investment of time, devoted to you and your brand, from your listeners’ day.
4. Podcasts are convenient for consumers
People choose when they want to listen to podcasts. Listeners feel in control, they get to decide when they consume a podcast (unlike permanently rolling social media ads, videos and most forms of online and offline advertising which is targeted and forced). That’s the magic of why podcasts are so successful, and why they work as a highly effective marketing platform. Podcasts are simply ‘audio on demand’ and people listen to them when they want to. People listen when they’re driving, commuting, exercising, cooking, travelling, relaxing, doing the housework, or a lot of the time, before they go to sleep. The point here is that a podcast is chosen by the consumer, not the other way round. As a podcaster you have been invited into the consumer’s life.
5. Reach new customers
As we’ve mentioned earlier, podcast listeners are a mass of very well-informed people who have a continual thirst for knowledge and inspirational entertainment. A podcast series for your company will reach prospective customers that other advertising and promotion campaigns just can’t. Podcast listeners actively seek topics and themes of podcast content – and whether it’s via a podcast directory or a search engine, keyword searches will find your podcast for them.
6. Turning your listeners into brand advocates
As we mentioned before connecting with your listeners at a deeper level brings a great sense of loyalty, but also familiarity and trust. Your podcast listeners are very likely to talk about you, and your brand, to others, partly because they’ve invested so much time in listening to you, but also because they feel attached to you, part of your story and your success. Listeners, again by their very nature of wanting to increase their knowledge-base, are also very likely to discuss your podcast content with others. Podcast content makes for great conversations with others, and that makes your listeners the best brand advocates.
7. Podcasts facilitate introductions and create new business relationships
Inviting a prospective client onto your podcast show is an incredibly effective way of getting to know them and establishing a strong relationship in a short time. Reaching out and engaging with new clients can be challenging, but asking them to join you on your podcast show, to talk about their expertise or experiences, will give you a fast-route to developing a unique relationship. Further to inviting guests on to your show, you may consider running your podcast with another business or individual from outside of your business – a joint venture. Teaming up with an associate can help you build listeners more quickly, enrich your content and broaden your potential.
8. Podcasts are an ideal platform to position your brand effectively
If you run a small shop selling Italian handmade shoes, then how can a podcast help you position your brand? Or, if you own a multi-million pound turnover blue chip, why do you need to position the company any further? Podcasts create many ‘positions’, some of them are very successful, many of them are not – and those who are successful will have spent time considering how they position their business or services through their presenters, guests and content. The Italian handmade shoe company might want to position themselves in a local or global market as experts in the high-end shoe industry, as an authoritative voice discussing latest fashions with leading designers, influencers, and brand ambassadors, discussing choices of footwear for occasions, talk about sustainability in the industry, health, maintenance, technology development and the list goes on – there’s 12 episodes of content just waiting to be fleshed out! The point here is that their podcast has created a whole new plateau for their brand, they are connecting with a wider and interested audience, and most importantly, giving the owner and their company a perceived elevated position in the shoe market. The corporate company can enhance their positioning in several ways, for example a blue chip commercial insurance company might run a podcast series about past case-studies, real stories, real experiences, with customers as guests. They can talk about changes in law and legislation, offer advice and explain the nuances of protection – a consultative approach engaging with real life situations and welcoming feedback. Mentions and references to insurance packages can be made but not overly sold. This type of positioning in their market will strengthen their brand, enhance their position over competitors as well as adding immense amounts of value for loyal customers.
9. Increase your website traffic and SEO ranking
Firstly, streaming your company podcast directly from your website will bring many more visitors, which will increase the average time spent on your site. Each podcast episode should be supported with show notes and keywords which will be indexed by search engines and, in turn, help your business climb up search engine ranking. Secondly, if your listeners have accessed your podcast through a podcast directory – they are very likely to engage with your brand and visit your site through the directory link, or through their own organic search.
If you’d like to talk to someone about developing and running a podcast for your company we’d love to help! We’re Podtalk.co.uk, we’re based in Suffolk UK, and we work with all sorts of businesses developing and running their podcasts. We offer every service you can think of to do with podcasting; from concept and creation to production, editing and marketing.
Call us or write to us – we’d be delighted to help you, discuss your ideas and options, and to be part of your successful podcast journey.
Tel: +44 7465 942580 or email podtalkuk@gmail.com
Marc Mason and Susanna Hornby, Founders
Sources/References: Offcom, emarketing, PRCA and Statista
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