The rise of the podcast
In the early noughties, listening to episodic audio content was the pastime of a small fringe of web-bloggers and Harvard types. Fast-forward a decade and now every notable radio station produces its own podcasts; this has, in part, brought the concept of listening to podcasts firmly into the mainstream. “Naturally with this growing popularity, brands will be attracted into the space,” says Russell Goldsmith, founder of Audere Communications. “Especially due the fact it’s reasonably cheap and very cost effective to get involved, and enables them to reach not just a wide audience, but niche interest groups too.”
To put this uptake into context, LinkedIn asked recently: ‘Do you listen to podcasts?’ to almost 3000 of its members worldwide. Not only did it find that over a third do, but also that podcast consumption increases in line with seniority:
- 44% of your B2B podcast audience will comprise of department heads, VPs, owners and c-suiters.
Perhaps this surge in popularity among senior professionals isn’t such a wonder. Attend any summit or conference in our industry and you’ll see all B2B marketers have two things in common: they’re relentless self-educators and smartphone addicts. In podcasts they’ve found a way to combine the two. But this newfound popularity can’t be attributed to smartphones alone, as explains Jason Miller, leader of global content and social media marketing initiatives at LinkedIn: “Along with the attractive portability of podcasts, add to that the rise of storytelling – it’s the perfect non-committal content for folks on the go.”
"Podcasts are perfect non-committal content for folks on the go"
Jelle Drijver, founder of MegaExposure (and proud owner of Twitter handle @podcast), points out that podcasts are another channel in the content marketer’s growing arsenal, but unlike the written word and video, “…they can be engaged with when the consumer is doing other things”. Whether they’re commuting, at the gym or on a brisk walk to the cobbler, it’s the only way brands can reach their prospects while they’re busy doing something else.
What makes a good podcast?
Despite the passive nature of podcasts, no-one’s going to tune into your content on a regular basis for the sake of it (that luxury is only afforded to those who write and produce soap operas) – there needs to be a hook that’s followed by sustained entertainment.
We’ll go into audio equipment later, but arguably the most important component is a host with personality. Podcasts should entertain; they don’t have to conform to the establishmentarian – even didactic – style of some funnel-serving webinars. A casing example here is in the success of one of the early pivotal podcasts, The Ricky Gervais Show. Launched back in 2006, its off-the-cuff anecdotal musings and shambolic nature kept it exciting and its listeners coming back for more – even at a price (it was the first podcast to charge consumers to download).
"It's reasonably cheap and very cost effective to get involved, [and enables brands] to reach not just a wide audience, but niche interest groups too"
“From a B2B perspective, I like podcasts that are informal and not overly produced,” says Russell. “I want to get into the content as quickly as possible and not have to hear long intro theme tunes, but it’s good to play with formats to find what works.” Working with different formats such as panel discussions and one-to-one interviews is a safe way to maintain a throng of interesting guests. However both formats, as Russell explains, will have to be planned for. “Produce a running order with a list of the questions or topic areas that you’re going to cover – this comes back to the storytelling element – ensure you have a beginning, middle and end. Naturally you may go off on a tangent, so long as the presenter is in control and can bring the podcast back on track of the story you want to tell.”
So:
- Remember your audience are busy and easily distracted: get to the point and avoid lengthy intros.
- Consider different formats: some types of content works best with a panel, others lend itself to an interview.
- Make sure your presenter has the charisma and personality to carry it off.
How do you deliver it?
In conversational English, we’re already seeing ‘What’s the duration of a podcast?’ replace ‘How long is a piece of string?’. While for Jason’s Sophisticated Marketer Podcast the sweetspot is 20-25 minutes, Jelle and Russell are more fluid; however it’s generally agreed that podcasts should be as long as they need to be. (By nature they’re on-demand, so people have full control over their listening time.) As far as frequency is concerned, consistency is the only rule. But whether you choose to run it daily, weekly or monthly, the expectations need to be realistic: don’t commit to producing a weekly podcast if you only have monthly means.
Each episode then needs to be submitted to the major platforms – iTunes*, Stitcher, TuneIn and Soundcloud. For a place to host the MP3 files try Libsyn, which will not only let you track and measure results, but also promote it for you. Although each of these platforms will automatically update subscribers when new shows are uploaded, “distribution doesn’t stop there,” says Jason. “Now you need to get it in front of the right audience and that can be done using smart creative – branding your podcast – and promoting via the blog, social media, both paid and organic.”
Beyond sharing the finished shows through social channels, resourcefulness is required. If you have a famous guest, for example, cajole them into sharing it with their mailing list and follower. When it comes to hosting on your website, it’s important to write some compelling, keyword-heavy notes to help boost SEO. “If you have good content or soundbites, PR it,” suggests Russell. “Share it with relevant media owners or bloggers who might be happy to feature it on their own sites, drawing in new audiences for you.”
What will it set you back?
The accessibility of the resources required are one of the main reasons podcasts are so popular now. In theory, a podcast can be produced without cost using a mobile phone app and free editing software, but to avoid amateurish audio blunders it’s best to involve slightly more sophisticated kit. Jason says: “The most important thing is to invest in some quality recording equipment up front (a mixer, condenser mic, cable, etc.) Next you just need some simple editing software such as Camtasia, or there are some free options such as Audacity.”
"Don’t try to be something you’re not – podcasting is about being yourself, creating your own style that aligns with your brand"
Similarly, when Russell records interviews on location, he uses a Tascam DR-40 Portable Recorder and two external microphones. “Together with my microphone stands, connections and pop-filters for the mics themselves, the total investment in recording equipment was just £300.”
Avoiding podcasting faux pas
Ostensible ease of creation means podcasts are all too easy to get wrong. An epic two-minute long musical intro followed by an Alan Partridge-meets-David Brent concoction of self-aggrandising rambles would be shared for all the wrong reasons; the poor have-a-go podcaster would never live it down. “Don’t try to be something you’re not,” explains Russ. “Podcasting is about being yourself, creating your own style that aligns with your brand. But don’t produce a podcast just for the sake of producing one because everybody else is doing so.”
Measuring it meaningfully
Most of the platforms mentioned above offer the facility to track downloads, subscribers, traffic sources, and the geographic location of the audience, but when it comes to finding more in-depth information about who those listeners are, things get more difficult.
There are however, according to Russell, a few ways to circumnavigate this measurement blind spot: “Encourage your listeners to subscribe to an email newsletter so you can collect some data on registration, or create a community on Facebook for them to get involved in discussions around the show. At which point, when the time is right and the sample size is big enough, you can start to ask some survey questions to get a better understanding of who your audience is and what they think about the content you are producing.”
Clearly, the preciseness with which you can measure your audience will increase the longer your podcast runs, and the larger the community grows that surrounds it. Diverting the data to areas where you can probe it – such as mailing lists and Facebook groups – is the only real way to divulge more information. This slight limitation of measurement is a cause for trepidation among brands, but if we consider the trivial cost of the set-up, there’s little to lose.
For more podcasting best practice, check out Russell’s podcast on podcasting (…yes, I know): https://soundcloud.com/thecsuitepodcasts/podcasting-ciprsm-csuite-13-you…