National storytelling week highlights how widely lauded this communications tactic has become in B2B marketing. Maxine-Laurie Marshall looks at an underused storytelling technique, the podcast, and assesses its usefulness
The words ‘once upon a time’ almost have a calming effect. They have the ability to take you back to a time where your worries were minimal and your evenings were usually wrapped up with a bedtime story. With these positive connotations and the notion that stories have a moral to be learnt, it’s no wonder marketers are fond of using storytelling as a strategy to share their messages. The beginning of February played host to National Storytelling Week and was a reminder that this medium began in oral form. People told stories and others listened. With this in mind and the podcast Serial going viral, should B2B marketers be looking to exploit audio storytelling in the form of podcasts?
Podcasts never really gained the mainstream popularity other communications channels did, e.g. video and social media. It almost has a reputation of being a bit ‘uncool’, sort of like what a mini-disc player is to the portable music market. But they’ve never disappeared. Podcasts of the radio-based The Archers, Britain’s longest running radio soap Opera, became the BBC’s most popular radio download in August last year. Serial, the podcast about a real-life murder investigation, has been downloaded more than 40 million times.
Pros
Noticing podcasts edging back into the limelight and seeing potential for B2B marketers is Paul Hewerdine, partner and planning director at Earnest: “It’s a media channel that’s definitely on the ascendancy. It’s an ideal content format for a business exec to consume on their daily commute. It’s way more convenient than video.”
In agreement and highlighting a strong positive attribute for podcasts is Paul Gillin, social media coach at Profitecture and co-presenter for Fir B2B podcast. He says: “It’s the only media people can consume while doing something else, and that value won’t change.”
Director of content at the podcasting app and web service Acast, Adam Martin, attributes the increased interest and success of podcasts to a wider social trend. “With the advent of Netflix and Spotify people have become used to the on-demand way of consuming content. Audio is no different. With advances in the discovery of great content, superior headphones and the advent of binaural (3D) sound, we are about to enter a golden age of audio.”
A successful podcast
Successful storytelling relies on a good narrative and according to the experts a successful podcast needs the same. The medium used to be known for its ‘one-man -and-a-mic’ interviews, but as Martin says: “The recent success of Serial shows people have a real hunger for longer form narratives and real-life storytelling. I think this marks a significant change in the type of formats we will see emerge in podcasting over the coming year. The interview space is congested and so we can expect people to start creating shorter shows of around 20 minutes or more in a variety of formats.”
Ultimately that’s a good sign for brands who, in recent years, have made an effort to tell their brand story rather than keep messaging focused on products and services. Hewerdine advises: “There’s got to be some drama. If it features people you can genuinely empathise with that’s a real plus – especially when they’re talking about their hopes, dreams and struggles. I’m sure there are lots of B2B businesses out there that have got a great story to tell. That might be how they came into being, or the people behind their R&D – the nerds with the amazing ideas, or an intimate look at their clients and what they do, or charting what it’s like to be a new recruit and their story. The more open and intimate the better.”
As well as a good story, the success of a podcasts relies on the host being compelling. Gillin warns: “Podcasts require the audience to develop an affinity for the speakers.”
In the same way you switch off at an event when a quiet, monotone, personality-less speaker takes the stand, your audience will switch off if your podcast presenter isn’t compelling. They will probably be more ruthless considering the social conventions of being polite and sitting through a presentation don’t exist when you can’t see the speaker.
Cons
Coming in with a scathing review of podcasts for the purpose of B2B marketing is Geoffrey Barraclough from Barraclough & Co. He believes decision makers are simply not going to listen to podcasts. He says: “Frankly, nobody who’s opinion matters is going to spare the time for podcasts or webinars either. They might skim a whitepaper or infographic. The key problem with podcasts (for any audience) is there is no way of telling in advance whether they will be interesting. And once you’ve begun, you can’t skim through them to find the important bit. There aren’t any pictures or graphs to keep you amused when the discussion flags.”
As with any storytelling medium, the quality of the content is a big determinant of its success rate. Paul Cash, MD at Rooster Punk, agrees with Barraclough that the big problem is engaging prospects with content they want to consume. He blames the lack of this in the past for the poor reputation the podcast has amassed: “The problem itself is not with podcasts, but the type of content we have come to expect of this medium has been fairly dry and boring.”
Acknowledging no medium is perfect, even Gillin notes there is no way of knowing how many people actually listen to his podcasts and building an audience can be tough. He says: “I had a show called MediaBlather that produced more than 100 episodes but never gained much audience.”
However, marketers should remember they don’t need to commit to producing a large number of podcasts. The production costs for podcasts are also much lower than their visual counterpart; video. So why not test the medium? Sharon Flaherty, founding director of BrandContent says: “Brands don’t need to think they need to commit to a podcast for eternity. A podcast that lasts three months could have a huge impact on a business if executed well with content to suit the timeframe.”
Admitting that a podcast’s reach will probably be smaller than a report or video but not denying it’s potential, Ricky Ambury, director at Citypress concludes: “The success of any medium will always come down to varying ratios of audience reach and engagement that will be determined by the ultimate campaign objectives. If mass awareness is a brand’s main goal then there will always be more effective storytelling mediums than a podcast. But if the business is already regarded as a source of authority and expertise then podcasts offer a compelling format for engagement with a small but probably influential audience of brand promoters.”
