The Number One Reason You Should Start a Podcast

I bought all the gear and promptly put it in a cupboard. Out of sight and out of mind.

I had an idea about a new project.

And I didn’t start.

Sound familiar?

For the next 3 years, it sat in the dark waiting to see the light of day. To be plugged in and set up. Like a lot of us, I am sometimes a master procrastinator.

And there are many reasons for putting things off. For me, I knew that it would be a lot of work to set it up and once I started I would need a whole team to help me.

It was daunting.

So part of the problem was that the road to starting had too much friction. What it needed was a big reason to get my butt into gear!

Over a long lunch overlooking the sparkling harbor with a friend, we got to talking about podcasting. He came up with some benefits that I didn’t realize that came with launching and publishing a regular podcast. I now had enough reasons to hit the “go button.”

For the next two months I took it on as my personal project and I realized why I hadn’t started. It was complex and overwhelming.

But I pressed on and the questions of how to start started piling up.

The long list of questions!

All the questions and doubts made themselves known as I started the podcasting project.

• What software should I use?
• Is the hardware I bought going to work?
• What should the topic and focus of the podcast be?
• What’s the name of the podcast going to be?
• What logo should I use?
• How do I set up a podcast page on my website?
• How do I turn the audio into a transcript?
• Who can I trust to do the editing?
• How do I host the audio and video?
• What is the process from recording to publishing and then promoting?
• How do I promote it?
• How do I get guests on my show?
• What do I talk about?

And I have just begun listing the questions and doubts!

So why start a podcast?

According to Nielsen data from 2017, the podcasting ecosystem lives in a new context… It’s moving from niche to mainstream.

And getting on the next big trend is a good reason it should not be ignored.

• 33% of Americans listen to podcasts monthly and 25% weekly
• 9% of users listen to podcasts from their smartphones
• 4% still use the computer
• 5% consume podcasts from tablets
• 1.7% of users listen to podcasts on other devices. This category is still very minor but has increased 70% in a single year thanks to the popularization of smart speakers
• Most users listen to podcasts from home (48% of cases)
• The next most popular place is the car (26%)
• Followed by work (12%)

Follow the money

The dollars are certainly moving into the podcast category and following the money is worth a glance or two.

• Joe Rogan Experience – Spotify paid $100 million for a multi-year license to acquire the rights to his podcast in 2020 including the YouTube channel with 2 billion views.
• Spotify has $500 million set aside for acquisitions and investments in podcasting including tech and content.
• Gimlet Media was bought by Spotify – Narrative podcasting. The company’s Gimlet Creative division produces sponsored audio content in partnership with brands. Lieber, who serves as president (Blumberg is CEO) has articulated the company’s mission: “We want to build the HBO of audio.”

The podcasting ecosystem also remains relatively unknown compared to other types of content.

So what does it look like?

The Podcast Value Chain

What does the end to end value chain for podcasts look like according Connected?

So the industry is a whole ecosystem and with Spotify investing over half a billion dollars in the last 12 months, it can no longer be ignored.

A quick podcast spotlight

Venture capital investors from the American firm Andreesen Horowitz have just published a very complete podcast market analysis.

Podcast listeners also have 4.4 times greater brand recall, as well as elevated purchase intent, compared with other forms of digital ads, per Nielsen.

The effectiveness of podcasts could keep advertisers investing in the medium, even if it remains a relatively niche opportunity because the audio shows don’t lend themselves to automated, large-scale buys.

In 2017, US advertisers spent about $314 million on podcast ads, compared with about $1.8 billion for all digital audio, according to the IAB/PwC.

But… really, why should you start a podcast?

Podcasts being a growth industry is not enough reason to start one.

But here are some insights from Deloitte about enterprise podcasts that will get you thinking.

“If we view them (podcasts) as vehicles for marketing, brand-building, training, and recruiting, we are looking at an industry that creates value for enterprises of all stripes, as well as for their customers and current and prospective employees. Although it’s impossible to measure that value precisely, we can make an educated guess. If millions of people are listening to enterprise podcasts, as is likely, then the value being generated for the enterprises making these podcasts could be close to US$1 billion, or about the same size as the consumer podcast market”.

So 3 good reasons to start a podcast (according to Deloitte)

If we distill their observations here are 3 good reasons to start a podcast.

1. Produce podcasts for marketing purposes: to demonstrate knowledge, showcase your expertise, and build your brand.
2. Podcasts can support internal education as a way to deliver e-learning content. And in a world where a lot of us are now working remotely, this is vital.
3. You can use podcasts as a recruitment tool.

Is podcasting another term for content based networking?

According to Sweet Fish Media the importance of using podcasts for content-based networking is something you should not ignore. And for content marketers this should make a lot of sense.

So how do you tap into it and what does it look like? and how do you harness the power of “Content-Based Networking”?

1. Invite your ideal buyer to be a guest on your show.
2. Make the content all about their expertise.
3. Shine the spotlight on them.
4. Ask thought-provoking questions that make the guest feel like a rockstar.
5. Build a relationship with the guest by creating killer content from their interview.
6. Continue to engage the guest post-interview (send them the episode, links to other content that features them, engage with their posts on LinkedIn, etc.)

So content based networking is a great tangential spin on content marketing.

But there is one big benefit for B2B podcasters for starting a podcast that you may not have thought of.

The big benefit

The benefits all mentioned above are great but there’s one big reason to start a podcast that I initially never understood.

When you have a guest on your show (and they should be your ideal client in your industry) you are spending maybe an hour in conversation. That creates a relationship. And in business, relationships and trust are everything.

From relationships comes trust, credibility, and opportunity.

So the big opportunity is increased sales!

Now that is worth exploring.

And that is the one big reason why you should start a podcast