Is your organization on the lookout for artistic methods to face out and join together with your target market? Whereas conventional advertising and marketing strategies and GTM (go-to-market) motions proceed for use, there’s a brand new technique you’ll be able to faucet into — the branded podcast.
Podcasts have loads of upside for entrepreneurs. From leaping funnel phases with resolution makers to creating mass portions of compelling content material, the branded podcast is following the expansion path of the inbound weblog towards a table-stakes place in a company’s GTM technique.
Let’s discover this development intimately, from what a branded podcast is, to examples of how firms use them to attach with their audiences.
What are branded podcasts?
A branded podcast is a podcast produced by an organization to extend model consciousness, generate leads, create thought management and develop an energetic person neighborhood. Branded podcasts enable manufacturers to interact with prospects and purchasers one-on-one in an intimate and immersive approach, not like most conventional channels.
Branded podcasts can take many varieties, together with interview type, narrative storytelling, academic or educational content material, or perhaps a fictional drama sequence. By these disparate types, branded podcasts can inform tales in regards to the firm, its merchandise, or its business, in addition to present data, insights and leisure related to the target market.
Trendspotting: Branded podcasts
The branded podcast is a development with legs that continues to climb. These stats offer you a way of the path we’re headed:
- Podcasts are experiencing exponential progress. In 2021, the full variety of podcasts broke the 2 million mark, and in 2023, there have been over 5 million podcasts (Supply: Spotify, 2023).
- We’re nonetheless early within the adoption curve. If 5 million podcasts sounds spectacular, there are over 600 million blogs (Supply: Web Stay Stats, 2022). It’s our opinion that podcasting will proceed to develop alongside an identical path as purchaser habits shifts to consuming podcast content material.
- Enterprise podcasts are a viable analysis channel. Within the US, 37% of B2B decision-makers frequently hearken to podcasts; 75% of those professionals particularly hearken to podcasts to achieve helpful business insights and information (Supply: Edison Analysis and Triton Digital, 2023).
Whereas each the variety of reveals and listeners are rising, not all stats paint a fairly image.
- Not all podcasts are energetic. Regardless of thousands and thousands of registered podcasts, Apple experiences that roughly 800,000 are energetic. Evaluating development knowledge, the variety of energetic podcasts is just not rising as rapidly because the variety of new podcasts created.
- Podfading is a pitfall. Apple’s stat mirrors an earlier examine by AmplifiMedia that confirmed 75% of podcasts fizzle out of manufacturing after lower than 10 episodes – termed “Podfading”.
The Podfading quantity consists of private initiatives worldwide however is directional for enterprise podcasts as there tends to be a shocking quantity of labor concerned. Moreover, firms have found that, similar to with different types of content material advertising and marketing the place high quality issues, it’s not sufficient to easily create a podcast with a purpose to see a constructive ROI.
Regardless of the challenges, for organizations that determine it out, branded podcasts are actually a prime channel for advertising and marketing (Supply: MarTech, 2022).
Examples of branded podcasts
4 Advantages of a branded podcast
From lead era that skips conventional steps to constructing model consciousness to compete with bigger rivals, branded podcast advantages are surprisingly achievable with out the lag time of conventional search engine marketing or the massive spends of pay-per-click advertising and marketing.
1. Increase model recognition
A BBC examine revealed that firms with branded podcasts skilled a powerful 89% improve in model recognition.
Branded podcasts give firms the chance to attach instantly with their viewers in an genuine, non-promotional method. This fosters belief, builds a way of authenticity, and delivers worth. With elevated model consciousness and emotional connection, branded podcasts assist firms domesticate a loyal fan base, generate leads, and increase conversions.
2. Drive lead era
Lead era in podcasting occurs when B2B firms invite potential prospects as visitors. By that includes decision-makers from organizations that completely align with their Ultimate Buyer Profile, firms can bypass a number of phases of the normal lead funnel. Moreover, hosts can ask probing questions throughout the podcast, naturally resulting in problem-solving discussions after the present.
Moreover, by inviting business leaders, consultants, and potential prospects to take part, firms can set up helpful relationships and place themselves as trusted companions throughout the business. As these relationships develop, visitors change into extra inclined to do enterprise with the corporate. Furthermore, podcast visitors usually share the podcast and web site with their very own community, increasing the corporate’s attain and visibility to potential new leads.
3. Foster a thriving neighborhood
By nurturing a neighborhood of devoted followers, a branded podcast turns into a supply of serious worth for the corporate. It supplies a platform for natural word-of-mouth advertising and marketing and referral progress. Many branded podcasts even have devoted Slack or Discord teams the place customers can talk about business matters and up to date episodes. The neighborhood surrounding a branded podcast can change into a robust advocate for the model, driving leads and rising visibility via social media shares, evaluations, rankings, and proposals.
4. Create distinctive content material
Firms can make the most of snippets from podcast episodes to create compelling social media posts, participating electronic mail advertising and marketing campaigns, and insightful weblog articles. The complete podcast episode may even be used as gated content material, offering web site guests with unique entry in trade for contact data. By repurposing podcasts into numerous types of content material, organizations can leverage the experience of their groups or thought leaders, ship worth to their viewers at each stage of the funnel, and finally drive results in their web site.
Use a podcast readiness framework
Suppose you’re able to launch a branded podcast? The key profitable ingredient for branded present creation is intention. My firm presents this framework that features core inquiries to ask throughout your course of to assist be sure that you’re being intentional. The order during which the questions are requested is necessary and can allow you to create a roadmap on your podcast launch. Completely happy podcasting!
Contributed to EO by Casey Cheshire, a current visitor on the EO 360° podcast with host, Dave Will. Casey is the founder and CEO of Ringmaster Conversational Advertising, which helps B2B companies launch podcasts with the objective of driving progress and income. Casey is a former US Marine, podcaster, marketer and serial entrepreneur.
For extra insights and inspiration from right this moment’s main entrepreneurs, take a look at EO on Inc. and extra articles from the EO weblog.