Brian Walker delivers a presentation on podcasting at the American Marketing Association.
AE Marketing Group is often called upon by industry peers, prospects, and customers to share our expertise in podcasting. After hosting, producing, and promoting six seasons and nearly 100 episodes of the Brand Lab Series™, we have learned what it takes to create an award-winning podcast and how podcasting can be used as an effective marketing tool.
Some of the most common questions we hear are…
“Should I start a podcast for myself or my company?”
“What is involved in starting a podcast?”
“What makes for a successful podcast?”
“How do you successfully promote a podcast?”
…and we are here to help you answer these questions.
Who Listens to Podcasts?
51% of Americans have listened to a podcast.
Overall, podcast listeners skew younger, more educated, and more affluent, with 67% of podcast listeners falling between the ages of 18-44.
Podcast listeners are also predominantly male, making up 56% of US podcast listeners.
Weekly podcast listeners spend an average of 6 hours and 37 minutes listening to a podcast per week.
Understanding the average podcast listener will help you and/or your organization decide whether podcasting would be an effective medium to reach your target audience.
Why Do People Listen to Podcasts?
Beyond who is listening to podcasts, it is important to understand why people listen to podcasts.
74% of podcast listeners listen to podcasts to learn something new.
Katlin Smith, Founder of Simple Mills, appeared on the Brand Lab Series™ podcast in season 3.
How Can You Make Money with a Podcast?
Listening to podcasts is considered a “lean in” activity, meaning the listener is very intentional in the topics/hosts they choose to listen to and will most often listen to a podcast all the way through. This opens up a unique opportunity for marketers.
60% of podcast listeners have looked up a product/service mentioned in a podcast and 25% have made a purchase.
US podcast ad revenue is booming. It is forecasted to grow to $659 million this year and to over $1 billion by 2021.
How Do You Start a Podcast?
When starting a podcast, the barrier to entry is low, yet competitive.
While it is imperative to have good audio quality, your equipment does not need to be expensive.
At AE Marketing Group, we have recorded some of our award-winning Brand Lab Series™ podcast episodes with the Voice Memos app.
If you plan to interview guests for your podcast remotely, you can use Zoom or Skype.
Editing can be done with a simple app like GarageBand and distribution can be achieved with a program like PodBean.
While the Brand Lab Series™ was traditionally recorded in 1871’s podcast studio, we recorded several remote and live episodes with limited tech.
What Makes for a Successful Podcast?
The most important aspect of your podcast is the content. With over 800,000 active podcasts across listening platforms, the competition for listeners is stiff. The content of your podcast will need to stand out amongst the noise in order to be successful.
Outline the goal(s) of your podcast before you start. Once you’ve outlined your goal(s), you’ll be able to define and speak to your specific audience target. Remember, most podcast listeners want to learn something new so make sure your content can inform and educate them.
When measuring success with data, make sure that you are monitoring the metrics that align with your overall goal. For example, one of our goals with the Brand Lab Series™ podcast is new business. So while we continue to monitor download and listenership data, our larger goal is building relationships with our guests and we can measure success by comparing new business revenue to production costs.
How Should You Promote Your Podcast?
If you intend to have guests on your podcast, one of the best ways to extend the reach of your podcast is to tag team promotion with your guest. At AE Marketing Group, we make it as easy as possible for our Brand Lab Series™ guests to help with promotion by supplying photos from the recording or creating promotional content, and providing a promotion guide.
On social media, it is important to use or create eye-catching content to promote the podcast. Try out different content on social media to see what resonated best. For example, try a mix of videos, photos, and branded quotes to catch your audience’s eye.
If you are interested in learning more about podcasting, we would love to chat with you.