Why is Podcast on a rise?
Image by Austin Distel
Recently, I observed that podcasting is on the rise this year. Some podcasts are hosted on YouTube and other streaming apps, such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Podcasting seems to be a new trend. The podcasts cover a full range of topics; from productivity to comedies. You can almost find any genre under the sun.
A podcast is a series of episodes, in audio, and refers to the programme as a whole.
There are many streaming services that one can listen or upload a Podcast. Most of these services allow their users to listen to the podcast episode on the go.
Why create a Podcast?
Just like video, podcasting is another way to build connections between the hosts and the audience.
So, why is Podcast on a rise?
A. Multitasking
Audio content allows the listener to multitask. The audiences can be doing housework while listening to the podcast. They do not need to put time aside to read or watch a video.
B. There are plenty of choices!
Gone are the days when one has to watch TVs or listen to the radio to find out more about the latest music, information and the news. The audience now can choose to subscribe to channels that they are interested in on the various streaming services. They can easily switch from one episode to another episode when a topic is neither relevant nor interesting.
All in all, the audiences are in control now. They can listen to any topic that they want at any time of the day.
Now, what can marketers do to integrate advertisement into Podcasts? In my humble opinion, there is great potential in this arena. However, there is a challenge in planting advertisement into the podcasts.
Challenge 1: Knowing your target market.
Marketers need to know the community of the podcasts very well. You need to decide if the community is a potential market.
For example, you are working on marketing formula milk to new parents. You chance upon several podcasts that talk about life as a new parent. Would you want to work with one that advocate "breastfeeding is the way to go" or the other podcast that promotes "it's ok to have a combination of breastfeeding and formula-feeding"? It's wiser to work with the latter group because it's easier to persuade this community as they are more willing to give formula milk a try.
Challenge 2: Are the hosts able to market organically?
Can the hosts create related content to help you to market your products? Are the hosts able to tell a convincing story that doesn't sound like a piece of paid advertisement? Consumers are savvy. They can sense that the content is an advertisement.
Which would work better?
A: A radio advertisement on your latest formula milk.
B: Invite the hosts or guests to share how their babies react to formula milk and then, casually slide in the details about your product.
Answer: B may work better due to the power of word of mouth!
With podcast on the rise, marketers would need to be strategic in their marketing plan - from engaging the correct hosts to creating the content. Now, marketers need to invest more time to customise content for the different platforms to bring in consumers. And, that's a challenge.
x, Esther
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