In their cars and in their homes, people are drawn to the intimacy of audio. Podcasts are the new radio and have the on-demand appeal that consumers have come to expect. They’re more than just true crime and pop culture: business is now in the top five genres. The medium can’t be ignored.
Google recently announced that its search tool would begin to include podcast indexing. With searchability comes discoverability, and this translates to value for executives and brands seeking to raise their profile and boost their credibility as thought leaders.
The New York Times has launched “The Daily,” the Los Angeles Times partnered with Wondery to create “Dirty John” and NPR has more than a dozen podcasts, but traditional news media are only the tip of the iceberg. There are more than 700,000 podcasts right now and more than 29 million episodes. Listeners are literate, well-off, and podcasts are equally popular with men and women.
So, how do you get involved? Should you appear as a podcast guest? Should you go all in and launch your own? Here are three factors to consider when creating a podcast strategy to drive business objectives:
- Podcasts require commitment. When the importance of SEO (search engine optimization) became common knowledge, many companies turned to blogs to boost searchability. OWC advocates the use of blogs for more than just SEO; blogs offer compelling content that gives readers a reason to keep coming back. A podcast can do all of this too. However, like a blog, podcasts require the commitment of time to plan, book guests, record, edit and – most importantly – promote. In addition to the work of creating and producing a podcast, there is also a financial commitment. Buying the necessary podcast equipment to create a podcast that sounds professional will cost about $1,300. A pod studio might be in a storage room at the office, but it shouldn’t sound like it!
- Don’t reinvent the wheel; take a ride on someone else’s. If all the planning and spending causes second thoughts, it might make more sense to pivot and focus on being a podcast guest. As with traditional media, there will be “top-tier” podcasts (think “This American Life” and “Planet Money”) and more attainable goals (such as podcasts run by professional networks or groups that produce conferences). Make a commute less painful and listen to a few podcasts. Apple, Stitcher and Spotify make it easy; a search term of “leveraged loan” will return Debtwire, Bloomberg Radio and Financial Times episodes on the topic. Virtual assistants like Amazon’s Alexa can be told to play a podcast.
- PR teams should be pod pitching. A PR firm can easily integrate podcasts into the larger communications strategy, and media target lists can be adapted to include podcasts. When having communications and public relations planning meetings, there should be a discussion of the types of opportunities that are of interest (if there are specific goals, communicate those as well). Preparation for a podcast interview is not unlike preparing for a traditional broadcast interview, but perhaps less daunting since the focus will be on the spokesperson’s words and not their appearance.
Unlike traditional media, where the number of subscribers and web traffic info is readily available, podcasts are notoriously tight-lipped on these details. Whether you decide to guest or host a podcast, the most important thing to consider is whether the activity is making the phone ring.
Give us a call if you want to discuss. We’re here, pitching and listening to podcasts.
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