Why Podcasting Should be a Part of Your Brand Strategy this Year
Podcasts are going mainstream, and as their popularity soars, we are seeing the visibility of the brands behind them increasing at phenomenal rates. Adding a podcast to a brand’s identity is proving to have a huge impact on many businesses in a very short space of time. Not only does having a podcast provide SEO benefits, driving new volumes of traffic to your website, podcasts are also excellent at helping you reach brand new audiences across a wide range of platforms your business might not even be utilising yet such as Spotify and Google Play).
Podcasts are very engaging, and work on a different level to any other content form out there. The convenience of being able to listen to a podcast whilst cooking or shopping or undertaking other tasks makes them ultra accessible, and in fact 41% of the population now listen to podcasts on a monthly basis. We also know that 79% of podcast listening hours are sourced through mobile phones, which tells us that listening to podcasts is something people are doing whilst on the go. They’re listening whilst driving. They’re listening on the walk back from the school run. They’re listening on the commute. And, because most podcasts sound like a conversation, they’re very good at developing deeper connections with their audience in a way other mediums fail to do. Podcasts are sharing funny stories and experiences, building a rapport with the listener in the same way you would when conversing with a friend. They’re a fantastic way of educating and informing your target audience, allowing you to influence and advertise your product and services, by broadcasting directly into their ears! By hosting your business podcast yourself, you’re also effectively projecting the face and personality behind your brand in a meaningful, natural context. No need for a cheesy introductory video in an attempt to familiarise consumers with who you are ; by hosting a podcast, you’re already engaging with them and they’re learning all about you in a much more relaxed format that doesn’t feel contrived or like a sales pitch.
But make no mistakes: although podcasts are a very friendly, engaging format, that focus on entertainment over sales pitches… they most definitely make sales.
At Hellfire Creative, you can see by our well equipped podcast studio, that we recognise just how powerful creating a podcast can be for a brand and their product sales. According to podcastinsights.com, 69% of podcast listeners agreed that listening to a podcast made them aware of a new product or service. Buzzsprout reported that 51% of listeners they surveyed also said that they pay more attention to a podcast commercial than an advert over any other type of media, and that 60% have actually made a purchase from a podcast ad. A whopping 81% say they pay more attention to podcasts than they do the radio, TV commercials, billboards, and even Social Media advertisements. No wonder it is estimated that in the US alone, $3 billion will be spent by marketers on podcast advertising over the next twelve months.
The popularity of the podcast is experiencing unprecedented growth, and, for those businesses not already reaping the rewards from this, 2022 is definitely the year to jump on this bandwagon.
‘Industry experts expect podcasting to grow significantly in 2022 as on-demand audio increases in popularity’, claims Buzzsprout in their analysis of Podcast Statistics and Data from March 2022. As podcasts become more and more mainstream, the audiences numbers will continue to rise, with Buzzsprout forecasting that total podast listener numbers will exceed 160 million by 2023.
Podcasts also allow brands to network in a really purposeful, natural context. Our own podcast at Hellfire Creative allows us a platform to connect with other industry professionals in the same way that one might connect with a fellow creative on Linkedin; but through collaborating on something that is not only fun and mutually beneficial between guest and presenter, but entertaining for listeners, too.
We recently interviewed stand up comedian Markus Birdman on our own podcast, and enjoyed a growth in our brand’s Social Media following, as Markus shared clips and instagram stories that featured us on his own platforms. So, not only does having a guest on your podcast help a business forge meaningful networking relationships, but both hosts and guests can enjoy the benefits of new audience members discovering you for the first time through the collaborative work produced.
So, if your brand isn’t already enjoying the benefits that having a podcast can bring, reach out to us today. Our state of the art podcast studio is available to hire and we can assist you every step of the way from initial creation right through to post production editing services. We are only 10 minutes away from London Southend Airport, and 50 mins from central London via train, making our studio space an ideal location for many businesses.
Podcasts are only getting bigger. Now is the time to invest in creating one for your brand, and stat seeing the impact on your sales straight away.