If you’re not sure what the opportunities are with a podcast, or you know but are uncertain about how it could fit in with your communication strategy, then this episode today is for you.
You will learn;
- How audio content is here to stay
- How play-on-demand content can help your business
- Why it could be a useful part of your strategy
Ready to start your podcast? Join Lynsay Anne’s Start Your Podcast in A Day course (link also here: https://lynsayanne.firstpromoter.com/signup/8145
Sources mentioned in this episode:
- Radio Joint Audience Research (RAJAR) Spring 2020
- Infinite Dial 2021
- My Podcast Reviews stats, via Apple Podcast statistics
You can also;
Get my FREE roadmap to get more strategic with communication activity in your business (also here: https://mailchi.mp/henbe.co.uk/n8xnx5bjj3 )
OR
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Also here:https://www.facebook.com/commsthatworks
PS – Did you know? Communication Strategy That Works is in the top 90 UK Small Business Podcasts you must listen to in 2021, by Feedspot
Full transcript (unedited to keep it real!)
Emma Drake:
Hello, and welcome to this episode of Communication Strategy That Works with me, Emma Drake. Hi everyone, how are you all doing today? I hope everyone is okay. Today I wanted to talk to you about podcasting, a podcast about podcasting. But the reason is, I find it really interesting when I tell new people about this podcast, and I come across people who listen and people who don’t. And there’s quite a lot of information out there now about listeners and statistics on who listens and how many podcasts there are. So I thought I would share with you today a little bit about how a podcast could help you with your business. So if you’re uncertain about how it could fit with your company’s strategic communications or what the opportunities are, then today’s episode is for you. You will learn how audio content is here to stay, how play on demand content can help your business, and if you could use a podcast as part of your strategy. So let’s dive in.
Emma Drake:
So first of all, here’s some stats for you. Everyone loves to stat, right? So 18% of adults in the UK age 15 and above listen on a weekly basis. And this is up 14% from 2019. That information is from RAJAR. And 56% of 12 to 34 year olds listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, but there’s only 26% of over 55s that listen at the same frequency. That’s from the people over at Infinite Dial. So what does this mean? It means that podcasts are popular with those entering the workplace, perhaps coming into middle manager positions. And there is also an older audience of over 55s listening too.
Emma Drake:
The second thing I want to tell you is Apple and Spotify are still competing for that top spot in terms of apps. So Apple Podcasts is the most popular listening podcast app at around 30%, and Spotify is in a really close second place around 28%. And I see that in my own listenership every month, they’re very, very equal in terms of who listens where. And then it’s split really quite evenly. The rest of the percentage is split across all the other listening opportunities that you might have. And that information was updated in March, 2021. So I think this will change over time, but at the moment, my advice would be that Apple is still worth engaging with as a podcast platform, even if you’re an Android user, because there are lots and lots of people listening on Apple podcast as their choice of app.
Emma Drake:
So the third thing I want to tell you is Apple Podcasts is hosting 1.96 million podcasts as of March 2021. Now that’s from Apple podcast statistics. And there are currently just a little over 730,000 podcasts on Apple Podcasts that are active podcasts. And that’s a lot of podcasts, right? But this statistic is way down compared to three months ago, December 2020. So what does that mean? Well, there was an increase in the number of podcasts in 2020 during the pandemic. Everyone wanted to start a podcast. But the regularity of these and the consistency has dropped off over time. Perhaps that’s people are back at work and found it wasn’t for them.
Emma Drake:
And it’s hard work guys, I’m not going to lie. You have to be really committed if you want start a podcast and you want to grow an audience that you’re going to get to every week, let’s say. So it’s important to be strategic with your content. And when you’re starting out, you need to have a goal and go about it in a way that has meaning for you and your business. It takes your time. It’s your personal time out of your business. So you do need to be really committed. And of course, if you want to start a hobby podcast, that’s absolutely awesome too and this episode will still be useful for you.
Emma Drake:
So what is play on demand and how can it help you in your business? Well, podcast is a play on demand type of content. So that’s anything effectively that’s play on demand. So whether that’s video or audio is a podcast, but usually they are audio. And it’s a bit like having a radio show. So if you’re an introvert and you don’t like standing up in front of people, podcasts could really be for you. So you don’t need to have lots of complicated tech to get started, no matter what people tell you. People often ask me about microphones and software, but it’s really very easy. I started with a 20 quid microphone and I use GarageBand on my Mac. You can even record a podcast on your smartphone just to get started. So people can listen to your show on your website and on platforms, as I said, Spotify, Apple, Google, there’s a whole host of places, once you have uploaded the audio file where people can listen to your podcast.
Emma Drake:
So why would you want a podcast for your business? Well, there’s a few things really, and I would always advocate having a number of ways that people can engage with your brand, product or service. And audio serves a market which you might not be meeting with your current communication strategy. So for example, I post regularly on LinkedIn as part of my consulting business, because I know that’s where my audience is, but not all of those are my listeners. And I might write a blog about a similar topic on LinkedIn, but actually to get to the wider audience and the people listening for different types of advice, I will also record an episode on a similar topic because it’s a completely different way of reaching people. So podcasting is a really great way to communicate with your audience.
Emma Drake:
It’s a really personal medium, and much like radio, you can speak directly to your listeners and it lets, like I’m speaking to you today, lets you hear my voice and build a personal connection. You get my turn of phrase, the way I explained things. And these are really valuable when people are also starting to think about working with you perhaps. So you can use your podcast to talk about anything, really. Nothing is too niche.
Emma Drake:
You would be surprised at the following you can get. In my podcasting community, there are podcasts that are really successful from everything from open water swimming to crochet, to specific HR topics, to how to use a particular tool, how to create audio books. I mean the list is literally endless. Nothing is too niche. Nothing is too niche. And there are lots of business podcasts and people seeking out information on diverse topics about how to do things. So this means your podcast could be a tool to build brand awareness as part of your external communication strategy.
Emma Drake:
And when I launched my podcast, this podcast, in December 2020 or the end of November I think it was in 2020, it reached the top 200 business podcasts in the Apple charts in the UK within 48 hours. And it entered at number 10 for marketing in the Apple Podcast charts too in the UK. I mean, it blew my mind. So that meant my podcast showed up in front of an audience who may not have heard of me before ever. They could all have a listen and you could all have a listen to my voice and see if you liked the sound of what I had to say and see if he wanted to keep listening. So it brought a whole new bunch of people into my world.
Emma Drake:
That’s not the only one way a podcast can be used for your business. If you’re a growing business, a podcast can be used for employee engagement. So a way of talking to your staff, even your suppliers as part of your internal communications. And maybe if you’re building a community or part of a membership body, you have a ready-made audience there. And actually some of them may prefer to engage with you through audio than through written content for example. So podcast might be for them. I use mine as a tool to draw out the expertise in my head and put it in a format that people can access so you can get the comms stuff right as early on as possible in your journey. So it’s important to have a purpose and a goal before you start anything, anything new, and that’s no different when starting a podcast.
Emma Drake:
How many people last year did you hear in 2020 say, “Hey, I’ve started a podcast.” It was really, really popular. But as I said before that has tailed off. That number has really dropped significantly. And the people that are committed, like me, to delivering content to people every week are still around, but actually quite a few released a handful of episodes and then that was it. And you can see, search for yourself on your podcast app. And you’ll see that actually people only released a few episodes. So if you’re thinking about starting a podcast and want to know if it could fit within your business, feel free to contact me, my details are in the show notes.
Emma Drake:
But whenever you’re embarking on any new aspect of your communication strategy, you’re bound to have concerns. So focus on your goals and how what you are doing is going to count towards them. Don’t just start a podcast for the sake of it. If you would like to talk through any of these plans, whether you want to launch podcast or wondering even whether audio is a good fit for your business. Get in touch with me. My details are in the show notes.
Emma Drake:
Finally, if you’re thinking of starting your podcast and you are just ready to go, use the link in my show notes to find out more about my friend Lynsay Anne’s Start Your Podcast In A Day. There is nothing this lady does not know about podcasting. She runs the Podcasting For Business community on Facebook and you can also find her podcast Podcasting For Business on any streaming platform.
Emma Drake:
So finally, thank you for listening to this episode of Communication Strategy That Works. Don’t forget to check my show notes for those links that I mentioned, and I’d really love it if you would subscribe to my podcast and leave me a review. And also if you think there’s someone that could benefit from listening to this podcast, please share this within your networks. So I’ll just say bye for now and see you next time.