Decoding Podcasts for a focused brand engagement
A few days back one of my friends, who is not at into reading religious texts told me a few intricate details about Ramayana, the Hindu religious text. For the next few minutes, I heard him intently. Later, I couldn’t control my curious self and I asked him “When did you read the Ramayana?”
He smiled and thought for a moment and then said “I finished it recently!” I stared into his eyes and he looked around!
Obviously, he was joking. I have been with him since childhood. If you could call me non-serious about studies, he was a couple of yards ahead of me in pushing away books! I never saw him read anything, not even a text book. He has done well in life because he was a fast learner. However,his teacher used to be the prettiest girl in school, who could weave a tough chapter into a story telling format and recite to him. (I know you are recounting the prettiest and most studious girl in your school right now… ahhh let’s jump back!)
He would reproduce it well in the exams to every student’s dismay and the pretty girl would be rewarded with a stuff toy, the next day. Obviously the level of his gifts to the pretty girl increased as we grew. However, one thing for sure, his reading ability only got worse!
“Are you still in touch with her?”- I asked him. He was taken aback. He is married and has a kid, “Who are you talking about?” pointing to his wife. Obviously, he wasn’t in touch and didn’t trouble at home either. So, i asked him “Where did you get to know such an interesting story about Ramayana?”
“Well, I have been watching err listening to ‘The Devdutt Pattanaik show’ and he recites every story so well that you can’t help but listen till the end.”
I thought for a moment and being the hardcore marketer that I am, I asked him, “How many ads were there during the episode?”
“That’s the best part, there were no advertisements or even if there were ads, it was for a short duration!” He kept his hand on my shoulder and said “I never knew Ramayana is so powerful!”
I wondered if i have gone back a couple of steps in my awareness of trends!How was I not aware of podcast as a viable medium for story telling and engaging the audience?
So, I decided to dig up some stats. I chanced upon some reports that would give me a direction as to how podcasts are coming up as a marketing strategy and how would they benefit business owners. In the coming paragraphs, you would find my stats.
Online Audio as a sector
There are 4 main components of Spoken Word Audio sector or Online audio sector.
- Online Radio
- Smart speaker
- Audio books
- Podcast
Interestingly, you might have heard of a few companies that are present in each of these domains. You can count more online radio stations than me so I wont go into that. Maybe you have Alexa at home and you may enjoy ordering it to play your favorite music. Well that means you know a smart speaker brand. You might be aware of Amazon books but have you come across an audio book like Storytel or Audible? Storytel, Audible etc are examples of audio books. We, in India, love to listen to stories right from our childhood. Even today my 8 year old niece listens to her grandparent’s value laden stories to sleep!
The last, but not the least among the online audio categories is the PODCAST. Interestingly, this is also the reason why you are reading this blog post!
Read A layman’s guide to Business Blogging
Decoding Podcasts
Podcast is made up of iPod plus BroadCAST . Podcast is an audio file in M4A or MP3 format that creators can upload on the internet and users can avail a free service to download to listen to on their computers or personal digital audio players. Even though the term is derived from the iPod, you don’t need an iPod to listen to a podcast.
As specified earlier, people consume a Podcast On-the-Go. In other words, it is the perfect addition to Millenials and Gen Z, most of whom are characterised by impatience and a thirst for knowledge.
Podcast versus Audiobook
Podcast and Audiobooks can be confusing at times as both offer similar content and are dependent on ease of contribution and familiarity of content to grow in popularity.
According to Livemint, Audible India, a popular Audiobook brand, comes with more than 200,000 audiobooks and original programmes, including 400 titles by Indian authors. On the other hand, Storytel, hosts titles in English, Hindi and Marathi and some other vernacular languages for a variety of genres It boasts of more than 60,000 audio titles. In 2018, Storytel introduced a child filter, which allows children access only to content meant for their age group.
Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts etc remain the biggest names in the Podcast sub sector.
Podcast and audiobooks have many similarities be it audiences, content, production etc however, the main feature that shall differentiate the two will be listenership trends which is determined by the ease of discoverability. While Audio books are hosted on Amazon which boasts of a superior search engine, podcasts are still struggling with a multitude of discovery platforms but none that can be claimed to be the One-stop for searching podcasts.
However, despite such constraints, storytelling is not everyone’s cup of tea! But recording a podcast around an adventurous experience or a recent trip or a romantic escapade or other modes that include multiple people sharing their experiences makes it ease to record and then share a podcast!
Decoding Podcasts for Brand Engagement
Now let’s come to the real question… Is podcast going to add value to your business?
Before I answer the question for you, I want to ask you..
Do you feel confident that if you talk to a group of people for 30 min about your business or product offering or service offering and feel confident that they would be interested to transact with you? Just 30 min of uninterrupted talk by you???
If the answer is yes, then podcast is the right medium of communication for you. Now, all you need to do is Decode podcast strategy
In the digital world, where the on-digital-screen time is ever increasing, Podcast is the perfect medium of behavior change with least amount of distraction. If you have a gift of the gab, people shall put on your podcast and keep working while listening to how your sell yourself in a subtle manner!
The main advantage of hosting a podcast is that it is consumed by Millenials and Gen Z and higher net value individuals. Currently, urban residents form the majority listeners of podcasts. When sorted by by educational qualifications, we see 28% podcast listeners hold an advanced degree and majority of them also consume On demand video streaming applications such as Netflix.
Thus, if the above profile is the audience who you wish to reach out to, then you gotta chase them where they are- on podcast channels.
You may check out our Podcast page to see how to create and maintain a podcast channel.
You may write in to us and we can help you strategise and execute a viable podcast strategy as we have “been there, done that!”
Source:
Hootsuite
Atlas.magnaglobal.com
Nicely put together! Podcasts are quickly catching up in terms of rising trends and can be the perfect way to showcase a brand or service through the medium of storytelling. Gotta try my hands at Audible and Storytel though!
I’m glad you find value in the blog post. As I mentioned in the post, story telling isn’t everyone’s cup of tea however if you have a compelling story to tell or a story worth sharing, audio book might get you more eyeballs
I’ve been considering starting a podcast myself! I even purchased an online course for learning how to do it properly.
That is the right way forward. Just one caveat: For a few initial months, dont think about monetizing podcasts.
I love podcasts so much! I love how straight to the point they can be and wide variety of them out there. There is literally a podcast for any topic or mood that I may find myself in.
Kileen
cute & little
Very well said Kileen! Podcasts can be varying a lot in content and time duration and speakers but it is best to capture the audience that listens to a niche. Podcast content strategy is a puzzle for many businesses that have spread their wings far and wide!
I don’t listen to podcasts that much but reading this made me a lot more interested in them! I’ll be sure to go give them a try sometime, thanks for sharing this with us!
Wow really informative about podcast. I am planning to start one.
Glad to hear that you shall be taking a plunge soon!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts regarding Podcast, I believe it’s a very important factor to consider.
You bet! It is!
GLad you shared the info about podcast and your thoughts about it..found it quite interesting read..great work though…
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words!
I am supposed to be working on a podcast, but stage fright has prevented me. This post has encouraged me to do what I need to so that I can progress in my business model.
Marie, I am sure you would do brilliant on the podcast front… just go for it!
Great article. This is a topic I know I need to learn more about and you really helped me understand some good ways. Thank you.
I am glad that this article provides immense value to you. I shall come up with another podcast blog post that focuses on trends in the podcast segment! Hope to receive your comments on it too!
Glad to be able to add value to your Learning path
I love listening to podcasts and this article is very insightful!
Thank you for your kind words and we are glad you find it useful!
Thank you Mae and I’m glad you found it insightfuk
Podcast is the “in” thing now. I am considering going into this genre to better reach out to my audience. Great tips.
Yes you are thinking the right thing by entering podcasts. I can help you out!
I’ve been such a fan of podcasts for years now. It’s cool to see that it’s growing more and more and new podcasts are constantly being added. This was such an insightful post !
Wow! I am glad to hear that! Our team at Social Buzz has hopped onto the Podcast bandwagon just 12 months back! I would love to know your favorite podcast channel!
Thank you for your encouraging words!!
PODCAST is something that I have recently discovered as well. I love it coz I get to listen to it while doing something else.
Generally podcasts are consumed while driving… how do you hear a podcast?
Podcasts are such an interesting medium to consider for engagement. I hadn’t thought to look into them with that focus before! I will have to do more research now, thanks for this insight!
I am happy to have opened up your thoughts to podcasts and would love to help you in any way!
More and more people are starting to listening to podcasts and the market is still very young. I think it’s a great opportunity and I have been actually juggling the idea of having one. Trying to convince my radio friend of the advantages 🙂
I hope you convince your friend or you can get in touch with me and I can list down a few points that can help you convince him
Thank you for sharing the findings! Podcasts are really a way to go forward!
You bet! Podcasts are the future when it comes to the most intimate form of brand engagement
I like a good audio book. I am just starting to enjoy podcasts.
Audio books are a close competitor to podcasts…
I listen to a lot of podcasts and audiobooks! There is such a great variety out there and always something to listen to!
I hope you tumble upon Social Buzz podcast someday too!!
Running a podcast sounds so beneficial. You would definitely be able to reach a wider audience while also establishing the knowledge you have in whatever niche you are in which would be great for your brand.
Yes jasmine…you have summed up everything so well!
Listening to a story can be so relaxing at times – we used to listen a lot to the radio when I was young to a program where someone always told a story 🙂
Very well pointed out .. story telling as a genre is very popular on podcast. I dont have a great voice else I would have loved to do a story telling podcast
I think podcasting can be essential for a brand. Do it right and engage properly and it can be successful
Bang on!!! That’s the mantra for making a podcast successful
Ambuj, guess what I’m reading/listening to right now? No joke. The Ramayana! I am in Chapter 12 where Ram, his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana enter the forest for their fourteen-year exile imposed by his father King Dasharatha, at the request of his wicked step-mother Kaikeyi, who decided to collect a promised boon and have her son installed as king. It is an epic tale and I have heard/read it in bits and pieces before but decided to go for the entire story. What’s next? The Mahābhārata.
In case you wonder, I used to live in an ashram and studied the sacred texts and practiced yoga and meditation. It is still part of my life but the intensity changed after I got married and moved. Anyway, I knew the gods were smiling when I started reading your post. Hahaha. I really should look into starting a podcast. Like you, I grew up with storytelling too.
You have an amazing story to tell! I’m glad to read your comment. How about sharing your thoughts over a podcast?
I have never listened to any podcast but I have being seeing a lot of posts about podcast which makes me want to try it.
Yes you can start listening to podcasts while cooking or driving etc. You can start with Social Buzz podcast
I really havent tried podcast. i would love to try this. Thanks for sharing.
I also think about using podcasts. I think your post convinced me that this is necessary! Thanks for your work!
I’m glad my writing and research could convince you…
Really??! I shall consider myself a good writer then!
I haven’t listen to podcasts for a while. His podcasts seems great.
I’m glad you say such kind words!