Does Your Company Need a Podcast?
A special in-depth edition of our weekly newsletter about why podcasts are a bet worth taking.
In this newsletter, we've shown how HBO, Udemy, UserTesting, Conviction, Wine Enthusiast, and many others have created hit podcasts. But deciding whether or not your brand needs one is hard—especially because podcasts aren’t an obvious growth channel.
Growing a company these days is harder than it’s ever been. There’s more competition, channels and tactics change faster than ever, and your attention is constantly being pulled in a number of directions. Usually, these directions look something like:
These are all rather predictable channels you can use to grow. They work, and they are rather predictable.
You might notice that podcasts are notably missing from the list of growth tactics above. That’s for a reason: Podcasts are a separate genre of marketing initiative—and they are not mutually exclusive from traditional growth tactics.
When most marketers and founders approach podcasts, they don’t think this way. Instead, they ask the questions you might ask of other growth tactics:
These are the wrong questions to be asking. And they’re wrong because they assume podcasting is just another acquisition channel—something you can stack up to their PPC or influencer marketing efforts.?
But it isn’t. Podcasts are different in two main ways (and this is good news).
And the best part? A podcast might just be the best bet you ever make.
Why podcasts are asymmetrical bets worth taking
Most marketing efforts your company will ever make primarily treat directly-attributable revenue as a way to measure success.
Podcasts, however, aren’t so easy to measure in these terms. For one, they’re asymmetrical: it’s impossible to predict in advance of making a podcast how much revenue you might ultimately generate from that podcast, or how many listeners that podcast might have. The potential upside far outweighs the potential downside by orders of magnitude, which is unique.
And, podcasts have a host of other benefits you simply don’t find with almost anything else.
On a purely granular level, ROI from a podcast isn’t as formulaic and symmetrical as other methods. With a podcast, you can’t say, “We put $1 in and we get $3” out tomorrow. That’s because, if things go well, you might get $20 out—and it might be in 1 week or 6 months. You don’t know for sure.
What you do know for sure is that by creating a podcast, you are enabling a few things that other growth channels will never enable. If you’re at Udemy, your Leading Up podcast gives you a place to earn trust with leaders at companies who have leverage to purchase the Business plan for their teams. If you’re at HBO, your Gilded Age podcast gives viewers a chance to immerse themselves even deeper in the show—which makes them more likely to stay fans for longer. If you’re leading marketing at Wine Enthusiast, for example, your Vinfamous podcast gives you an intimate space to connect with people in their free time in a way you never would have otherwise (which has a number of ultimately revenue-driving benefits).?
And so on. Podcasts offer a lot more than obvious ROI. If you swing on a podcast and you hit, it might be the best bet of your career.?
But how do you even know if it hit? Because not all podcasts are entirely about conversion and new customer acquisition, at least not in the traditional sense. Which means we need to identify success metrics and potential revenue-generating outcomes—as they look different than what you might be used to.
Owned channel
Unlike traditional advertising and content marketing, which is rented space, podcasting is an owned channel. You can do what you want with it, and your fans will go directly to the source—you don’t have to rely on an algorithm.
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An owned channel also gives you powerful tools to do things you couldn’t have done otherwise:
This last one is especially non-obvious: when you have a platform, you finally have a justified reason to reach out to important people in your industry. Asking, “Hey, want to be on my podcast?” is a great way to start relationships with people you want to connect with.
How it drives revenue: Faster communication to customers can help drive sales during new product releases or sales. Plus, a prestige-laden channel that enables you to meet powerful people in your industry can help with influencer partnerships, investment, referrals, and more.
Loyalty
Imagine a UX designer has used 3 or 4 tools in the past to get real user feedback on their products. Now say that one product they used—in this case, UserTesting—has a podcast interviewing UX experts about building better products and experiences. If the customer is a fan of the podcast, this gives UserTesting leverage over their competitors in an arena that has nothing to do with price or quality. (This is true, by the way. UserTesting has built a loyal community with their podcast, Insights Unlocked.)
Other channels don’t buy you this kind of loyalty.
How it drives revenue: Higher LTV via retention and increased brand affiliation.
Closer connection with old (and new) customers
Podcasts are the most intimate channel you can use to connect with your current, or future, customers. People don’t read SEO blog posts or click on Google PPC ads while they’re in the shower, or cooking, or driving. They do listen to podcasts, though.
Starting a podcast is your best chance to form a kind of connection with your audience that none of the other brands in your space are building.
How it drives revenue: Better LTV and retention. The more intimate connection you can build with podcasts may also increase the chance the customers refer your brand to others.
Stronger external brand?
The fun thing about podcasts is that, quite literally, any brand can start a good one. Yet, the vast majority of brands don’t create podcasts. Creating a quality podcast is a change to strengthen your external brand in a way nobody else in your space is doing.
How it drives revenue: Higher conversion rates across the board. There are also, as you know, a number of hard-to-quantify benefits that come with having a strong brand.
Podcasts aren’t your average growth tactic, and that’s a good thing.
Life as a marketer (or a founder) can, after a while, start to feel routine and exhausting. Pick a couple of channels. Ruthlessly optimize them. Hire contractors to scale the function. Find a new channel, then rinse and repeat. Sit behind a screen, staring at numbers, stressing over changes in the algorithm or a reduction in ROAS.
These things work, of course. But they aren’t podcasts.
Podcasts are truly unique—and offer the opportunity to take what might be one of the best bets of your career. Not only do they provide a chance at asymmetrical ROI on a revenue front, they also give you a chance to do many things you couldn’t do otherwise. And, unlike with most other growth channels and content marketing efforts, there isn’t really a way to “lose” with a podcast. There are just various degrees of winning.
Worst case, the podcast is a thoughtful, well-crafted piece of media that none of your competitors have (even if it doesn’t go viral). A platform to leverage for meeting new people, deepening relationships with current customers, strengthening your brand, and more.
Best case, you create the single highest-quality artifact your marketing function has ever built out. A product that brings in new customers, pulls in more revenue from existing customers, and makes your company a standout in a space that’s barren of anything particularly interesting.?
Best case, you hit a home run.
Talk to us about a podcast for your company
Podcasts are almost always a good bet. But we want to maximize your chances of a best-case scenario.?
We feel confident in our ability to do it, because we’ve made some of the best podcasts on the planet. We’ve worked with HBO, CNN, Thoma Bravo, Vogue, Netflix, and more to create magic. If you’re interested in thinking through what a podcast might look for at your company…
Environmentalist | Audio Journalist | Writer
4 个月This article isn't just uselfull to comapanies looking for a new marketing stategy but also podcasters and audio producers looking to pitch to companies. Thanks a lot!