You're a B2B marketer, so you're well aware of the importance of content. In fact, you already have a strategy you're implementing for each stage of the buyer's cycle.
Attracting new leads. You have a blog for that.
Nurturing those leads. You have an email campaign for that.
Sealing the deal. You have case studies lined up for that.
And while these are all critical to your content strategy, there's one type of content you're completely ignoring.
You can use B2B podcasting for just about every part of the customer's journey (hello, ROI):
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- Attracting new listeners with helpful content
- Building relationships with actionable content
- Converting listeners with stories from customers
If that's not reason enough to start a B2B podcast, then maybe these five reasons will convince you.
1. Attract B2B Listeners (and Keep Them)
One of the biggest challenges B2B content marketers face is attracting the right audience (and keeping their attention). Sure, blogs are effective when you use SEO and research properly, but there's a growing trend you can't and shouldn't ignore: B2B podcasting is an ever-growing marketing beast waiting to be unleashed.
B2B podcast stats: Today, 51% of the American population has listened to a podcast. And another 32% have listened to one within the last month (that's 90 million people). A survey also found that 62% of respondents listen to more podcasts than they did a year ago.
The question now is, how does this relate to B2B?
Just take a look at the demographics:
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- 50% of active listeners are under 35 (73% of millennials make product/service decisions at work)
- 41% of podcast listeners earn $75K or more
- Podcast listeners are active on social channels and follow brands
And what's more impressive is that podcast listeners are loyal. Let's compare written content to a B2B marketing podcast:
The average site visitor spends two to three minutes looking at content.
But with audio content, you have:
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- 61% spend more time on podcasts than TV
- 77% spend 7 hours a week listening to podcasts
- 70% focus on listening to a podcast (without distractions)
- 52% of monthly listeners finish entire episodes
So not only are you getting more dwell time, but listeners are hungry to devour your whole podcast without interruption.
2. Establish Your Brand as a Thought Leader
When you develop content for your B2B audience, you want to earn their trust. What better way to do this than with thought leadership?
Establishing your brand as an authority in your industry is vital, especially in the B2B community (and especially in the B2B tech podcast arena). In many cases, products and services in this sector cost a lot more, extending the sales cycle. So the faster you can build trust, the quicker you can convert leads into customers. With a B2B podcast, you can potentially do that while also creating a loyal fanbase of listeners.
We already established how devoted podcast listeners are to channels they like. But what exactly are they interested in listening to?
Well, stats show podcast fans like to learn. Of course, it must be presented in an intriguing way:
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- 71% say they listen to podcasts for entertainment
- 74% listen to podcasts to learn something new
- 59% enjoy podcasts that make them feel smarter
If you're already using social media and blog posts to establish thought leadership, then a B2B podcast will amplify your strategy.
Quick Tip: Looking for inspiration for your podcast? Consider looking back at your web and social content that is performing best. Those topics clearly resonate with your audience and could be great fodder for your podcast!
3. Build Your Brand with Unique and Engaging Content
We understand how difficult it can be to make your content stand apart. If you have dozens of competitors, then you're on an uphill battle to out-perform their content in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
But doing so is essential if you want to attract your audience and build up your brand.
With B2B podcasting, you're killing two birds with one stone:
- Offering content that stands out from the crowd
- Making your branding message hit home
Before, you had to rely on paid ads to achieve these goals.
When you compare B2B company podcasts with ads, you'll see the latter is less impactful among ad avoiders. A Neuro-Insight study shows that engagement, emotional connection, and memory encoding for TV ads are 22% lower than branded podcasts.
On average, brand mentions in podcasts yield 16% higher engagement and 12% more memory encoding than surrounding content. But when you add an activity to the podcast (say, a downloadable worksheet to complete), it can increase engagement and memory by 2% and 10%, and emotional intensity by 40%.
Branded podcasts can also boost:
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- Brand awareness by 89%
- Brand considerations by 57%
- Brand favorability by 24%
- Purchase intent by 14%
Then to drive it home, you can use branded B2B podcasts to instill your message in listeners' minds. In the same study, podcast listeners who heard the word "innovative" 12 times associated the brand with being innovative.
Quick Tip: Keep in mind that B2B podcasts are about conversation, not campaigns.
4. Grow Your Audience Faster via Influencer Collaborations
Remember when you first started a blog and the time it took to build monthly readership numbers? Well, you likely have a little anxiety anticipating how you'll get listeners for a B2B podcast.
Several options may come to mind:
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- Blogging about your podcast
- Sharing social posts with links to your podcast
- Amplifying your podcast in your newsletter
- Buying ads on social and search engines to promote the podcast
And while these should definitely be in your podcast marketing strategy, you don't want to overlook another promising method:
Working with influencers.
Influencer collaborations are on the rise among B2B tech marketers. It was expected to increase by 48% by the end of 2019.
And when it comes to podcasts, influencers are an excellent resource. By leveraging their platform and prestige, you can attract more listeners from their audience and beyond.
But don’t let the word influencer scare you. Influencers aren’t just Instagram models ;) . There are plenty of influential people who’ve built amazing audiences in every industry including SMEs, bloggers, and industry experts who would be perfect for your B2B podcast.
With influencers, this is a great opportunity to tap into their audience as they can promote the episode on their channels to build awareness. In fact, guest co-marketing should be a part of your overall marketing strategy. You should make sharing podcast episodes as easy as possible and always make the ask that they promote it in their own network in exchange for being on the show.
5. Build a Deeper Connection with Your Audience
As the metrics we’ve shared above have hopefully indicated, podcasting is a unique content medium and channel because it allows you to connect with and know your audience like never before. Your audience can take your brand to places and into activities that they can’t with traditional marketing initiatives (we’re looking at you webinars).
If 2020 was any indication, the propensity for being more human as a brand is no longer a nice-to-have, instead it’s a must-have for brands and podcasting can be that ticket.
If you’re pondering on if a B2B podcast is right for your brand, consider this: is any other channel or medium giving your audience the ability to connect with you when they want, where they want? And does that option involve a real, human voice?
Podcasting gives your brand the option to connect your audience with a real human. Your podcast host (or hosts) can become part of the personality of your brand and give your audience the human connection they are craving. Thanks to the mobility of podcasts (you can listen to a podcast while folding laundry or doing dishes), there’s no channel that feels more intimate and that fits more seamlessly into the life of a very, very busy customer.
Next Steps
Starting a B2B podcast can be a rewarding experience for your company. But as with any marketing venture, you want to ensure you have tools to measure its effectiveness.
At Casted, we offer a B2B podcasting platform designed with marketers in mind. You can use it to upload your B2B podcasts, collaborate across teams, transcribe audio, and track revenue and impact generated from your podcast campaigns. Without proper attribution, you'll never know if what you're doing is worth it. Schedule a demo with us today to begin brand podcasting!
