Considering how young the podcasting medium is, podcast growth statistics are mind blowing. In 2006, only 22% of the adult US population reported engaging with podcasts. 16 years later, that number has grown to 79%.
Most people view podcasts purely as a form of entertainment. But, is a podcast a form of marketing? They undeniably can be, and there’s an industry of podcast marketing platforms that can help. That being said, marketers still have lots of room to experiment and grow. Even though podcasts have been around since 2004, B2B companies have only recently pushed full speed ahead. Although podcasting is an extremely successful marketing tactic, it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
One of the main podcasting hiccups marketers face is gaining an audience. Effectively using podcasts as a marketing tool requires more than microphones and a couple of charismatic talking heads. The podcast market is already a bit crowded, and more brands jump on the bandwagon every day. This means marketers are again faced with the age-old content conundrum — how do you grab people’s attention and rise above the noise?
In the next few sections, we’ll explain what it takes to truly master podcasting as a B2B marketing tool.
Real Talk… How Effective Is Podcast Marketing?
Honestly, it depends. That’s the uncomfortable — but realistic — answer to this question. When done right, podcasting has the potential to be a highly effective marketing tool for all brands. In fact, a recent report commissioned by the BBC found that organizations with branded podcasts saw:
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- 89% higher awareness
- 57% higher brand consideration
- 24% higher brand favorability
Although podcasting success is entirely possible, it’s easy for a brand’s voice to get lost in the content sea. To truly realize the benefits of podcast marketing for B2B use cases, marketers need to tailor their strategy and ensure customers at every stage of the funnel receive value.
Ultimately, the success of a podcast hinges on your ability to reach the right people at the right time. So, what’s a marketer to do? Casted has thought long and hard about how to tackle this lofty challenge, and we’ve had a breakthrough. The answer is to know your audience well enough to understand what they’ll engage with. Hungry for more? Discover how Casted helped Cheetah Digital get their compelling content in front of the right eyeballs here!
How Does Podcast Marketing Work for B2B Brands?
To experience the sweet taste of B2B podcasting victory, brands need three key ingredients:
- Something valuable to say
- Powerful resources and tools
- A killer podcast marketing strategy
Let’s explore each of these ingredients in more detail.
Have Something Valuable to Say
The first step in B2B podcast marketing is honing your message. The podcasting realm is filled with brands trying to stand out and be unique. Therefore, your script should be better than different — it needs to be meaningful. All of the best B2B podcast marketing examples provide listeners with insights into their burning questions and solutions to their pain points. Think about it, would you listen to an hour-long sales pitch? Probably not. Really, thought leadership is the way to go, and your business offerings should take the supporting role in the podcast. Struggling to get your creative juices flowing? Here are some tips to help get you started:
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- Have a Goal in Mind | When choosing your podcast topics, it’s important to outline your goals right off the bat and ensure each episode topic ultimately aligns with your big picture objectives.
- Find Your Niche and Stick with It | You should consider your niche and cater to that audience. Although podcasting is becoming extremely popular, a lot of niches have yet to be explored. Use your podcast to discuss ideas and themes people haven’t addressed yet.
- Use Your Existing Content | To gain additional inspiration, look back at some of your most successful blogs, whitepapers, conference presentations, and all other types of content. Much of your previous content can be repurposed and turned into a podcast episode.
- Pay Attention to Industry Trends | Cover up-and-coming trends in your industry and find someone in your company, or outside of it, who’d be great to interview. But be careful, if you’re covering a popular topic, ensure your brand has something new to say!
Arm Yourself with the Right Resources
If you want your podcast to have any impact at all, you need to be strategic and resourceful. This means finding new technology to elevate your podcasting abilities. Aside from high-quality audio and video equipment, marketers need podcast marketing platforms. If we’re being honest, all of the technical aspects of creating and promoting your podcast can quickly become tedious and even unmanageable. Using a podcast marketing platform gives teams a comprehensive space to access the tools they need to effectively market their podcasts. In the past, marketers were forced to hop from tool to tool to create transcripts, grab soundbites, track their analytics, and much more. Utilizing a podcast marketing platform, marketers can do all of that and more in a single easy-to-navigate solution. This minimizes your tech stack, increases efficiency, and reduces overall marketing spend.
Market Your Podcast Effectively
Alright, you’ve chosen your topics, produced some great episodes, and are ready to distribute. But wait… how do you prevent your podcast from getting sucked into the content void? At Casted, we use the amplified marketing methodology. With amplified marketing, you can quickly and easily distribute your content across all marketing channels and formats to ensure you reach your niche audience. Amplified marketing helps you define a repeatable process that can be measured and optimized to drive growth. Learn more about this process and how it can help your podcast gain and retain traffic here.
Need an Extra Boost?
If you want to level up your podcasting game and better understand how to stay ahead of the curve, take our B2B podcast maturity curve assessment!
Let Your Voice Be Heard with Casted
And there you have it, podcast marketing in a nutshell! As a comprehensive B2B podcast and video marketing platform, Casted has all the resources and tools needed to reach your target audience, market your podcast, track your performance, and identify how to get the greatest ROI from your podcasting endeavors. Reach out today to schedule a demo and see what we can do for you!
