THE FUTURE OF BRANDED CONTENT IS PODCASTING

S A M BALTER

#INBOUND19 Hi I’m Sam

Host of Weird Work Marketing @ HubSpot Unafraid to look silly

@sbbalter | @weird_work Host of Weird Work

“Wait, you can make a living doing that!?”

Weird Work is a podcast that celebrates the folks who've broken out of the traditional 9 to 5 to pursue their passion, no matter how weird it might sound HubSpot’s Podcast Network

5 Shows 144 Countries 2.7 Million Downloads Agenda

1. The podcast landscape

2. Creating a podcast

3. Growing your podcast audience

4. Why podcast works for brands

What’s the hype around podcasting? “In the world of podcasting the flywheel is spinning”

Li Jin, Andreessen Horowitz The Podcasting Flywheel

New Tech New Listeners

Listeners

More Content More Ad Dollars Podcast Announcements 2019

Luminary “Netflix for Spotify brings Podcast” released podcast to app Google includes podcast in search

JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE

Pandora adds Apple releases desktop podcast Spotify Acquires Gimlet + app Anchor + Paracast “Our team’s mission is to help double the amount of podcast listening in the world over the next couple years.“

Zack Reneau-Wedeen

Google Podcast 5 Types of Podcast Publishers

Publisher Profile Examples

Media Companies iHeart Media, , NPR, Slate

Podcast Production Companies Wondery, Gimlet, Cadence13, WaitWhat

Large Indies Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, Sam Harris

Non-Media Business & Non-Profit HBR, HubSpot, Duolingo

Audience Size Audience Hobbyist Creator Many small creators

*Andreessen Horowitz Podcast Listeners

Who are they? Commuters Millennials People that stare into space

Podcast Audience

124 million Listened 1+ Times

73 million Listen Monthly

48 million Listen Weekly

* data only The Average Podcast Listener

Millennial Well Educated Big Listeners

The average 30% have a Weekly podcast podcast listener graduate or listeners spent is 18-34 years advanced a mean of 5+ old degree hours listening How people consume audio is changing Times are Changing 2008 2018

94% of homes 50% of homes had a radio had a radio Broadcasts -> On-DemandPodcast -> Streaming Listener Broadcasts -> On-DemandPodcast -> Streaming Listener “Today, I might do the . But I would be tempted to do a podcast.”

Brian Halligan, HubSpot

On Y-Combinator podcast May 8, 2019 Summary Podcast Audience & Opportunity

1) Large, growing, and valuable audience

2) How we consume audio content is changing

3) Brands must create content where consumers are Creating a Branded Podcast How to stand out Podcasts are like beers….. Podcast Content

Is growing exponentially

There are over 700,000 podcasts

In 2018 there were 575 new podcast started every single day How to develop a podcast

Show

Season

Episode

Promotion Developing a Show is Scary Lots of Questions

Release all the Who will host? episodes at once?

Why will people Where should I listen to my host my podcasts? podcast?

Should it be funny? When will I find the time? What mic should I buy? What makes your story unique? Why should your listener care? Finding a Format

How to frame your show 7 Types of Podcast Formats

Podcast Format Example

One-on-one interview Fresh Air, Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan

Solo commentary Lore

Panel (guest interview or discussion) Pod Save America

Nonfiction narrative storytelling The Dream, The Dropout

Fictional story-telling Welcome to Nightvale

Hybrid WTF with Marc Maron

Repurposed Content Gary V. Audience Experience 7 Types of Podcast Formats

Podcast Format Example

One-on-one interview Fresh Air, Tim Ferriss, Joe Rogan

Solo commentary Lore

Panel (guest interview or discussion) Pod Save America

Nonfiction narrative storytelling The Dream, The Dropout

Fictional story-telling Welcome to Nightvale

Hybrid WTF with Marc Maron

Repurposed Content Gary V. Audience Experience Ongoing Seasonal

A relentless pursuit of more Time to plan content Consider an ongoing show if….

● No shortage of content or guests to interview

● Production capacity for a consistent schedule

● Budget to market and develop the show

● Commitment to maintaining quality Consider an seasonal show if….

● A limited amount of content around a specific topic

● Production time and capacity is limited

● Testing out podcasting for your brand

● Topic is evergreen “Podcasts need to motivate you to think differently”

Laura Walker

Former President of WNYC Studios Time to hit record?

Not yet! Focus Sentence A character in motion. Doing something.

Somebody does something

Motivation for doing Because ______that thing.

but ______. A challenge to overcome.

Source: Jessica Abel, Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio Parts of a Successful Podcast

Source: Alli Torban, Podcast Movement, How I Cut My Production Time in Half Summary: Creating a Podcast

1. Create shows where you have a unique angle.

2. Develop content that inspires listeners to think different.

3. Decide if the show is seasonal vs. ongoing.

4. Make sure each episode has a clear focus.

5. Create content that educates, entertains, and inspires. Congrats you made a podcast! Now get some listeners Waiting on listeners to roll in….

Making a podcast is just the beginning Your potential ideal listener may not even know that podcasting exists.

“Wait, what’s a podcast?”

Source: Rebel Based Media, Discoverability Your potential ideal listener may love podcast but never heard of you

“I Love podcasts, but who are you?”

Source: Rebel Based Media, Discoverability You aren’t creating content that matters enough to your ideal listener for them to tell anyone else about it

“I don’t want to share your podcasts”

Source: Rebel Based Media, Discoverability Know Your Listener

Who do they admire?

What are other shows they listen to?

Text here When do they listen to podcasts?

Where do they typically listen?

Why are they interested in your show?

How will they find your show? Where do people listen?

A new time of day to consume content. Podcast Episode Marketing Cycle

Pre-release Release Week Ongoing

Tease HEAVY promotion Recycle

Days Week of the episode Future

Repeat per episode

Source: Rebel Based Media, Discoverability Make it Easy to Subscribe

Use smart links to make listening later easier Marketing Tactics for Podcasting

SEO SOCIAL CROSS-PROMO

Host on all listening Audiograms + Leverage guest platforms Quote cards audience

Website with pages Engage with Cross-promote on for each episode & audience other shows transcript.

Detailed episode Facebook + Syndicate content to description + title Overcast ads other mediums Marketing Your Podcast

1. Leverage your company’s and guests audience

2. Promote heavily on social

3. Use smart links to drive people directly to podcast apps.

4. Reach out to email newsletter to get featured

5. Highly targeted Facebook + Instagram ads Why branded podcasts work Relationship = Time * Attention Podcasts are Long-Form

56

30

5

Median Episode Length: Business: 20 | Society & Culture: 38 | Top 400: 53

Source: Dan Misener, Pacific Content, How Long is The Average Podcast Episode Amount of Podcast Listened To Audio > Video

Audio is unmatched in engagement over time A Blog A Podcast

Creates space for a CTA Creates space for a Ad Calls-to-action can be Podcast have an opportunity to scattered throughout a blog insert 1-3 ad read. post. Overview Podcast Ads

Mid-Roll ~1 minute

AD SHOW AD SHOW AD

Pre-Roll Post-Roll 15-30 seconds 15-30 seconds Podcast Ad Effectiveness

Brand Recall Completion Rate Purchase Impact 4.4X 85% 63% Better than display The majority of Made a purchase ads including scroll, listeners consume after hearing static, and pop-up the majority of a podcast ads podcast episode

Source: Adweek Podcast Ad Effectiveness , Marketing Deep Dive, Is Podcast Advertising Effective, Pacific Content, The Metric All Podcasters Should be Talking About “Consumers spend roughly the same amount of time on video as they do on audio.

Video is about a trillion dollar market. And the music and radio industry is worth around a hundred billion dollars. I always come back to the same question:

Are our eyes really worth 10 times more than our ears? I firmly believe this is not the case.”

Daniel Ek

CEO, Spotify Summary: Advantages of Audio for Brands

1. Podcasts are traditionally long-form content.

2. Audio beats almost all forms of media in terms of time and engagement.

3. create space for CTA’s and podcast create space for ads.

4. Podcast ads are effective 4 Final Thoughts Podcast Listenership Is Growing Globally

Audio content consumption is growing in every region of the world. Podcasts Reach Audiences at New Times

Since most listening occurs during commutes or working at home podcasts do not cannibalize existing content Audio Is the Next Arbitrage in Content

Traditional marketing channels such as organic search and demand generation content are maturing.

Podcast will be the next gap. The Time is Now

Apple, Google, and Spotify are investing in podcasts.

Competition is only going to grow as others recognize the opportunity.

Happy Podcasting!

Get a copy of this presentation at bitly.com/inboundpodcasting

Find me @sbbalter or [email protected]