Podcast as a marketing tool: A game-changing marketing channel?

As the global boom in podcasting continues, and as this format for content production is growing big, some businesses have become interested in the value that Podcast as a marketing tool can bring to their brand.

When you want to connect with customers on a more personal level, sound allows the listener to hear the emotion behind your words. Podcasting allows brands to communicate to a captive audience. With lifestyle on-the-go, the power to have podcasting on demand allows companies and brands to tell their story anywhere at any time, which helps to establish authority in your industry and create an advocate's brand along the way.

In this article, we will explain how the podcast can become a key tool in the digital marketing strategies of companies.

Also, Read 10 Content Marketing Tools That Are Essential For Every Marketer!

What is a podcast?

Being the radio-on-demand of the decade, a podcast is a series of spoken audio episodes that focus on a particular topic or theme such as history, startups, football, etc. You can subscribe to any show you like with an app on your phone and listen to episodes whenever you like on your headphones, in the car or through speakers.

Podcasts are prerecorded then published on the website or app. The great thing is that it is available for download on mobile devices or personal computers to listen to whenever you wish.

Podcast statistics in the Middle East

Podcasts are one of the hottest new trends continuously growing over the last few years. Before we go deeper and talk about what makes podcasts a must-consider marketing tool, let's take a look at these stats!

The broadcast specialist, Markettiers MENA, has released statistics that put Saudi Arabia on a similar par with the UAE, with 16% (1.3 million) of the adult population tuning in at least once a week to a podcast.

23% of adults in KSA and UAE have listened to a podcast and 15% of the adult population tune in regularly, at least once a week.

21% of women define themselves as regular podcast listeners compared to 11% of men.

93% of those surveyed trust podcasts more than any other medium!

On the other hand, the 2020 report by Amaeya Media, a UAE-based podcast network, shows that the majority of podcast listeners do it while they’re multitasking and invariably it’s commuting, working out, or working.

The majority of listeners (50%) prefer to listen to entertainment-related content followed by self-help and inspirational content (36%), with only 8% interested in news and current affairs.

35% of regular podcast listeners use apple podcast, 33% use Spotify, and 13% use Google podcast.

The general trend, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, is that brands prefer to create their own podcast than insert an ad in an existing podcast.

66% of local listeners say they don’t skip ads; some even say they use podcast ads to discover brands, with only 9% find them truly annoying.

As for branded shows, 92% said they would want to listen to branded shows.

Why podcasts are a super-effective marketing tool?

Podcasts are often overlooked as effective advertising tools. Marketers can step into this rapidly growing marketing channel with podcast advertising, capitalizing on ad spend and attracting a new diverse audience. One of the benefits of podcast as a marketing tool is that they are cost-effective in terms of advertising and drive great sales and revenues at the same time. Podcast ads increase the chances that listeners will hear and retain your brand message.

Moreover, podcast episodes have greater brand value as they sit on a platform for as long as the creator wants and many people tend to go back and listen to old podcasts. This makes it “evergreen content,” meaning that they can retain relevance and attract organic traffic for months and even years to come.

There’s a genuine return value as you have the opportunity to reach consumers where they are online, which increases your brand value.

Tips for promoting your podcast

Promote on social media: Social media plays a major role in podcast marketing, but you have to adopt the correct social media strategy. It is a big chance for you to talk to your fans and have a conversation with them.

Submit your podcast to different podcatchers: Podcatchers are the apps that play podcasts. The most popular podcatcher is the main podcast app in iOS. There are also other apps that collect and play podcasts like Spotify, Anghami, and Google Podcast.

Experiment and measure everything: Always try new tricks and approaches and measure their results. Run multiple tests to find the tactics that work. For example, tracking your insights will let you know what channels drive more new subscribers.

Network with other podcasts: When mentioning any brand or business in your episode, this would be a great opportunity to reach out to those brands afterward to give them the good news of being featured. If you see a connection between your podcast and another brand, a simple email might give you the chance to be mentioned.

Ask your listeners to subscribe, share, interact, and leave reviews: And please be authentic instead of pushy. Also, be honest and explain that as your podcast grows so that you’ll be able to produce better content for your audience to enjoy.

Future of podcast industry

2020 has been a great year for the podcasting industry. Advertising revenue dropped and platforms started creating exclusive content. At the same time, the number of podcasts went up significantly – more than doubling from 800,000 podcasts in 2019 to 1.7 million at the end of 2020 in the Apple Podcasts directory – and audio as a medium started gaining more traction as evidenced by the popularity of the audio-based invite-only social app Clubhouse and beta launch of Twitter Spaces.

The recovery of economies and brands during the next few years, coupled with the measures being taken by the podcasting industry to standardize it, will definitely be a huge raise in podcast marketing.