Authentically reaching your audience through the ‘Power of the Podcast’
In November I was a delegate at MAD//FEST in Brick Lane; a new informal conference, jam-packed with innovative, engaging and insightful content. The ultimate hub for creativity.
The second of the two days began with keynote speaker Katie Piper, joined by Steve Ackerman, MD, Somethin’ Else to talk about the ‘Power of the Podcast’.
As we know (or if you don’t) Katie Piper is a Campaigner, Philanthropist, Presenter, Author and now Podcaster of ‘Extraordinary people’, in collaboration with Somethin’ Else. She champions empowering people being an advocate of overcoming and living with her own personal struggles. Piper revels in the public’s willingness to learn and evolve, often through self-development. In an age where we’ve all been subject to fake news, from the likes of powerhouse Facebook, people are seeking more authentic content to get a true opinion of the world; ultimately to engage with REAL news, that truly matters.
She champions empowering people being an advocate of overcoming and living with her own personal struggles.
Here lies the Power of the Podcast
Podcasts have been on the rise in recent years, with content available from nerdy fact learning podcasts such as Stuff You Should Know (which we love!), to niche topics such as “The Pen Addict” who talk about pens and accessories. Podcasts, in essence, deliver digital audio to anyone with an internet connection and have become one of the new ways to create authentically evergreen content, which for the most part, doesn’t age!
High profile shows such as ‘My Dad Wrote a Porno’ really put podcasts on the map and highlighted the popularity. The podcast garners more than 120m downloads, undertook a world-wide tour and even features weekly celebrity footnote interviews[1]. Last year OfCom published figures documenting that nearly 6 million adults tune into a podcast each week[2], and the market is set to triple in size by 2020 to $600m[3]
A staggering 61% make a purchase resulting from a podcast advert – wow!
Podcast listeners are…
Typically, the listeners of podcasts are mobile-centric (listen on the move), social (active on social media channels), and generally engage with slightly more of a male audience (around 56%)[4]. It’s also been found podcast listeners are intrinsically loyal; listening immediately (55% within 24 hours), engage with most or all episodes, and a staggering 61% make a purchase resulting from a podcast advert – wow!
Brands leading with authentic editorial/placement
Podcasts are a rising star in the eyes of the media and brands, largely untapped and not quite at the point of saturation, providing a unique opportunity for brands to get a front-row seat of the craze! As mentioned above, this can be achieved through sponsorship, or more creatively, organic content creation.
For instance, Land Rover created their own drama piece titled ‘The Discovery Adventures’, an immersive series which integrated 3D sound, encouraging the British public to get out and experience the outdoors.
The opportunities are endless!
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Author: Stef Garner, Account Manager. Keep an eye out for more of my favourite MAD//FEST topics on our blog.
