Category: About Podcasting

Why should you care about podcasting? One can imagine that 30 years ago (or even 100 years ago), the average person wasn’t thinking about entering radio just because it was a popular way to find news, music, and entertainment. And podcasting is still smaller than radio. Even if it feels like everybody you know already has their own podcast…is anyone listening?

It’s true that starting a podcast now can feel like you’re showing up late for the party. But, there are also a number of reasons for the growth in podcasting, and reasons for why there’s a lot of fun still to be had.

Let’s start with the numbers themselves. According to Edison Research’s 2020 The Infinite Dial report, 75% of Americans older than 12 are familiar with podcasting. 55% have listened to a podcast, which amounts to 155 million Americans. That’s 8% growth year over year, and a double in listenership since 2013. Spotify, which we’ll get to in a second, is the fastest growing platform to listen to audio in general, and they’re making a big push in podcasts. 24% of Americans, or 68 million Americans, listen to podcasts weekly, and on average, those listeners listen to 6 podcasts.

This growth is happening on the production side too, of course. According to Podcast Insights, there are currently over one million active podcasts out there, which is nearly double the number less than two years ago. Streaming audio is projected to be the fastest growing sector for advertising, and some industry experts expect podcast advertising to approach $1B this year.

The numbers are one thing, but the steps that major companies are taking in the industry are also a reminder of its potential. Spotify has made the biggest splash; the Swedish streaming company has made a number of acquisitions and deals in the space, most recently signing a deal with Joe Rogan said to pay him more than $100M. Which has Apple ramping up its podcast efforts. And it’s not a real competition unless Amazon gets involved, which is happening.

Now, you might be thinking, ‘that’s all great, but I’m not planning to be the next Joe Rogan, so what do I care?’ It’s a fair point – the path to fame that goes through daring people to eat disgusting sheep parts and then talking to fighters with bloody faces and cauliflower ears after they finish a match is a truly singular one. Podcasts can still help you achieve your goals in a number of ways, however.

• Podcasting is a great way to reach your audience.
  
  We live our lives through a screen, now more than ever. As it becomes harder to reach people in the real world, and harder to stand out on the web, a podcast gives you a new way to connect. By talking to your current and potential customers, you can reach them directly. Audio is a more intimate way to do that. As leading business professor and podcaster Scott Galloway said on a recent episode of his podcast with Kara Swisher, Pivot, “When you’re in people’s ears, you create a pretty strong relationship.”
  

• Podcasting allows you to show more of yourself.
  
  Whatever line of business you’re in, or whatever story you want to tell, you are competing with a lot of other people for attention, interest, and trust. You can grab that attention via advertising, or gain someone’s interest through writing or explaining your business. Building trust is more of a personal thing, something that you can really only do through a long-running relationship.
  
  Podcasting, though, is a way to start that relationship, as Professor Galloway pointed out above. By speaking either directly to a listener or in conversation with a guest or a co-host, you are showing more of who you are. How you think on your feet, what your voice sounds like, what excites you or makes you laugh – this provides a fuller picture of who you are. Giving this fuller picture will lead you to closer relationships with current or future customers, or listeners, or whatever you’re looking for.

• Podcasting allows you to connect with other people in your industry.
  
  A podcast is something like the modern business card – it allows you to show you are to others, but it also allows you to network. Meeting someone – in person or online – and being able to say, ‘hey, check out my podcast to get a sense of what I think and who I am,’ it makes it easy for whomever you’re connecting with to know who you are. That doesn’t mean you should expect them to listen to every episode – but even a quick glance of your recent episode titles and summaries goes a long way, and maybe one of your recent episodes will catch their eye, or ear.
  
  This goes even further if you invite someone to join your podcast as a guest. A secret in this world is that people love talking about themselves and about their passions, and they’re very generous with their time when doing so. Inviting someone to speak on your podcast is an excuse to pick their brain about their craft, and a way to forge a connection. If you do a good job with the interview, guests will often feel that they get as much out of the conversation as you did, which is the best sort of connection to create.
  
  You don’t have to only take our word for it. Legendary marketing expert and teacher Seth Godin has talked about why you should podcast and has called podcasting the new blogging. He wrote that ‘You’ll meet some amazing people’ with your podcast.
  
  
• Podcasting is accessible and easy to get started with.
  
  To go on the radio, you need an antenna to broadcast from or access to a modern studio.
  To do video, you need to understand video editing, how to get your lighting right, how to engage both your viewers’ eyes and their ears, and how to get the technology right.
  
  Podcasting, good podcasting, isn’t effortless. But, it’s a lot easier to get started with than these other mediums. If you have a good microphone, a working internet connection, curiosity, and the ability to hold a conversation or to speak well yourself, you’re able to get started.
  
  There’s more to it, including getting the sound to be professional, structuring the podcast content in a compelling way, and having a vision. A production and editing service like Shortman Studios can help you with some of that, of course. But either way, the hurdle to making a good podcast is a lot lower than many other means of reaching an audience, including (for some) even just setting up a blog or building a website.

The things that may make podcasting relevant to you, whatever your aims are, are the most fundamental aspects about it: podcasting is a way of talking to more people in a direct, familiar fashion. It’s storytelling for the modern age, but with the entire internet instead of a campfire. If you have a story to tell, and it’s one you care about and are excited to share, there’s an audience out there for you to hear it. We can help you tell it in the best way possible.