THE FUTURE OF BRANDED CONTENT IS PODCASTING · Podcast Marketing @ HubSpot Unafraid to look silly...

THE FUTURE OF BRANDED CONTENT IS PODCASTING

S A M

B A L T E R

#INBOUND19

Hi I’m Sam

Host of Weird Work

Podcast 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 Listeners

More Ad Dollars More Content

New Tech

Listeners

JAN FEB MAR APRIL MAY JUNE

Spotify Acquires Gimlet +

Anchor + Paracast

Pandora adds

podcasts

Apple releases

desktop podcast

app

Luminary “Netflix for

Podcast” released

Google includes

podcast in search

Spotify brings

podcast to app

Podcast Announcements 2019

“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, The New York Times,

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

Hobbyist Creator Many small creators

Audie

nce S

ize

*Andreessen Horowitz

Podcast Listeners

Who are they?

Commuters

Millennials

People

that stare

into space

Podcast Audience

124 million

73 million

48 million

Listened 1+ Times

Listen Monthly

Listen Weekly

*United States data only

The Average Podcast Listener

The average

podcast listener

is 18-34 years

old

Millennial

30% have a

graduate or

advanced

degree

Well Educated

Weekly podcast

listeners spent

a mean of 5+

hours listening

Big Listeners

How people consume audio is changing

Times are Changing

2008

94% of homes

had a radio

2018

50% of homes

had a radio

Podcast ListenerBroadcasts -> On-Demand -> Streaming

Podcast ListenerBroadcasts -> On-Demand -> Streaming

“Today, I might do the

blog. But I would be

tempted to do a podcast.”

Brian Halligan, HubSpotOn 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

There are over 700,000 podcasts

In 2018 there were 575 new podcast

started every single day

Is growing exponentially

How to develop a podcast

Show

Season

Episode

Promotion

Developing a Show is Scary

Lots of Questions

Why will people

listen to my

podcast?

Where should I

host my podcasts?

Should it be

funny?

When will I find the

time?

Release all the

episodes at once?Who will host?

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

A relentless pursuit of more

content

Seasonal

Time to plan

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 WalkerFormer President of WNYC Studios

Time to hit record?

Not yet!

Somebody does something

Because _______

but ______.

Focus Sentence A character in

motion. Doing

something.

Motivation for doing

that thing.

A challenge to

overcome.

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

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

Parts of a Successful Podcast

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

Text here

Who do they admire?

What are other shows they listen to?

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.

Pre-release Release Week Ongoing

Tease

Week of the episode FutureDays

RecycleHEAVY promotion

Repeat per episode

Podcast Episode Marketing Cycle

Source: Rebel Based Media, Discoverability

Make it Easy to Subscribe

Use smart links to make listening later easier

Marketing Tactics for Podcasting

Host on all listening

platforms

SEO

Website with pages

for each episode &

transcript.

Detailed episode

description + title

Audiograms +

Quote cards

SOCIAL

Engage with

audience

Facebook +

Overcast ads

Leverage guest

audience

CROSS-PROMO

Cross-promote on

other shows

Syndicate content to

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

Source: Dan Misener, Pacific Content, How Long is The Average Podcast Episode

56

30

5

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

Amount of Podcast Listened To

Audio > Video

Audio is unmatched in engagement over time

A PodcastA Blog

Calls-to-action can be

scattered throughout a blog

post.

Creates space for a CTA Creates space for a Ad

Podcast have an opportunity to

insert 1-3 ad read.

AD AD ADSHOWSHOW

Pre-Roll

15-30 seconds

Mid-Roll

~1 minute

Post-Roll

15-30 seconds

Overview Podcast Ads

Podcast Ad Effectiveness

Brand Recall

Better than display

ads including scroll,

static, and pop-up

4.4X

Completion Rate

The majority of

listeners consume

the majority of a

podcast episode

85%

Purchase Impact

Made a purchase

after hearing

podcast ads

63%

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 EkCEO, 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. Blogs 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 sbalter@hubspot.com