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Podcast marketing has exploded in recent years. According to a 2018 report by eMarketer, 73 million people in the US listen to a podcast at least once a month, which is more than 22.2 percent of the US population. A majority of these listeners are young, educated and spend their time on media distributed across multiple devices, channels and digital subscriptions.
But while marketing professionals are keen on utilizing the medium, it still hasn’t broken through most of the Fortune 500 companies. And so it remains a minority in the overall advertising landscape. However, there are a number of tech companies who have embraced podcasting, here we look at eight tech companies that are doing podcast marketing right.
Podcast marketing is a marketing strategy that involves creating audio content users can download and consume in their own time. The content produced for podcasts is designed to be engaging, informative and intimate. “Podcast advertising is very intimate, but when done right, it can reach real scale and get to a lot of listeners which is very unique,” explained Kara Silverman, global head of marketing and communications at Acast.
Silverman also explained that what makes podcast content great lies in its production value. “Whether a host or producer reads [any form of podcast content], if it's made well and sounds good, it's effective.”
With podcast marketing, according to Thibaut Davoult, growth engineer at Livestorm, the barrier to entry is much higher in comparison to running a blog. This means there are fewer brands utilizing this channel, and the brands that are producing podcasts are placed in an advantageous position. “You have to [ensure you] publish regularly, your production must be top notch, have guests, [and so on], so fewer people do it,” Davoult said. “In an age where every company has seized content marketing, having a podcast is a great differentiator.”
Eric J. Anderson, co-founder & organizational development manager at ElMejorTrato.com, shared that there are “countless benefits” to podcast marketing. “Due to its rapid diffusion and the facility with which you can listen to a podcast, you can reach new consumers and connect [with them] more intensely. In addition, [podcast marketing] can help position you as an expert,” Anderson said.
Anderson added that podcasts are excellent way to develop a network of relationships with other experts and professionals within your niche.
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The following podcasts managed by tech companies have garnered a huge and dedicated following.
Marketing School is hosted by entrepreneurs Eric Sui of Single Grain and Growth Everywhere, and Neil Patel of Neil Patel, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. These podcasts give you 10 minutes of “actionable marketing advice” on a daily basis, and listeners can submit a topic or question for the hosts to discuss. The series is designed to provide engaging advice and promote their respective SaaS products.
Hubspot launched three podcast series in the space of three years, with each one tailored to a specific audience or objective. The first podcast, The Growth Show, was an editorial podcast to raise brand awareness and garnered over 1.5 million downloads. In each podcast episode, a business leader was interviewed to discuss different approaches to growth.
The second podcast, Weird Work, was created to develop mass appeal by creating content that didn’t relate to their company. And finally, the third podcast, Skill Up, was to help Hubspot improve their visibility through search.
Tech giant Google produces a weekly podcast, This Week in Google, every Wednesday. Hosted by Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis and Stacy Higginbottom, the series discusses the latest development in the world of Google and cloud computing news.
Each episode tends to last for 2 hours, and delivers a significant amount of “need-to-know” content. The podcast is part of the TwiT (This Week in Tech) Netcast Network, and as of September 2018, there are over 400 episodes available.
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The Lighting Platform by Salesforce, delivers IT Visionaries, a bi-weekly podcast that covers the latest trends in tech as well as advice from Fortune 100 leaders, CIOs, CTOs and CDOs on how to implement these trends to your business.
Each episode lasts approximately 30 to 40 minutes and provides a diverse range of content from case studies to insights from tech leaders.
Samsung’s What Next podcast explores the future of technologies and takes a closer look at some of the dynamic fields in technology including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and Blockchain. What’s Next is a fairly new podcast series and was launched in June 2018.
“What's Next is a podcast of Samsung NEXT, which offers interviews with experts, founders, and CEOs, who are working on the latest technology. Of course, they also explore the latest of Samsung Electronics,” Anderson said.
Historic tech firm IBM serves up 20+ podcasts that are categorized for different industries and career paths. The categories include; developers, news, services, software, technology and innovation. Having such a wide breadth of syndicated podcasts, as Anderson highlighted, allows us to “to attract listeners interested in different areas.”
Intel Chip Chat provides a recurring podcast series of informal, one-to-one interviews. “Intel Chip-Chat provides interviews with industry leaders and other great minds of the company,” Anderson said. Aimed to be a podcast for IT managers, Chip Chat helps listeners become familiar with the latest innovations.
Nintendo’s official Nintendo Power podcast is a platform for Nintendo employees and developers to discuss the latest in news and gaming that's related to their brand. “The Nintendo Power podcast seeks to reach players and the public interested in the video game console, through interviews with creators and Nintendo workers,” Anderson said.The aim of this podcast series is to generate engagement and build reach.
Are you planning to delve into podcast marketing in 2019?
